Elmer Pankratz always wanted to fly, but in depression era America, that wasn’t going to happen for a small town boy of modest means.
Then a funny twist happened, Uncle Sam came calling, and armed with a high school diploma, a fierce determination, and a love of flying, eighteen-year-old Elmer became a pilot. He wanted to fly the P-51 Mustang so badly that he took on the most dangerous assignments of flying tactical recon just to pilot his “aluminum sweetheart”. Elmer’s book, I NEEDED A WAR TO DO IT, is a collection of his wartime memories and experiences. It makes a fascinating reading for students of military aviation and chronicles the path that many brave young Americans took to create air superiority and ultimate victory in World War II.
Elmer is pictured here with his sweetheart, P-51. Together they made 43 combat mission flights. Although Germans had their mobile 37mm anti-aircraft guns in position to blow off the wing of his Mustang, he miraculously avoided them. His missions would range between 3-4 hours and the summer could be brutal because of no air conditioning for WWII fighters. No matter what the temperature was, he always wore gloves and his flight suit zipped up tight. His face was also covered with his oxygen mask and goggles, so there was no skin exposed to get burned. He had heard of too many pilots who did not wear gloves, not being able to get their canopy open because the heat was so intense that it immediately destroyed the use of the pilot’s hands. His greatest fear in flying was fire, so Elmer gave himself every edge just in case.
The painting depicts the F-6 of the 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron flown by Elmer during his head-on close encounter with a Messerschmitt ME262 jet fighter over Germany in early 1945. Ted Williams is the artist of this painting and is one of America’s leading aviation artists. Visit his portfolio @ www.tedwilliamsaviationart.com
The escape map shown in the photo covered western Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and eastern France. The detail was very good. It was printed on silk so that it could get soaked and stay together and still be readable. Elmer shared a story while we shared a table recently at the Victor Library book signing hosted by The Rochester Honor Flight. He said with awe and amazement after all these years, something he will never ever forget. It was on a battlefield one day where the Germans and Americans were battling it out until a dog came running in the middle of open fire with his owner, a little girl running after him. One of Elmer’s comrades yelled, “cease fire”! Then they heard a German soldier yell the same. Each side waited for the girl and her to dog to leave for safety before they resumed firing. It was in that moment that Elmer witnessed the rare human side of war.
This book is full of detail and is a very interesting read and is available @ armorplatepress.com/books/biographies/
Comes A Soldier’s Whisper, honoring our history and veterans one day at a time…
www.facebook.com/ComesASoldiersWhisper
www.ComesASoldiersWhisper.com
