Francis Dymnicki was born in Yonkers, New York and lived there for ten years during the Depression until his father lost his job. The family then moved to New York City so his father could find work there. His father was employed as a mechanic. The family was poor during the Depression. Both parents were immigrants from Poland. They had lived as peasants there and were used to hard times. They were hard working and managed well. His mother was a sensational cook. She had been the oldest child in a family of nine or ten children. She was a surrogate mother for the children younger than her. Dymnicki studied in public school. He was in rapid classes where two years of study were accomplished in one year. He followed that same approach at NYU [Annotator's Note: New York University] after he graduated from high school. He attended university during the summer. He heard about Pearl Harbor over the radio. Everyone was focused on the news of the attack. Dymnicki felt patriotic and wanted to do all he could in the war effort. He dropped out of day school and college because of lack of money. He went to work for Sperry Gyroscope, Company. They were manufacturing bombardier equipment and gyroscopes. He attended school at night.

Francis Dymnicki attempted to become a pilot in the Air Force. Half of his friends wanted to do the same. Dymnicki was knocked out of pilot training because of his deficient eyesight. He went to school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where he learned to be a radio operator. It was difficult because his shift started at midnight. He had difficulty sleeping when he was off shift. After completion of radio training, he went to gunnery school in Laredo, Texas. It was across from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Today, that location is a big drug area. In gunnery training, he fired shotguns at skeet. He fired machineguns and learned to operate and disassemble the guns with gloves on. After completion of gunnery school, he was sent to the air base at Barksdale, Louisiana where he was assigned to a crew. The crew then trained together. That was where he first saw the B-26 [Annotator's Note: Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber]. Dymnicki thought that flying would be out of the ordinary and could offer a lifetime job if it worked out well. That was the reason for him wanting to become a pilot. The pilot in Dymnicki's crew was from Texas. He was tall and skinny and named Bogel [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling]. The copilot was from Pennsylvania and was also tall and thin. The bombardier was from Illinois. He was a nice guy but was later killed. The bombardier was from West Virginia. The engineer was from Georgia. The crew stayed together for the most part. Sometimes an individual would fly with other crews. Dymnicki had the job of maintaining contact with the base to make sure that if changes occurred, he knew about it. During flight, he would also pull the pins in the bombs so that the propellers on the ordnance would spin and eventually fall off. That would arm the individual bombs so that they would explode on landing. Dymnicki was also responsible for manning one of the .50 caliber guns on the plane. There was one gun on the right of the aircraft and one on the left. Dymnicki felt he was not very accurate because of the speed in which the attacking planes approached his waist gun. It was hard to see the enemy aircraft when they would zip in and zip out. The bombardier would drop the bombs on the missions. After Barksdale Field, the crew flew to Homestead, Florida and received their airplane then flew to Cuba. From Cuba, they flew to Brazil then on to Accession Island. Extra gas tanks were carried in the bomb bay to provide for the extra range they needed. Accession Island was a small place, and it became nerve racking with the limited gasoline. Liberia was the next stop. The natives were dancing around a campfire. It worried the crew because of movies they had seen with similar circumstances. The next day, they flew to Marrakesh in North Africa. They stayed there for 30 days because they were grounded by bad weather. They amused themselves with round the clock poker games. They would not even stop to go to the mess hall. At Easter time, Dymnicki went to mass in an olive grove with Italian PWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] in it. He could not communicate with the Italians because of the language barrier. The final leg of the journey to England took them to an airport in Stone on the southern part of the island. Dymnicki and the bombardier found a dance hall on the base. There were many women on the base who worked in defense jobs. There were just a few men present. The women danced with each other because of the lack of men. Females came toward the two American airmen. The Americans felt intimidated and left. They worried about the reaction of the few British men who were present. From there, they flew to Northern Ireland for final training. There was a woman near the base who worked up a good business by providing fresh eggs, a steak and a pot of tea for one pound. It was very pleasant. [Annotator's Note: Dymnicki later mentions that a pound was the equivalent of four dollars.] Also memorable was the lack of toilet facilities. Every morning the waste pails had to be collected. From Northern Ireland, the crew flew to its base in [Annotator's Note: cannot understand the name of the base], England. The crews there were happy to see new replacements because of the losses they had sustained. That location was where their combat missions started.

Francis Dymnicki does not remember his first mission. He flew missions over France in preparation for D-Day [Annotator's Note: 6 June 1944] by bombing bridges over the Seine River. This was intended to disrupt German attempts at counterattacking the invading Allies. The Germans moved troops by rail quite a lot. Colonel Vance, the commander of the base, flew with Dymnicki's crew on their second D-Day mission. A marshaling yard at Amiens was the target. The town with its cathedral was not bombed. The visibility on D-Day was very bad. The bombers had to fly low under the overcast. They flew at 1,500 feet rather than the regular altitude of 12,000 feet. The enemy antiaircraft fire lost a foot of accuracy for every 1,000 feet of altitude. The idea was to get as high as possible. Before D-Day, Le Havre was bombed. That was a diversion effort to throw the Germans off of the real objective of the invasion. As the bombers returned to base, the troops loading onto barges could be seen. Some would be on the barges for three or four days. Patton [Annotator's Note: General George S. Patton] was also reputed to be commander of the invasion. He was thought by the Germans to be the greatest Allied general. This was another attempt to confuse the Germans on the real plan for D-Day. The guns on top of the cliffs were bombed on D-Day. The bomber was only over the target a few minutes. Planes were everywhere. The Navy ships were firing on the coast. Dymnicki could see some of the landings as they were occurring. It was quick because they flew in and out rapidly. When the men turned in on the eve of D-Day, they were told by the senior officer to go to bed early because of the momentous things that were happening. Every plane that could be sent aloft was being prepared to fly. White stripes were painted on the planes [Annotator's Note: to facilitate better identification of the Allied planes by gunners on ships below, three white stripes were painted on friendly aircraft wings and fuselages]. The ground crews did an amazing job of doing that in just a few hours. The German 88s [Annotator's Note: the German 88mm antiaircraft gun] fired very accurately. The weapons were positioned to bracket the planes. The explosions that missed sounded like pebbles hitting the side of the aircraft. Dymnicki wore a flak jacket and kept his parachute nearby. After the action, he observed that his chute had been hit and was defective. It would not have worked for him if he would have bailed out. German fighters flew in and out of their formation very fast. The upper turret and tail gunners had the best opportunity to fire at the enemy. They had twin .50s [Annotator's Note: Browning ANM2 .50 caliber machine guns] to line up on the incoming fighters. The mission on Amiens on D-Day evening was memorable. Some of the bombing missions were easy "milk runs" [Annotator's Note: American airmen referred to easy missions with little or no opposition as milk runs] without flak. That was when the objective was a bridge or something similar. The aircraft that Dymnicki and his fellow crewmen manned was named "Miss Pill." That was painted on the fuselage. It was a ship that they inherited so it was named before they flew it. Another plane was called "Maxwell House - Good to the Last Drop." While in England, they received a 48 hour pass every ten days. They would go to Piccadilly Circus in London. The ladies of the night were heavily populated there. They would always ask high prices, but the men would negotiate with them. Some of the girls wanted as much as 40 pounds which was the equivalent of about 160 dollars at a rate of about four dollars per pound. The men were paid well with various flight incentives, but they would still negotiate. That was interesting.

Francis Dymnicki flew missions from France against Germany. There were few days off because of the perilous times. When there were opportunities, Dymnicki went into Paris. His squadron had more West Point graduates than any other group. The squadron CO [Annotator's Note: commanding officer] was the son of General Lucius Clay in Paris. Major Clay would travel with his men while on the way to visit his father. Asked about military discipline with his father, Major Clay responded that he would salute before addressing his father. General Clay was in charge of all American Army logistics in Europe. He would become administrator of Germany after the war. His role was reminiscent of General Grant who had responsibility for logistics during the Mexican War. Later in the Civil War, Grant would use that knowledge and stop Union convoys and advise the men on how to better load the wagons for best efficiency of cargo transport. It shows that if you have the ability and determination, you can progress from inauspicious positions and succeed.

Francis Dymnicki would wake up very early in the morning to prepare for a bombing mission. Daylight hours in England lasted much longer than in the United States. It does not get dark until about 10:30 at night. A mission could be flown early in the morning at dawn and the plane returned and the crew debriefed. The men could then get something to eat and sack out. Another mission briefing could be done later in the day. That was how the Amiens mission [Annotator's Note: the Amiens mission was flown in the afternoon of D-Day, 6 June 1944, after an earlier bombing mission flown that day over the beaches of Normandy] was done. Dymnicki flew a total of 65 missions. The original threshold was 25, but that was gradually raised to 50 and then finally to 65 missions. One flyer threatened to quit. He was upset with anticipating having to make 65 missions when the number was originally set at 25 missions. Unfortunately, the airman made it to 61 missions but was shot down and lost. Dymnicki could not remember the last mission he flew. He felt assured that the last mission resulted in a lot of anxiety for him. The bombing was over Germany. He did remember that afterward each individual had to wait until he could board a boat to go home. He was given a jeep and allowed to visit various commands on the Rhine River. He was given a rifle and allowed to snipe at Germans riding bicycles on the opposite side of the river. He observed huge wine storage tanks and filled Jerry cans [Annotator's Note: a Jerry can is a five gallon storage can that is used for handling and transporting gasoline, water or other liquids] with white wine. Filling the Jerry cans with wine was good because they would fill soda bottles with the wine and get bombed out in the process of consuming the beverage. The Americans were billeted in a house along the Rhine River. A butler would visit the house with the GIs to make sure that they were not destroying it. While in Cologne, Dymnicki saw tremendous destruction. Some of it was sad but the Germans seemed to have brought it on themselves. They and the Japanese had been very cruel in their conquests so the events that transpired seemed like retribution. Dymnicki was Polish in ancestry. His mother told him of how the Germans and Russians in World War 1 had stolen from the civilians caught in the middle of the action. Even hidden apples were discovered by the Germans when they invaded the family home. Dymnicki also visited artillery units where he was allowed to pull lanyards on the gun.

Francis Dymnicki boarded a ship in England right after V-E Day [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945] to return to the United States. It was loaded with liberated PWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. There were all kinds of games going onboard the ship. There was plenty of money available to the PWs from back pay while they were incarcerated. One pot even had 24,000 dollars in it. Dymnicki had lost all his money so he could only observe. After his service, he felt like a hero and was a bit resentful that he had to pay homage to the PWs on that trip. Returning home was a liberating experience. That had been everyone's dream during service. Before he left the outfit, Dymnicki met a young Jewish fellow who slept on the adjacent bunk. He was only beginning his service as Dymnicki was finishing. He was nice but a worry wart. Dymnicki tried to reassure him that things would be alright. He regrets that he never saw the man again. Dymnicki returned to the United States and married three days after his discharge. His future wife had sent numerous packages to him while he was serving overseas. Word would get out in the barracks when he got a package. He had to share it with all of his barracks mates. It was alright because they were a good group of guys. The experience was good for him. He began to appreciate America more. It is impressive today to see that the accents of various regions have seemingly disappeared. We have come together and become closer to each other as a result. It gives one an appreciation of the country and shows how similar we are. Since Dymnicki married quickly, he settled down and went to work. He did not use the GI Bill as a result. His first job after discharge was for his father-in-law in the printing business. He was promised a partnership but was given a low wage because of his lack of experience. When his wife had their first son and could not work, Dymnicki left the business and worked at various jobs. He ultimately opened his own business in New York City. He partnered with another individual. They had 122 men working for them. It was fulfilling and worthwhile.

Francis Dymnicki feels The National WWII Museum is important as a repository of our history. It is the only place to go to get an accurate history. Young people should be more familiar with geography and history. More attention should be paid to what causes war and how to avoid conflict. More time should be spent on the explanations of our country's experiences. Museums are a means to learning about that. After returning home, Dymnicki did not think much about World War 2. He was focused on his family and earning a living. History gives us a chance to learn about past events. America prevailed in the war. It was important to stop Adolf Hitler from continuing his conquests. They could not stand back and do nothing about it. It was good that America was on the right side. They learned that this country has to stop bad things early and not let them get out of hand. Americans should be sensitive and attuned to the needs of the world. We have experienced and capable people who can play a role in doing this. Dymnicki loves history. He has read about the immigration from Eastern Europe and what led to that [Annotator's Note: Dymnicki was the child of Polish immigrants]. Dymnicki has a son and daughter who are very smart. He is proud of both of them. He had a son who served in Vietnam and has a grandson who is a Marine sergeant. His grandmother had ten children and all the males served in World War I, even one with a disability. He was drafted and put on the docks as an MP [Annotator's Note: Military Police]. All the men served the country and that was worthwhile.