Page 16 - Boca Exposure - April '24

Page 16, Boca Exposure
Book Review

I Will Tell No War Stories: On Sept. 8, 1944, Here is one more brief excerpt that provides a glimpse
What Our Fathers Left Unsaid a few days before his of what it was like in the skies of World War II:
“Sometimes the planes would blow up, the bombs

20th birthday, Pincus
About World War II Mansfield’s last note aboard exploding, or the fuel in the tanks, or both … The
about his crew’s
aircraft splits into pieces of metal … You might see bodies
By Nils A. Shapiro mission over Karlsruhe … Men, pinned to the walls and floor by the centrifugal
As we near the century read: “Temp. -38 C. force of a spinning plane had little time to escape before the
mark since the end of World (-34.6 F) Froze two bomber hit the ground … The crews in other bombers could
War II only two decades from fingers.” He was later only watch as men fell five miles down through bombers
now, we have all seen many to lose two fingers of and fighters in battle, fell without a parachute or with a
movies and read books about his left hand, amputated parachute on fire, or were machine-gunned to death as they
what our military forces because of the below- hung from a parachute.”
experienced during those freezing cold that But Howard Mansfield’s book is not all a history of
years in combat overseas. gunners were exposed tragedy. His Dad made it home, and the last two chapters
But what has been to in the cramped, clear describe the life he returned to – a touching and emotional
strangely missing is plexiglass “bubbles” in reminder of why these men kept the demons of memory to
an explanation, and which they were restricted during flight. He had frostbite themselves, refusing to share them with loved ones.
understanding, of why our veterans—those who survived but it didn’t stop him from flying; he was back in action “My father, like most of the men of his generation, chose
to return home when so many did not—locked their wartime the next day. The author notes, “My father’s frostbite, silence … By his silence he said, I give you peace. Take it.
memories within themselves, refusing to discuss such three weeks shy of his twentieth birthday, would bother Take the yawning days of summer boredom, the hours on
experiences with family or friends for the rest of their lives. him for the rest of his life. It was on his bad left hand. the floor watching TV shows with a talking horse or a wily
One of today’s finest historians and most skillful Into his nineties, he was seeing doctors to have parts cut coyote, the hours lost with a coloring book on a rainy day
researchers, Howard Mansfield, grew up in that kind of home. off. When I asked him why he was seeing a doctor for his … take the school days and proms … touch football in the
His father, Pincus Mansfield, had joined the Army Air hand, he said only, ‘It’s nothing. An inconvenience.’” street … Take it all. I give you peace. Take it and don’t ask
Force in 1943 at the age of 19. Although the truth was not Between what was for some a terror that was so intense me questions. I will tell no war stories.”
known by the general American public at the time, training it would last a lifetime, for others a guilt at the realization To all of you who are veterans of any war, or who now
for wartime air combat was woefully inadequate. The that their job was to kill over and over again, we begin to or in the past have had veterans in your lives, those words
result was that only one of every four bomber crews—each understand in these pages why so many World War II veterans alone are all you need to know about Howard Mansfield,
consisting of a pilot and copilot, a bombardier, navigator and could never speak about their wartime experiences to anyone and why I recommend this as just the first of this wonderful
gunners—completed its full tour of 25 missions. The rest but each other for the rest of their lives. historian’s books you will want to read.
were shot down, killed in action, missing in action or taken
as prisoners. As United Press reporter Harrison Salisbury
said, “To fly in the Eighth Air Force then was to hold a ticket WHAT ARE YOUR
to a funeral. Your own.”
Like most men of his generation, Pincus refused to talk MEDICARE OPTIONS?
about the war throughout his lifetime, even to his family. He
said a few things about his time in England but nothing ever I will help you find a health plan that
about combat. best fits your needs at no cost to you.
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almost 65 years. It was an account of each bomber mission
Pincus had been on when he was 19 and 20 years old!
Eventually serving as a belly gunner on B-24 Liberator
bombers for many missions over Germany, the young man Beth S. Sigel
had kept a handwritten diary describing after each mission
what he and the crew of his plane had just gone through—an Boca Pointe Resident
extraordinary document that reveals a view of aerial warfare (954) 261-4648
so intimate and detailed that to read its pages is as close as beth@reliablemedicaresolutions.com
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That was the inspiration and motivation for a new book by “We do not offer every plan in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area.
his son, Howard, who—starting with those faded old pages Please contact 1-800-Medicare or Medicare.gov to get information on all your options.”
and a series of private tape recordings made by his father 75
years after the war and discovered along with the diary—takes
it from there and uses his own brilliant research skills to add a
wealth of information gleaned from sources that fill a reference
section of six full pages at the end of this book. I Will Tell No
War Stories is officially being published this month.
After training in Colorado, Pincus Mansfield was sent
overseas to Old Buckenham military air base in East Anglia,
England, and assigned as a belly gunner on the crew of the
B-24 Liberator, Mary Harriet, in the 453rd BG (Bomber
Group). He was one of nearly 3,000 men stationed there
as either crew or ground support for flying missions over
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