The Greatest Generation Live Podcast

B-17 Co-Pilot John "Lucky" Luckadoo Discusses "Masters of the Air"

Glenn welcomes WWII veteran John “Lucky” Luckadoo, who survived 25 missions as a B-17 co-pilot in the 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force in World War II. Joining Lucky is his bestselling author biographer Kevin Maurer to talk about the Air War and the “Bloody Hundredth.”  
P-51 pilot Joe Peterburs and P-47 pilot Ed Cottrell join the conversation. A rare gathering of three WWII pilots.
Regardless of skills or circumstances, Lucky says, survival was ultimately a matter of luck. His motivation throughout the war remained grounded in the belief that they were serving a cause to defend their values and freedom, considering it their patriotic duty to answer the call to arms.
As a B-17 co-pilot, Luckadoo describes the grim realities faced during missions, including witnessing bloodshed and the loss of comrades. Flying in extreme conditions took a psychological toll, with temperatures plummeting to -50 to -60 degrees Celsius at high altitudes in unpressurized cabins. Not to mention the constant threat from enemy fighters and flak.
Lucky candidly talks about combat fatigue and how it affected some of his comrades. The sheer terror, horror, and chaos of combat took a toll on individuals, leading to psychological breakdowns. As the operations officer, he evaluated the capability of squadron members to identify signs of combat fatigue. Unlike the British, who punished those refusing to fly, the Eighth Air Force took a more philosophical approach, recognizing the mental strain of combat.
Reflecting on his mentality before his first combat mission, Luckadoo emphasized the sense of duty and patriotism that motivated him. The belief that they were serving a cause greater than themselves, defending their country and principles, kept him focused on the job despite the challenges.
One remarkable and harrowing mission Luckadoo recounted was the planned raid on Berlin led by General Curtis LeMay. The mission, intended to be the first daylight raid on Berlin, was of utmost importance. However, it got scrubbed due to cloud cover dispersing over the target, losing the element of surprise. Despite the cancellation, Luckadoo revealed the gravity of the situation and how it symbolized the intense nature of their missions.
Luckadoo also shared his experiences as a tail gunner, a position he reluctantly took during a lead crew designation. The challenges of communication and the impracticality of the role led him to refuse further assignments in the tail, grounding himself for a period.
Another critical moment in Luckadoo’s wartime journey was his toughest mission over Bremen. Flying with a new crew after his original crew completed their tour, he faced intense flak and witnessed a fellow squadron member’s plane being rammed by a German fighter. The mission tested his resolve, and surviving it left a lasting impact on him.
“We were young citizen-soldiers, terribly naive and gullible about what we would be confronted with in the air war over Europe and the profound effect it would have upon every fiber of our being for the rest of our lives. We were all afraid, but it was beyond our power to quit. We volunteered for the service and, once trained and overseas, felt we had no choice but to fulfill the mission assigned. My hope is that this book honors the men with whom I served by telling the truth about what it took to climb into the cold blue and fight for our lives over and over again.”–John “Lucky” Luckadoo, Major, USAF (Ret.) 100th Bomb Group (H)
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was a world away from John Luckadoo’s hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. But when the Japanese attacked the American naval base on December 7, 1941, he didn’t hesitate to join the military. Trained as a pilot with the United States Air Force, Second Lieutenant Luckadoo was assigned to the 100th Bomb Group stationed in Thorpe Abbotts, England. Between June and October 1943, he flew B-17 Flying Fortresses over France and Germany on bombing runs devised to destroy the Nazi war machine.
With a shrapnel torn Bible in his flight jacket pocket and his girlfriend’s silk stocking around his neck like a scarf as talismans, Luckadoo piloted through Luftwaffe machine-gun fire and antiaircraft flak while enduring subzero temperatures to complete twenty-five missions and his combat service. The average bomber crew rarely survived after eight to twelve missions. Knowing far too many airmen who wouldn’t be returning home, Luckadoo closed off his emotions and focused on his tasks to finish his tour of duty one moment at a time, realizing his success was more about being lucky than being skilled.
 
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Five Historians Discuss "Masters of the Air"

In conjunction with the release of the highly-anticipated Apple TV+ series, Masters of the Air, VBC historian host Glenn Flickinger has created a 10-part livestream series that will recap and provide history discussion around each episode. Each week, Glenn will cover the action and background of the series in conversation with show producers and creators, air war historians, and family members of the real-life characters depicted in the series.
Masters of the Air is a streaming television miniseries by Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks based on the 2007 book Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany by Donald L. Miller about the 100th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force.
Glenn welcomes Steve Snyder, author of "Shot Down" and Colin Heaton, author of Above the Reich, Robert Ehlers, author of Targeting the Third Reich, and David and Margaret White, authors of Wings of War.
Thank you to Tobacco Free Adagio Health and UPMC for Life for sponsoring this event!

Chloe Melas on Masters of the Air with Glenn Flickinger

One of the major characters in Masters of the Air is B-17 navigator Frank Murphy whose granddaughter, Chloe Melas, republished his memoir, The Luck of the Draw.
As a navigator on a B-17, Murphy played a crucial role in guiding the aircraft through the treacherous skies over Europe. Navigators were tasked with plotting courses, ensuring precise locations, and navigating through enemy territory. This demanding role required a deep understanding of both the aircraft's instruments and the ever-changing conditions of aerial combat.
The turning point in Murphy's wartime experience came when his B-17 was shot down. Murphy found himself in the hands of the enemy and became a prisoner of war.
Being a POW during World War II meant enduring the hardships of captivity, including limited rations, harsh living conditions, and the constant uncertainty about the future. The mental and emotional toll of captivity was immense, and the resilience displayed by individuals like Murphy in the face of adversity is a testament to their strength and determination.
In conjunction with the release of the highly-anticipated Apple TV+ series, Masters of the Air, VBC historian host Glenn Flickinger has created a 10-part livestream series Thursdays beginning January 18 at 7:00pm that will recap and provide history discussion around each episode. Each week, Glenn will cover the action and background of the series in conversation with show producers and creators, air war historians, and family members of the real-life characters depicted in the series.
Masters of the Air is a streaming television miniseries by Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks based on the 2007 book Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany by Donald L. Miller about the 100th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force.

German World War II Veteran Wolfram Forster

German World War II Wehrmacht veteran and US Army veteran Dr. Wolfram Forster joins VBC Happy Hour to tell us about his harrowing route from Hitler’s Germany to the United States. Wolfram shares his story in his memoir, Farewell, Berlin: My World War II Story of Surviving Hitler’s Germany and Embracing Life in America.
Wolfram grew up in Berlin during the reign of Hitler. It was a time when German citizens were so deprived of freedom that a dentist was executed simply for confiding in a patient that he held a shadow of doubt about the fate of Hitler’s war.
While Wolfram and his family struggled to live any kind of normal life during the height of World War II, he clung to two dreams for his future: to someday live in America and to become a doctor.
To have any hope of realizing those dreams, however, he would need to navigate an endless trail of fear, terror, heartbreak, confusion, injustice and the constant threat of annihilation while living in Europe at a time when life was turned upside down.
First, he had to survive the relentless Allied bombing of Berlin. One day he discovered his neighborhood movie theater blown to pieces just hours after sirens blared as a signal for him and his mother to get out, and a factory where he was assigned to work was destroyed on the day he was forced to stay home with an illness.
Still, he marveled at the American B-17s and B-24s soaring in formation over his city and vowed that one day he would fly in one. Called to serve as a German soldier in the final months of the war, he was captured by the Allies and held as a POW by three different national militaries: the Americans, the French, and the Russians.
Finally, almost two years after the end of the war, he gained his freedom. Over time, and overcoming many new obstacles, he found his way to fulfill those two childhood goals, becoming a noted radiologist treating patients from inside the power circles of Washington, DC and going on to serve as a Colonel in the U.S. Army. Farewell, Berlin tells the almost unimaginable story of Wolfram Forster. With honesty, warmth and vivid detail, it provides a close-up look inside a world rarely glimpsed by anyone who has ever been curious about the long years of bloodshed and turmoil of World War II.
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"Masters of the Air" Author Donald L. Miller

We are proud to welcome author Donald L. Miller to VBC Greatest Generation Live with Glenn Flickinger hosting. Donald’s book, Masters of the Air, is the inspiration for the major Apple TV+ series which premiered in January 2024!
The riveting history of the American Eighth Air Force in World War II and the young men who flew the bombers that helped beat the Nazis and liberate Europe, brilliantly told by historian and World War II expert Donald L. Miller. The Masters of the Air streaming series stars Austin Butler and Callum Turner, and is produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the legendary duo behind Band of Brothers and The Pacific.
Masters of the Air is the deeply personal story of the American bomber boys in World War II who brought the war to Hitler’s doorstep. With the narrative power of fiction, Donald Miller takes you on a harrowing ride through the fire-filled skies over Berlin, Hanover, and Dresden and describes the terrible cost of bombing for the German people.
Fighting at 25,000 feet in thin, freezing air that no warriors had ever encountered before, bomber crews battled new kinds of assaults on body and mind. Air combat was deadly but intermittent: periods of inactivity and anxiety were followed by short bursts of fire and fear. Unlike infantrymen, bomber boys slept on clean sheets, drank beer in local pubs, and danced to the swing music of Glenn Miller’s Air Force band, which toured US air bases in England. But they had a much greater chance of dying than ground soldiers.
The bomber crews were an elite group of warriors who were a microcosm of America—white America, anyway. The actor Jimmy Stewart was a bomber boy, and so was the “King of Hollywood,” Clark Gable. And the air war was filmed by Oscar-winning director William Wyler and covered by reporters like Andy Rooney and Walter Cronkite, all of whom flew combat missions with the men. The Anglo-American bombing campaign against Nazi Germany was the longest military campaign of World War II, a war within a war. Until Allied soldiers crossed into Germany in the final months of the war, it was the only battle fought inside the German homeland.
Masters of the Air is a story of life in wartime England and in the German prison camps, where tens of thousands of airmen spent part of the war. It ends with a vivid description of the grisly hunger marches captured airmen were forced to make near the end of the war through the country their bombs destroyed.
Drawn from recent interviews, oral histories, and American, British, German, and other archives, Masters of the Air is an authoritative, deeply moving account of the world’s first and only bomber war.
Thank you to Tobacco Free Adagio Health and UPMC for Life for sponsoring this event!