The first mission for a 21 year-old Army Air Forces pilot Bob Ruiz in his B-24 Liberator was heavy bomber over occupied Europe. As the pilot, Ruiz had a crew of two of my gunners 17 and 18 years old with the oldest crew member was the radio operator (24). Ruiz was the only Hispanic-American pilot in the bombardment group. There he was flying his mission when he looked off his right wing to see in a split a second the plane took a direct hit, and exploded into pieces before my eyes. While successfully completing his bomb run, his aircraft was struck multiple times by enemy anti-aircraft fire. He nursed his crippled airplane all the way back to England with only two of his four engines still functioning. Barely clearing the English coastline and with several of the aircraft’s control systems malfunctioning, he executed a successful emergency landing. Bob and his crew completed their 35 missions in April of 1945. One day Bob was in the Hethel (England) 389th Bomb Group headquarters. A tall, lanky major was standing in a doorway. It was actor Jimmy Stewart. Stewart flew off Bob’s wing thru a number of missions. The Germans were throwing everything at us. It was on a mission in the spring of 1945 when Bob earned his Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). He helps organize Honor Flights to Washington DC for veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam to see the memorials that have been erected in honor of their service. Join us to hear the personal account of this remarkable American war hero.
