BLUE ASH — My Gal Sal lured the flyboys to Blue Ash Airport this week.

William Sauter of Park Ridge, IL, shows his wife, Mickey, where he sat as a lower ball gunner on the B17. (Brandi Stafford photos) | ZOOM |

        She had them turning pages of their lives back to the days they faced Nazi Europe.

        My Gal Sal is a bomber — a B-17E Flying Fortress — being restored by Blue Ash business executive Bob Ready and a cadre of volunteers, former B-17 crew members and General Electric engineers.

        This week, the 97th Bomb Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps — Sal's group — had its 11th biannual reunion in Cincinnati because they wanted to see her — the only remaining combat B-17E model left in the world.

        Sal was salvaged in 1995 from the ice cap in Greenland where she was ditched in a storm in 1942. She is destined to become the focal point of a national memorial in Blue Ash to the Army Air Corps. Mr. Ready is leading that effort, called the Ultimate Sacrifice Memorial.

WHAT HAPPENED

On June 26, 1942, Operation Bolero, the first B-17 bomber squadron of 13 airplanes destined for the European Theater, left Presque Isle, Maine, with refueling stops scheduled at Goose Bay, Labrador, Greenland and Iceland before reaching their destination in England.     Three of the B-17s — My Gal Sal, Sooner and Alabama Exterminator — were forced to ditch in stormy Greenland for lack of fuel. All crew members survived. Five of the planes made it to the refueling stop in Greenland; five others returned to the United States.     My Gal Sal remained on the ice cap above the Arctic Circle until she was salvaged in 1995 and later acquired by Bob Ready, a Blue Ash business executive, who is restoring her.

        “The greatest thing is this will let people, including children, know what World War II is all about,” said Paul Blaida, 82, a former B-17 bombardier from Downers Grove, Ill.

        Mr. Blaida said Sal is the first B-17 restoration project he's seen up close. “It brings back memories of my plane — the Sooner — one of two other B-17Es that was lost with My Gal Sal in the same storm.”

        Ed Branch, 82, of Grapevine, Texas, a bombardier on Alabama Exterminator, the other B-17 that went down with Sal and Sooner, said he was thinking of the 90,000 men who went down on B-17s in the war.

WWII veterans inspect My Gal Sal's inner structure at the Blue Ash Airport. | ZOOM |

        “They would more than fill your new football stadium. Only 30 percent of us survived. I flew 50 missions and it's unbelievable to me that I came back. I'm glad to see this. There isn't much B-17 history left in this world.”

        Mr. Ready said the bomber will not be fully restored until the front part of the fuselage arrives from California, where another team is working on it. That will not happen for several months. The public will not be permitted to view the B-17 until its completion and dedication. An unveiling date has not been set.

        Gary Larkins of Auburn, Calif., who led the team that brought back My Gal Sal from Greenland, said the bomber is one of the most complete B-17s left “because it was all intact inside — all original equipment was still there.” Mr. Larkins said most B-17s around today were training airplanes and tankers kept in the United States, and most armament and equipment had been removed so the planes could be used for other purposes.

Guy Gravlee of Tupelo, Miss., signs a bomb casing. He was a bombardier in WWII. | ZOOM |

        Bob Patrick, 80, My Gal Sal's crew chief, called the project an “inspiration” for all Army Air Corps veterans. “It's the most rare combat B-17 left in the world. An E-model has never been restored.”

        Tom Gulley, president of the 225-member 97th Bomb Group reunion, said the group flew a record 483 combat missions over Europe and Africa.

        “We were the first heavy bomb group to go overseas and we were the first to go to England to bomb Nazi Europe,” Mr. Gulley said. “My Gal Sal is a symbol for all of us and for our country.”

        For information about My Gal Sal restoration and the Ultimate Sacrifice Memorial, go to www.ultimatesacrifice.com
       

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