The Tail Gunners Story

This is a story about Dewey ( the tail gunner) and David (the navigator) Holst. I have had the honor of meeting these heroes who simply see themselves as "guys who were just doing their job."

David, the oldest, enlisted in the cadets in 1942 in St. Louis and was put in the reserve program. He went to college through a training detachment at East Lansing at the University of Michigan and studied there until he was called up. David then went to basic and primary flight school and onto advanced. He finally found his way to San Antonio where decisions were made as to where these men would be placed: pilot, navigation, or bombardier programs. Navigation was for him, navigation included math and calculation and he was always good at those things. He figured if he was going to find his way back to base from a mission, how better to do that than being a navigator. David wanted to be sure to get back and he knew he could trust his navigation and that would increase his chances of making it home after a mission. He was sent to navigation school at San Marcos, Texas. Continued on content page.