Art Kramer

ART KRAMER'S WWII STORIES

Bob's Story

Paul, Bob and I were in a repple depple in the English midlands (Hanley, Stoke on Trent) waiting to join the 344th as a replacement crew. We all roomed together as pilots, copilots and bombardiers did.. One evening I entered the room to find Bob sobbing and shaking, wracked with tears uncontrollably. Paul had his arms around Bob trying to comfort him but his sobbing continued unabated. As I stood there about to ask what had happened, Paul shook his head as if to say, "don't ask now, wait until later". I stayed waiting, shifting from foot to foot as Bob's tears poured out and his body shook with grief. Bob had gotten a letter from the States. The girl he was engaged to had been tragically killed in a skiing accident, and Bob was torn with grief. As time passed we joined the 344th and flew our missions. Bob was a fine copilot. When we all went to town and met woman Bob never got involved with any of them. He was always a very quiet fellow, but somehow was even quieter after that tragedy. The war ended, we all went home. We kept in touch over the years. As the years went by Bob never married. His health slowly began to fade. I would drive up to Boston on business from time to time and Bob and I would always have dinner together, but it was clear that he wasn't well and getting worse. He suffered numerous heart attacks and his liver began to fail. He finally passed away in the 1970's. But I always had the feeling whenever I met thim, that since that day in England to the day he died 30 years later, Bob never stopped crying.

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