It's a long way from Baltimore, Md. to Berlin, Germany.  Or even to St. Lo in Normandy.  But it's even longer and more roundabout if you were to take the road traveled Robert. F. Kennedy.

No, not THAT Robert F. Kennedy, rather the current resident of the US Soldiers' and Airmen's Home.
Born in New York in 1920 Kennedy moved to Baltimore when he was "very young."  Growing up he was always on the move, running the 220, 440 and relay.  "I tried cross country once but gave up on that real fast," he said.  In the summer of 1937 a friend talked Kennedy into joining the National Guard.  But he didn't join for the adventure or for the excitement, he joined "because I liked the uniforms."

So for the attraction to a uniform a career was born.  Beginning his journey in uniform with Company B, 175th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division Kennedy was a self-described "good garrison soldier who loved being in parades and doing the stuff like that. But in the field I wasn't worth much," he said.

After spending three of the annual two-weeks drills on maneuvers the 29th Infantry Division was mobilized into Federal service on Feb. 3, 1941.  "We went and spent a lot of time at Fort Meade rolling around in with the sand fleas.  Damn things were everywhere. I hated it and started looking for a way to go to the Air Corps, I figured it couldn't be this bad," Kennedy said.

While he was trying to figure out how to get to the Air Corps, the 175th traversed the mid- Atlantic region, training in A.P. Hill, Va., Ft. Richie, Md. and Ogdensburg, N.Y.

During all the movement Kennedy was pulled from the infantry and made a military policeman. He would get in trouble during his stint wearing a badge however, for things like sunning himself on the hood of his jeep.  "Due to my less than stellar soldiering in the infantry and MPs I was offered the transfer to the Air Corps I was looking for," he admitted.

Soon the kid from Baltimore found himself reporting for Air Corps training to Camp Keesler, Biloxi, Mississippi, "a whole new world," where he said "there was one civilian plane.  It was an old Republic Lancer I think.  And we lived in the back bay of a hanger, in tents while they were building like mad for all the troops coming in.  We wee in those tents for weeks until the barracks were done," he said.

Now transplanted to the Deep South, and assigned as a drill instructor "because of my experience in the infantry," he said with a laugh, Kennedy found himself in the middle of a great cultural classroom.

"It was a real education in race relations for me since I had never been around black people before.  I also learned to slow down my speech so I could be understood," the quick speaking Kennedy said laughing.

For the self-professed garrison soldier being a drill instructor was something of a joke.  "Here I was being who I am, and every time I say ‘boo!' 20,000 guys jumped in the air.  How funny is that?" he said shaking his head.
After a tour in Mississippi, then Atlantic City, N.J. as a D.I., Kennedy finally passed the Aviation Cadet exam to become a pilot, and once again was on the move, this time to San Antonio, Texas.  It appeared his dream of earning pilots wings was on the road to actuality.  Then reality hit him in the face like a quadratic equation. "I didn't last too long because they discovered that when it comes to math, well, I was an idiot.  So they made sure I would be of great use to the Army ... I was sent to Wichita Falls, Texas to become a fitness instructor since I'd run track in school," he said.

Working at Wichita Falls was not the most exciting jobs, and Kennedy soon found adventure in sneaking into town for rendezvous with a local lady.  When his foray's were discovered he was called into see his first sergeant, who asked, "You volunteer for gunnery school?"  A shocked Kennedy told him no.  "You're going" was the reply.
So began his odyssey to Kingman, Az. and aerial gunner school.  "I went through basic training there on the .50-caliber machine gun, how to field strip it and all the stuff like that.  Of course when you're at 30,000 feet and it's freezing cold with German fighters coming at you," he said with a hint of sarcasm, "this was the easiest thing in the world to do."

With gunnery school complete, then finishing combat crew training in Sioux City, Iowa, Kennedy finally met the rest of the B-17 crew he would go to war with.  The B-17, also known as The Flying Fortress, was the most famous of the heavy bombers produced by the United States in World War II.  They were assigned to the 358th Bombardment Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group (H), 1st Bombardment Division, US Eighth Air Force.
Arriving in England in mid-1944 the crew joined  the ‘Hells Angels,' as the 303rd BG were known, at Station 107 - Molesworth, Huntingdonshire.  "They broke us in easy, our first mission [on June 19, 1944] was to the Pas-de-Calis area to attack German V-1 rocket sites.  Things got intense on the third mission when Kennedy's crew flew their only mission to the heart of the Third Reich, Berlin.

The nine-and-a-half hour flight could be incredibly boring, said Kennedy who was the tail gunner for his crew.  "I would take magazines and the Reader's Digest to pass the time.  I would also watch the other planes behind us," he said.

"Going out to the target there was too much to be worried about, with flak and enemy fighters.  But coming back the boredom could be extreme, but it was also a lot more relaxed.  Thank God we were lucky enough to have fighter cover," he said.

On one mission with his plane the last in the aerial armada, Kennedy said it was an eerie feeling.  "I was so used to looking out and seeing the squadron behind us, then the one behind them that it didn't seem right to see nothing.  I kept asking the pilot if there was anyone else in front of us.  He would radio back yes, finally he got tired of my asking and told me to be quiet," Kennedy said smiling at the memory and playing with his Eighth Air Force watch unconsciously as he talked.

When the time for action finally arrived however, every sense was alive.  And it could be confusing, with thousands of B-17s in the air, friendly fighters for support and German planes bolting between the bombers.  "It was a mess ... There was a lot of confusion.  To give an example after one mission I put in a claim for a fighter I had hit and found out 35 other guys put in a for the same fighter!

"I had the greatest admiration for the pilots to be able to keep that thing flying without smashing into the planes around us, keeping their cool.  The missions over Munich showed that," he said.

From July 11 through the 16th, the ‘Hell's Angels' pounded the Bavarian capital.  Kennedy flew his 10th 11th and 12th combat missions over the Germans on  the 11th, 12th and 13th.  "Munich was our hardest target.  The fighters hit us twice as hard as any place else and the flak, oh my God the flak was unbelievable.  But we came through."

Luck smiled Kennedy on his fifth mission, an 11-hour mission to Coulanges-Sur-Yonne, France, near the French-Spanish border.  After completing the bombing and heading home the aircraft ran out of fuel, forcing the abandoning of the bomber and an emergency parachute jump.

"That was a rally long day," was all Kennedy could say about the flight, shaking his head.

But in his 33 combat missions, totaling 240 hours and 30 minutes, none bring a spark to Kennedy's eyes and a stiffening to his back like when he discusses his missions of July 24th and 25th, 1944.

While looking at the maps during his morning briefings he noticed the Army was stalled in the Norman  hedgerows.  He found his old unit, the 29th ID and tracked their slow progress.  Then came the morning briefing for support of Operation Cobra, the plan by Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley to pound German forces with bombers and artillery, then punch through the dazed defenders with armor and infantry.

This tactical mission was a different type mission for the heavy bombers, normally used in a strategic capacity.
"They told us we were going in at 9,000 feet, not the normal 30,000, and we screamed and hollered.  No one wanted to do that!  Of course we did though," he said.

As his plane flew over the GIs on the ground, Kennedy decided to inspire the men of his old outfit by dropping notes addressed "To 175th Infantry."  "All I did in the notes was say hello to the guys in Company B.  I wished the best for them," he said.
After five months and 33 missions the crew received word they would not fly more combat missions.  "We were really happy, we did things like guard duty and stuff like that then went home," he said.
After living as a civilian for a few years Kennedy rejoined the Air Force during the Korean War, retiring from active duty in December 1965.

When he talks about the Air Force of today, specifically the bomber fleet, he shakes his head in amazement at the capabilities.  "My God, one B-52 is the equal to a group of our B-17s!  It's just unbelievable," he said.

Not near as unbelievable as the journey of an infantryman's journey to the tail gunner position of a B-17.  Not as much fun to read about either.