Mike Rowe Instagram – The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner BY RANDALL JARRELL From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. —- If you were a machine gunner on a B-17 during the second world war, the ball turret was without question, the last place you wanted to be. Conditions were impossibly cramped. Temperatures at altitude were often 40 or 50 below zero. There was no room to move or stretch or turn around, for hours at a time. Sometimes, for many hours. 4,735 B-17’s were shot down during the war, most with crews of ten men. Some survived, but very few in the ball turret did. And yes, those who perished were often washed out with a hose. Not a pleasant thing to contemplate, but it’s D-Day, and some things shouldn’t be forgotten. . . . #dday #sacrifice #neverforget