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reaverdude t1_jchbjlx wrote

Insane that he was 24 at the time piloting a massive bomber. As if that wasn't impressive enough, he had the composure to save the lives of his crewmates while sacrificing his own.

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warpedaeroplane t1_jche5qs wrote

It’s cliche and obviously there’s more nuance here but…they’re called the Greatest Generation for a reason. The things those men…boys, a lot of em really, did, saved humanity as we know it. I’m not a real “patriot” or anything but WWII and the men who fought in it fill me with a very intense and awesome reverence and pride.

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CptES t1_jci7utc wrote

The bomber crews in particular suffered an absolutely ferocious rate of losses. The UK's RAF Bomber Command had a 44% fatality rate through the war while a full 50% of the USAAF's casualties were in the Eighth Bomber Command alone.

It's a good job those men were bomber crew, no other aircraft would have been able to carry the sheer size and weight of their balls in the first place.

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Dedpoolpicachew t1_jcj0rr1 wrote

On the German side it was the U-bootwaffe that had the highest casualty rate 75%. For the US it was the Submarine force, 20%.

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Miserable_Law_6514 t1_jcjl7z9 wrote

You had a better survival rate on the ground in France or Germany than you did in the air in a bomber.

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SideburnSundays t1_jcizwdm wrote

Today’s fighter pilots are just as young.

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reaverdude t1_jcj11p0 wrote

Not really, the average age of fighters pilots in the U.S. is 40+.

Fighter pilots in their twenties exist, but it's a really low percentage, 11%.

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SideburnSundays t1_jcj2bzo wrote

40s is nearing retirement (from flight status) age for fighters due to the physical toll of flying them. Those statistics make no sense when you consider the cutoff age for flight training is 26.

That salary is wrong too. For Navy pilots it’s $65k on average, but salary is adjusted to the living standards of where you’re stationed, which is going to skew any averages.

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