Another Ace, Alex Vraciu has left us

[LoneStar_47]

Retired Navy Commander Alex Vraciu died at the age of 96 on January 29 in West Sacramento, California. Vraciu was a Navy triple ace in the Pacific during WW 2. He was credited with destroying 19 planes in the air and 21 on the ground. During the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot he downed six planes in one mission. He was awarded the Navy Cross and several Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. His greatest being the Medal of Honor.

 

I wish him well and hope he is back in the skies in his beloved F6F Hellcat.

[oneeyeddog]

Alex Vraciu, S!

[sallee]

May he rest in peace. "That photo" of him after "that mission" has always stuck in my mind.

[Finkeren]

Indeed Sallee. With all due respect for the guy, it just sends a chill down my spine to see that grinning face of a man who had just killed 12 people pose like he had just hit a home run.

 

R.I.P.

[sallee]

This thread could go the wrong way.....

 

It is a terrible thing for young men and women to be caught up in something as awful as war whether they lose or win. The film of Torpedo 8 sticks in the memory as well, and for a similar reason.

[Beazil]

I have to agree. It's for this reason I'm not a fan of a lot of actual gun footage. I love a good montage and am a huge fan of people's films from in game, but gun footage has that horrible reality to it.

Those men and women needed a way to cope. The smile was probably his way. Who am I to judge?

 

I wish him peace in his journey. We should all be so fortunate to live through such a difficult time and live to a ripe wise age.

Edited February 12, 2015 by Beazil

[Finkeren]

Not judging either. He did what he had to, and as you say: Treating it like a game was propably also a way of coping with it all.

 

Still gives me the creeps looking at people celebrating when they just killed people.

[sallee]

Mind you, I'd be smiling every time I managed to get home safely, never mind anything else.