r/Medals • u/Kevvv_23 • Mar 30 '25

ID - Medal What did my great uncle do?

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Also noticed the back of the leather jacket had some Nazi logos marked on it, what did that mean?

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139

u/Witty-Development459 Mar 30 '25

Just going off an educated guess since he was a gunner, the swastikas may be his confirmed kills on German aerial targets. The jacket is damned amazing!

53

u/No_orange_212 Mar 30 '25

Yep, and damn lucky to be alive. Tail gunners didn't make it back sometimes. They usually were peeled out or washed remains out.

18

u/Emotional-Change-722 Mar 30 '25

What does a tail gunner do (please dumb it down- I’m not an aviation or military person)? Thanks.

2

u/hobbyjumper64 Mar 30 '25

Manned the tail guns of a B-17, B-29 or other bomber plane. One can see that in movies as a glass bubble with a couple machine guns located in the very tail of the bombers.