Just a quick note because I know most of you are spending time with family and I certainly don’t want to intrude. There is a post here that was written for Veteran’s day but has patriotic sentiment that fits the 4th of July. You may not have the time to read it today but maybe you can get around to check out parts of it eventually. It is about a man whom I met who lived near me whom I was very fortunate to meet.
Happy 4th and please be careful if you are setting off any fireworks.
God’s blessings…
Chris Reimers
Here is the post that I enjoyed writing:
https://chrisreimersblog.com/2013/05/27/a-veteran-speaks/
(If you skip to the end of this post, you can hear an audio recording of my interview of Mr. Broniarczyk and his wife.)
Wings of the Wind 
Happy 4th!
Happy 4th, Pastor Jim!
Blessings Chris, hope it was wonderful
Chris, Happy Independence Day! Thanks for the interviews of Mr. Broniarczyk and his wife and your afterwards regarding the Gospel. My father was an Army Air Force pilot in the Pacific during WWII and flew a B-25. He was also based at Tinian when the Enola Gay dropped the atomic bombs.
Hope your enjoying the weekend with your family!
Thank you, Tom, and Happy Independence Day to you as well! You’re welcome for this post. As you can see it was done some time ago and I really need to shorten it some for those who don’t like long posts. I will keep the long version as well but will correct some grammatical errors I noticed when I was looking back through it.
Since Mr. Broniarczyk had his picture taken next to the Enola Gay the day after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, your father was at Tinian at exactly the same time. I find that very interesting. Your father must have been a talented and brave man to fly a B-25. I remember thinking that it was a very good airplane so I looked it up. As you probably know it was a highly maneuverable and powerful plane. I also found out that 20 of them are still flying.
I am very thankful for men like your father, Mr. Broniarczyk, and my father as well. The sacrifices they made and the risks they took are reasons we are still a free nation. My father was a medic in the Korean War and was wounded in battle. Something exploded close to him and part of his skull/forehead was severely wounded. The doctors did an excellent job patching my Dad back up. Since it was an injury near his brain, he was held for observation until he was released back to into the general population. He lived a normal life with a metal plate, inserted by the doctors, near his forehead. You wouldn’t know he had that type of injury by looking at him. When my father was in the hospital before he died there was an x-ray of his brain taken. I discovered that there were also two small pieces of shrapnel on each side of his head along with the medal plate in his forehead. The x-ray made them both appear like bright lights. I suppose the doctors feared they might cause more damage by trying to remove the two small pieces of shrapnel so they left them in. They made a good decision as my father lived a long and healthy life.
My father was awarded a purple heart for his head wound and he kept it in his bottom drawer for years. Since I am the oldest son, I now have it in my possession. My father was a kind and humble man who lived to be 87 in spite of his war wounds. He had a regular job for years and never really had any major complications except that the explosion on the battlefield messed up his hearing. He could hear pretty well out of one ear but the other one was so injured that my dad could never put his head under water.
Thank you for your kind words. I hope you are enjoying the holiday with your family as well! We had barbeque ribs for dinner and a pretty relaxing day. We watched a movie called “Devotion” which bombed at the box office but I thought it was pretty good. It was based on a true story that happened during the Korean War. Here is some information about it if you are interested:
https://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/devotion/
A real man by the name of Jesse L. Brown is a main focus of the movie. After the movie, I looked him up and found that Jesse Brown grew up in a committed Baptist family and he and his brother and sister sang in the church choir when they were growing up.
Thanks for the information about your Dad. It’s amazing he survived his injuries. Thanks also for the link to the movie. That looks like a movie I’d like to watch.
Late in his life my father said how he had been originally assigned to a bulky B-24, but he had trouble maneuvering it, so they reassigned him to the B-25 because it was more responsive.
You’re welcome, Tom. It is amazing my Dad survived. If the shrapnel had been much deeper he may have died. I was blessed to have such a devoted and wonderful father.
I know you are a busy guy so I know you might not get around to watching “Devotion.” If you do, you will notice that quite a large sum was spent on making it look like the early fifties. It didn’t bring in near what it cost to make. I wonder why it didn’t do a little better at least. There is some swearing but I know that wouldn’t stop most people from going to movies today. The Lord’s name was taken in vain a couple of times but it fit the character. Still, that is always hard to hear. My wife and I refuse to watch anything that’s R rated and I can’t even remember the last one of those we saw.
I think you would like it because your dad was a pilot and this is based on a real person. The story takes place during the Korean War.
I’m sure your Dad was very pleased to find himself in a B-25 after his experience in the B-24. I don’t know much about the B-24 but I know that many were very pleased with the performance of the B-25.
I hope you and your wife have a blessed day!
Thanks, Chris. I’m looking forward to watching the movie at some point. Thanks and have a blessed day in the Lord as well!