Courtesy/307th
COMMUNITY News:
Los Alamos will host the 307th Bombardment Group (Heavy) Association, Inc. Friday morning at the Bradbury Science Museum.
Members of the association are expected to arrive around 10:45 a.m. These individuals are the last remaining veterans and family members of the pilots, navigators, bombardiers, radio operators, gunners and maintenance crews of the 370th, 371st, 372nd and 424th Bomb Squadrons known as the Long Rangers. They defended the entire Pacific Theater during World War II, flying missions that sometimes never made it home. The long flights from bases in such places as Los Negros, Guadalcanal, Morotai and Espiritu Santo took them to bombing sites throughout the Southwest Pacific.
Stories of the Lone Rangers continue to be celebrated today. For instance, Lt. Louis Zamperini endured seven weeks drifting on a life raft in the Pacific Ocean. According to a report on CNN, when the life raft reached shore, Zamperini was then taken as a prisoner of war. His story was captured in the New York Times bestselling book, “Unbroken,” and will again be told in a movie, also titled “Unbroken,” that is scheduled to be released in December.
In addition to visiting Los Alamos, the group will tour several sites in Santa Fe. The tour is an opportunity to recount stories and study mission reports, videos, memoirs, photos and memorabilia. The association’s historian, Jim McCabe, will search the archives to find records, photos and mission reports of husbands, fathers, grandfathers and long lost relatives who served in the group of Army Air Corps flyers.
The 307th Bombardment Group (Heavy) Association was founded in 1972 and now includes the children of the 307th and their families and friends. Its mission is to insure that future generations never forget the sacrifices that these men made for them and this country.
