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thedrifter
12-07-02, 09:14 AM
By ALAN RAPPEPORT Staff Writer,

LINWOOD - It was better 57 years late than never for Sgt. Ewing Roddy when he received an Air Medal this week for a heroic move that saved his B-17 bomber during a World War II mission over Germany in 1945.

It was 50 degrees below zero 23,000 feet in the sky over Aurshberg, Germany, when Roddy, then a 19-year-old gunner and engineer for the U.S. Army Air Corps, flew on a bombing mission that went wrong.

When the doors of the bomb bay flung open to release the 10 bombs over a railroad center, only nine bombs fell. The last one was stuck in the doors, making it impossible to land the plane without a massive explosion.

Roddy saved the day.

"I walked along the catwalk and got to the bomb," said Roddy, now 78. "I had no tools, so I kicked it, stepped on it. Finally I kicked it out before my oxygen ran out."

Had the plane tried to land with the bomb stuck, it would have detonated on contact with the runway. Roddy could only use one hand to free the bomb because he lost one of his gloves, and if he touched the cold metal with his skin it would have stuck to it, he said.

"I was 19, too young to have any sense," he said. "I was either brave or dumb to do some of the things I did."

After the war, Roddy said he was told that he would receive a medal for his heroism on that day. With all of the chaos and paperwork that followed the war, he said, his award got lost in the shuffle.

"At that time, I just wanted to forget about the war," he said.

At age 78, the symbolism of the medals has more meaning to Roddy.

A year ago, his old radio officer who lives in Indiana suggested that Roddy apply for the medal. That started the process of letters and phone calls to his congressman and the Veteran's Affairs Office that resulted in the former gunner being awarded his fourth Air Medal from the Air Force.

Roddy comes from a military family. His father and brothers all served in the military. His brother-in-law, who died four years ago, recently had his ashes shipped back to Pearl Harbor.

The medals are kept in a plastic case with other memorabilia in Roddy's study. He keeps a model B-17, some giant shells from 50-caliber bullets that he used to fire from machine guns, and an old cloth map of Germany that he would have used if he ever had to abandon his plane and find his way on foot.

The fourth medal allows Roddy to apply for the Distinguished Flying Cross medal, one of the most prestigious medals in the U.S. military. He wants it so that his wife, his three children and his grandchildren have something to remember his glory days.

He wants it badly.

"I want that medal," said a passionate Roddy. "That's what I want, and I'm going to fight for it if I have to get back in that bomb bay and do it again."

PressofAtlanticCity.com

Sempers,

Roger