The B-24J Liberator sitting on the tarmac at Cincinnati's Lunken Airport is a historical piece to most people, a relic of a long-ago time when young American aviators flew in flak-filled skies to liberate Europe and crush the Japanese empire.

John Farres (left) of Crescent Springs and John Clapper of Kenwood inspect gun positions in the B-24 plane on display at Lunken Airport. (Craig Ruttle photos) | ZOOM |

        But for Chuck Dougherty, a retiree from West Chester, it is a part of his life, as real as it was 57 years ago when, as a 20-year-old fresh out of pilot's training, he first climbed into a Liberator cockpit and made his first bombing run over Southeast Asia.

        “It is a beautiful, beautiful aircraft,” Mr. Dougherty said Tuesday afternoon, looking up at the B-24, sitting wing-to-wing with a restored B-17 Flying Fortress, the bomber that, during World War II, flew thousands of missions across Europe and into the heart of Nazi Germany.

        “I'll always be in love with it.”

        The B-24 — a restored aircraft exactly like the one Mr. Dougherty flew in the spring of 1945 — and the B-17 have been on display at Lunken since Monday as part of a cross-country tour sponsored by the Collings Foundation, a Massachusetts non-profit organization dedicated to preserving World War II aircraft. The aircraft will be on display from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. today.

        Both are in flying condition. This afternoon, they will fly on to Wooster, Ohio, to be displayed there through the weekend.

        “This is living history,” said Bob Collings, the Massachusetts businessman who began the foundation over 20 years ago.

The view from the gun position in the side of the “Dragon and his Tail/All American,” a vintage B-24J Liberator. In the background is a B-17 Flying Fortress, “Nine-O-Nine.” | ZOOM |

        “I want these planes to be there for young people to see, to climb around in, and even fly in, so they can get a small taste of what these men went through,” Mr. Collings said. “Our way of life in this country is what it is because, all those years ago, these young men stepped up and did their duty to preserve freedom in the world.”

        What Mr. Collings hopes is that in all the 130 cities that will have the B-24 and B-17 on display, local veterans who flew those aircraft in World War II will come and share experiences with other visitors.

        Tuesday, that is exactly what happened when Mr. Dougherty showed up.

        He was, in the spring of 1945, a member of the 90th Bomb Group — the “Jolly Rogers” — who, from their base in the Philippines, ran bombing missions over Japanese-occupied territories in Southeast Asia.

        “I tell young veterans I'm the world's oldest Vietnam vet,” Mr. Dougherty said. “We bombed Saigon when it was French Indochina and occupied by the Japanese.”

        Mr. Doherty climbed up the ladder at the tail of the B-24 and began leading a visitor on a tour of the insides, squeezing through the narrow passageway that led from the tail-gunner's position, over the bomb bay and up to the flight deck.

        Mr. Dougherty flew 26 missions with his 10-man crew. They had trained at 25,000 feet, but the actual bombing raids were conducted at 10,000 to 12,000 feet, which meant that, once over enemy territory, they had to plow through a hailstorm of anti-aircraft fire to reach their targets.

        He often wonders what would have happened had President Harry Truman decided not to drop the atomic bombs. He and other B-24 crews would likely have had to participate in a fall invasion of Japan.

        “And, if that had happened, I might not be sitting here talking to you today,” he said. “Thank you, Harry.”

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