THEN AND NOW — Ray Reeves pauses for a photo at his home. The photo at left shows Reeves stateside just before leaving to fight in WWII.

Local vet recalls service as turret gunner in WWII

Ray S. Reeves is a patriot in more than one sense of the word. While not overly opinionated about America's war against Iraq, Reeves supports the U.S. military and its efforts.

Describing his patriotic attitude, his wife Jean said of their home in northern Alleghany County, "We did some work on the house, and we took down that flag. Every day he would be asking me, ‘When are we going to put the flag back up?'"

Ray Reeves knows first-hand about war; he recalled his own participation, more than half a century ago, in the campaign by the United States and its allies to oppose another dangerous, tyrannical regime overseas.

He was a staff sergeant in the 474th Army Air Force during World War II. (The Air Force was then part of the Army, not yet a separate service branch.) He flew 50 bombing missions as a ball turret gunner on a B-24 plane.

With a modesty common to many veterans, Reeves is somewhat reluctant about being called a hero. "I was just a drop in the bucket," he said. "Look at how many more did the very same thing."

Born and raised in Sparta, Reeves was drafted Jan. 31, 1943. He had relatives in Maryland, and he was working there, making bullets in a factory once used to make firecrackers, just before his induction. "I knew I was going; I was just working ‘til they drafted me," he said.

Gunnery Training

After basic training, he went through aerial gunnery training in Fort Myers, Fla. "I learned to use all those machine guns," he recalled. "They trained us on B-25 and B-26 bombers."

The next stop was Salt Lake City, where the crew for the B-24 was selected. That crew stayed together throughout the war, he said. They then went to Tucson, Ariz. for bombing and gunnery practice.

The crew flew to Brazil, then to north Africa. They arrived in Italy, where they were stationed, May 2, 1944. As a turret gunner, his position was underneath the airplane.

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