Cramer, Alfred B-17 Navigator

Cramer joined the Army Air Corps in 1943. He was sent to basic training in Utah followed by navigation training in Houston. From there he went to Tennessee to join crew #26, 569th squadron, 390th Bomb Group, as its navigator. Cramer and his crew deployed to Europe via ship. Cramer flew 34 combat missions between 8/14/44 and 12/28/44.

[@markbettinson3381]

Beautiful interview. My family lost a B17 navigator flying out of Framlingham in August of 1944. What a poignant experience to hear Alfred share his memories of that same time. Alfred would have shared the mess hall for only a few weeks with my uncle, Robert Taylor. Robert was navigator of "Ding Dong Daddy" and his entire crew perished when two B17's collided over Hertfordhshire, England on August 26th. They were mustering at 14,000 feet. He was 21 years and six days old. In August of 2007 I was honored to be able to visit the exact site where his plane crashed in the village of Weston. My father and I also got up to Framlingham to visit the airfield and small museum on this trip. Hearing Alfred's voice is so healing. He led a great life after the war. Opens the Heart a little more. Almost like I got to see my Uncle grow old.... Thank you Raymond for sharing this.

[@raymondmcfalone26]

You are very welcome and thank you for sharing your story. Raymond

[@dalebelseth3058]

That last mission after his crew was gone and he came back after they had left, what a gut punch

[@gregmitchell4619]

Just can't say thanks enough! First for the men who gives us this life, then for someone to document it! Priceless!

[@raymondmcfalone26]

Thanks for watching.

[@accousticdecay]

Fantastic interview.

[@raymondmcfalone26]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lunamae4718]

A truly wonderful interview- I learned so much from the luitenant

[@loveshisharley]

Thanks again for another wonderful interview and for sharing it for future generations.

[@donharvey4237]

Excellent interview

[@henryj.8528]

These interviews are priceless and were well done. I wonder if any of them saw the film 12 o'Clock High after the war and what they thought of it. His difficulty getting into the plane has a parallel in that film...

[@brachio1000]

Fascinating.

[@dr.barrycohn5461]

Thanks to guys like him, we were able to overwhelm the Axis and prevail.

[@jimbuford4147]

I live near Dyersburg TN. Actually the air base was about 6 miles South of Dyersburg at Halls, TN. They have a fine airshow there every year.

[@jonboycat3513]

what sacrifice bravery and heart these wonderful souls what important heartfelt truth these films show . thankyou

[@jjlivepattern]

Love these Guys 🌟 🇺🇸 True Heroes

[@elephantjr22]

That's incredible the story of his third mission being hit with flak that Thank You Sir Thank You for your service

[@rustykilt]

It would be interesting to hear from other aircrew, B-24, B-26 ect, to get their views. I assume they would be similar, but Medium bombers or B-24 crews get little attention, from what i can see.

[@stephenwhitehead1160]

That pair of churches shoes he bought were made at the bottom of my road in Northampton

[@jsfbr]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@jimbuford4147]

Amazing that the military would let a German go on missions against his grandparents country of origen. If he was Japanese in the Pacific that would never have happened. But he looked Anglo rather than Oriental and that made all the difference.

[@hellboundrubber4448]

The Highest Decorated American ground unit was a Japanese American Unit. The 442nd Infantry Regiment. What do you think of that?

[@desertflinger11]

@@hellboundrubber4448 They never went to Japan.

[@liamhackett513]

@@desertflinger11 sure a few of them were in Okinawa.

[@drstrangelove4998]

‘Ike’ Eisenhower was of course of German descent, as was Boeing who founded the eponymous aircraft company who built the B17… 🤔

[@jimmarshik]

My great great grandparents changed the spelling of our family's name, fearing that the Germans might attack the US

[@boss2234]

👍🏼