"We all wore the cloth. We all did the job together." Watch video
MILLVILLE -- They were pilots, gunners, radiomen and ground crew mechanics. They stormed the sands of Iwo Jima and rained bombs upon Berlin. They are, and will forever remain, proof of what the Greatest Generation was capable of.
It was fitting then that the Millville Army Air Field Museum (MAAFM) turned a fly-in by some of World War II's most iconic planes into an opportunity to honor these brave men.
"You're representing hundreds of thousands of other World War II veterans who are not here today with us," said Bob Trivellini, vice president of the MAAFM Board of Directors. "It took a nationwide, worldwide effort here on the home front and of course overseas to win that monumental battle."
The dozen men called together Thursday -- not one of them under the age of 90 -- represented various military branches and theaters of service. Their visit coincided with the Collings Foundation's Wings of Freedom Tour that brought a B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator to Millville.
Salem County resident Charles Wentzell needed no introduction to the Fortress; he helped lead the U.S. Army Air Force's first bombing raid against the Nazi capital and claimed an aerial kill on the same outing.
"We lost 67 bombers that day," he said of the four-engine ships that carried a crew of 10.
Louis Gerlack, of Glassboro, logged hundreds of hours inside the B-17 as an engineer before switching to the more advanced B-29s that were being used in the skies over Japan after Germany's surrender in spring 1945.
"Sadly I taught hundreds of young men aerial gunnery and most of them didn't get back," Gerlack, standing under the B-17's wing, lamented.
What's it like to fly in a B-17?
Paused inside the belly of the B-24 and looking down in wonder at the cramped ball turret position, Carneys Point resident Walter Sierocinski recalled his time in mechanic school and later as a ground crew worker on fighter planes during the war.
Fellow Carneys Point man Paul Gelesh came to the museum on Thursday carrying assorted medals and wartime training manuals he found after his dad -- a ball turret gunner on a B-24 -- passed away.
He wanted to know more about dad's days overseas, which Wentzell was happy to help him further grasp.
"He didn't talk about it," Gelesh said. "I imagine there's some memories there."
Seventy-one years after the Axis powers called it quits, those memories are still there.
"We all wore the cloth. We all did the job together," said MAAFM volunteer and U.S. Navy veteran Owen Garrison.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook.