Contacting USAAF veterans?

[Larry deZeng]

Burdokva -

The problem with direct contact is age. A young 20-year-old P-51 pilot in spring-summer 1944 would be 85-years-old today and most of his fellow pilots would be a few years older than that. Old timers that old probably do not use the internet and probably no longer hear very well. Although I certainly support and encourage your interest, I wouldn't set my hopes too high. It's too bad you didn't try to do this about 20 or 25 years ago when most of them were still around.

We had a couple right here in my hometown by the name of Johnny Bolton and ??? (can't remember the other guy's name). Bolton flew P-51 Mustang escort over the Balkans out of Italy but I can't remember which fighter group he was with. He own a Ford car dealership and bought and restored a P-51 in the early 1970s. Once a week he and the other P-51 pilot would crank 'em up and fly formation over Orlando for an hour, wing-tip-to-wing-tip, at about 700 meters. It was a beautiful sight as the P-51s were in full wartime markings. Those big military engines made a powerful, throaty sound that would send shivers right up your back. I went outside and watched them many, many times over a 12 to 15 year period. Coincidentally, the other pilot owned a local car dealership, too, Royal Oldsmobile on North Orange Avenue. Both are dead now.