Bombers Over New Hampshire
By Mike Raftus

On May 24, 1944, 19-year old T/Sgt. Louis Paltrineri, US Army Air Force, strapped himself in the Radio Operator's seat of B-17G (42-97845) of the 100th Bomber Group, 350th Sqn. This was his 30th and final mission. After completion of the mission, he would have been shipped home back to his wife in Massachusetts, who was expecting their first child.

Lou had no sooner settled into his seat when he realized he forgot to bring the blue baby booties that he always hung on his radio equipment. His wife, Treva, hand knitted and sent them a few months earlier, and Lou brought them on each mission as a good luck charm. This would be the first mission he would fly without them. Another bad omen was that this was a mission to bomb Berlin, his sixth Berlin mission, the "Big B," was a long range and well defended target. Lou had finished his required 25 missions flying with the same crew for Pilot Ed McKay. After finishing his 25th, Lou and his five fellow gunner crewmates volunteered for five more missions.

Today's flight to Berlin was in the lead plane, a brand new B-17 piloted by Captain James Geary and carrying the Squadron Commander, Major Maurice Fitzgerald. Just after dropping their bomb load on Berlin, their B-17 was hit by flak and damaged enough that they had to pull out of the formation and started to head back to England. As they approached the Hamburg area, they were attacked by several FW 190 fighters whose 20-mm cannon carrier shells peppered the B-17, wounding Lou in his thigh and setting their aircraft on fire.

Captain Geary ordered the crew to bail out. All ten crew members landed safely and became POWs. Lou landed in trees and was immediately captured  by German troops. After thee days of interrogation, he was sent to a hospital for treatment of his wounds. After a couple of weeks there, Lou was sent to Stalag Luft IV in Northeastern Germany (now part of Poland).

The next ten months as a POW included a long journey from the Baltic to Bavaria where he, along with thousands of other allied prisoners, were liberated by General Patten's troops in April 1945. Treva Paltrineri gave birth to their first child ten days after Louis was show down — just after receiving the telegram that Lou was missing in action.

Sixty-one years later on September 23, 2005, Louis once again boarded a B-17 with nine others, mostly press. Now living in Holliston, Mass., he recalled his B-17 days, this time completing his mission flying from Portsmouth, NH, to Nashua, NH. Two 4-engine bombers — a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, "Nine-O-Nine," and a Consolidated B-24J Liberator, "Witchcraft" — owned by the Collings Foundation of Stow, Mass. tour the USA to honor WWII veterans. They take passengers on flights for a donation and also walk-throughs.

This flight was scheduled to bring the B-17 and B-24 to participate in the Nashua Aviation Heritage Festival (September 23-25). The two bombers were to fly together along the New Hampshire seacoast and then over the hills and lakes to Nashua. Naturally, Lou was assigned to the B-17G. The plane was crewed by Pilot Jim Minor, Co-Pilot Mac McCauley, and Crew Chief Wayne Patenaude. Lou sat just behind the pilots for takeoff and then moved about the aircraftfrom the Bombardier position in the nose, next to the Navigtor's table just behind.

"The view from the Plexiglas nose was fantastic, especially with no one shooting at us," said Paltrineri. Crawling through the bomb bay by stepping along a narow catwalk, Lou reached his old station. The Radio Operators had the only "private office" on the plane. He sat down at his radio transmission and receiving equipment. Standing up, Lou could remember how he stood at the open gun hatch in the ceiling where he shot a .50 caliber machine gun at enemy fighters. Lou chuckled as he recalle how he once riddled his own tail with bullets while shooting at a fast-moving Messerschmitt ME109.

Today the hatch afforded a great, albeit windy, view of Portsmouth harbor. No enemy planes in sight, but the B-24 was in formation just off Nine-O-Nine's right wing. No flak either. The noisy throb of the four Wright "Cyclone" radial engines, the wind whistling through the various turrets, gun hatches and bomb bay brought back the sights and sounds of 1944.

"Not the cold, though," said Lou, as the flight was at 2000 feet instead of the 24,000 feet altitude flown on bombing missions, Lou sat in his old Radio Operator/Gunner's set for the landing in Nashua. The B-17 and B-24 taxied in and parked next to the other warbirds gathered for the event in Nashua. Lou was so excited fro his latest B-17 mission, he ran and literally skipped across the tarmac after thanking the crew. The now 81-year old WWII veteran was able to report on a successful completed mission. Best of all, he was able to then drive home to Holliston, Mass,, and describe his adventures to his wife, Treva. Oh, yes, Louis and Treva still have the blue baby booties, now on display in their living room.