Hartford, CT: World War II Vets Reunited

From Hartford Courant: World War II Vets Reunited

When Sheila Miller saw a commercial for Jeremy Bloom's Wish of a Lifetime — a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to the elderly — she immediately thought of her father and his World War II buddy, Lawrence Patton of Groton.

Miller's father, Quinton Thomas, lives in Asheville, N.C., and hadn't seen Patton since a 1995 reunion of the 22nd Bomb Group, on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.

"They're like brothers," Miller said.

Thomas, 86, and Patton, 91, have "talked on the phone some, but to actually see each other, they haven't," Miller said. Thomas had been helping his other daughter cope financially with her husband's disability; between that and his own health problems, he wasn't able to make the trip.

On Saturday, the two were brought together again. Wish of a Lifetime flew Miller, Thomas and his wife, Mary, to T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I. on Friday. They arrived at Patton's door on Saturday morning.

"He used to be after me to come visit," said Patton, who has traveled to see all his fellow crew members, including a few trips to North Carolina to see Thomas. "I used to say, 'When I see your car in my driveway, I'll consider it.' Well, now his car will be here."

The two men flew B-24 Liberator bombers in the Army Air Corps, a predecessor of the Air Force, during the war. Patton was a gunner and an engineer, and Thomas was a tail turret gunner.

The men went to gunnery school in Panama City, Fla., and the crew formed at March Air Force Base in California.

"A nice bunch of men," Thomas said. "We had no one injured. No one killed. That was a good part."

The gunners in the 10-man crew became close friends, Thomas said. They used to see each other frequently at reunions, but neither Thomas nor Patton have attended one in 16 years.

"I've been wanting to go up [to Connecticut for] a long time, but it seemed like we couldn't," Thomas said. "I've been in the hospital a lot, heart bypass, prostate surgery, pneumonia, you name it."

Although Patton had been fortunate to travel over the years, he, too, has had his share of hardships in recent years. His house burned down in 2002 and his wife, Patricia, died in 2009.

Patton lost nearly everything in the fire, including a journal full of stories and many tokens of his military days. Thomas sent him several copies of pictures, from the war and the reunions, to replace those he had lost.

Wish of a Lifetime granted Thomas' wish as part of its Project 11 campaign, which focuses on granting wishes to veterans this year, since Veterans Day falls on Nov. 11, 2011 — 11/11/11.

On Thursday, Patton said he looked forward to reminiscing about their experiences in the war.

"I don't know what to expect, but I hope we do have time to talk," he said.

And they have many stories.

Thomas remembers being in a bomber that was carrying 20-pound bombs one day when one of them slipped away from the others and fell onto the bomb bay doors.

"It turned them all loose and they all came in on the bomb bay doors. The pilot wanted all of us to form a line and pick them up and throw them out," Thomas said.

"I got into the bomb bay first … so it became my chore to pick up the bombs, one at a time, and hand them to the man next to me, and another one of my buddies … was throwing the bombs out of the escape hatch.

"As I picked up these bombs, I didn't know whether they were armed or unarmed. I picked up 100 20-pound bombs," he said. "And we got them out of the aircraft, no explosions."

Though the war ended 66 years ago and the 22nd bomb group crew ended up spread across America, their brotherhood lives on.

"We were just a couple guys and fate put us together, and we've kept our friendships," Patton said. "There's something about the military that bonds you together."