On May 1, 1943, Sergeant Maynard H. “Snuffy” Smith manned the ball turret of his B-17 during a mission over occupied France.

Flying a B-17 was a very risky job since they were huge, slow and therefore easy targets for enemy aircraft and anti-aircraft defences, who always marked them as primary targets. Out of the entire ...

While the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) conducted night-time bombing raids over Germany, the U.S. 8th Air Force bombed during the day, and the B-17 proved especially well-suited for the task—yet it came ...

LAJOIE, EARL M. Passed away on January 17, 2003. He was a retired Air Force Master Sergeant and a ball turret gunner on a B-17. He also was the owner of Earl ‘ s Arco Truck Stop on the corner of ...