Friday, November 6, 2009

Seldom do we get the opportunity to meet the special veterans we salute in Veteran’s Day parades.

KAKE Reporter Chris Frank had the opportunity to meet two special Kansans who helped win World War II.

Dr. Lew Smith and Chuck Chauncey are two WWII vets who survived numerous flying missions over enemy territory and lived to tell about it.

Dr. Smith, a Wichita native, flew the B-17 Flying Fortress with missions over Germany.

Chauncey, who grew up in Chanute and now lives in Wichita, flew the B-26 Superfortress over Japan.

"We were 15-hundred miles south of Japan so they were long missions, like flying from Wichita here out to the coast and back. And we did not have refueling at that time. So they gave you enough to fly there and back and a little to play with and they lay you with bombs," Chauncey said.

"One of my best friends was Tommy McConnell. He had two older brothers and they all went down and inlisted together," Dr. Smith said.

In fact, McConnell Air Force Base was named after Tommy McConnell.

Dr. Smith also knew another notable pilot, Jimmy Jabara the first Jet Ace.

Saturday, Wichita will hold its own Veteran’s Day parade on Main Street starting at 11 a.m.