<VV> You know you are old when... (no Corvair!)

[Dennis Pleau]

My father grew up in Lodi/Stockton, CA.  He spent his summers working on his
grandfather ranch harvesting wheat in Willows, CA.  
He was drafted in 1943 and became a B24 pilot.  His only B24 mission was the
one was the one described at the end of the book 'Unbroken' where a B24 POWs
went down because it was over weight carrying allied POWs.  He got his POWs
out successfully.  B24' were never designed to carry people; they put 2x6's
on the bomb racks to seat the POWs on that run.  He had let a POW pilot sit
in his PIC seat when the Mayday came over the radio.  There was a mad
scramble for him to get back in his seat as no one else was authorized to be
Pilot in Command seat of that plane 
The Army Air Corp discharge all their pilots who had seen combat and since
Dad had never seen combat he was retained to fly a C47 (DC3) all over Korea
and Japan until August 46 which explains why my folks weren't until married
until September 14, 1946, 65 years ago last week. Got t love it!!!

Corvair content, He bought a 63 84/pg sedan in 1968, for my brother and I. I
did a ring bearing and valve lap and then sold it.  The profits were used to
buy my 102/4sp coupe in 1970.

-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of Ramon Rodriguez III
Sent: Sunday, September 18, 2011 7:39 PM
To: James P. Rice
Cc: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Subject: Re: <VV> You know you are old when... (no Corvair!)

Few of you if any can beat my father on this one.

My father grew up in New York city, first in the Bronx, then at the edge of
Harlem.  When he was a kid in NYC milk and ICE were delivered by a guy with
a horse and cart.  The streets were DIRT, and there were only a couple of
cars parked on each block... many had none.

He'll be 85 in January, and I think he's in better physical shape than I am
at 31!  We spent all day yesterday walking around and riding roller coasters
at Dorney Park, his idea NOT mine!

Ray "Grymm" Rodriguez III