George W. Bachmann, Junior was born in 1925 in Akron, Ohio and was raised there with one brother and two sisters. His father worked as a plumber until Prohibition [Annotator's Note: nationwide constitutional ban on production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States, 1920 to 1933] ended in 1932, when he invested in a saloon. Bachmann graduated from Saint Sebastian Elementary School [Annotator's Note: Saint Sebastian Parish School in Akron, Ohio] in 1939 and worked in his dad's saloon since the sixth grade. He then attended Saint Vincent [Annotator's Note: Saint Vincent-Saint Mary High School in Akron, Ohio] for high school. When the war started, Bachmann was working for his uncle in a drugstore. He decided to take the Air Force cadet exam but did not pass. He signed up for the draft in July [Annotator's Note: July 1943] and was anxious for his number to be called. In August [Annotator's Note: August 1943], he had a physical and then went to Fort Hayes in Columbus [Annotator's Note: Columbus, Ohio], was interviewed, and asked if he wanted to be in the Air Force. He said yes, but on a ground crew, as he did not want to fly. He was then sent to Amarillo, Texas in September 1943. He was put into a pressure chamber [Annotator's Note: a hypobaric or altitude chamber used during training to simulate the effects of high altitude], passed, and was told he would become a flight gunner. In early December [Annotator's Note: December 1943], after basic training, he went to gunnery school in Las Vegas, Nevada for eight weeks. Training consisted of taking apart and reassembling guns blindfolded and shooting skeet. He graduated from gunnery school with the rank of PFC [Annotator's Note: Private First Class], went home for 10 days in February [Annotator's Note: February 1944], and then on to Tampa, Florida for two months. He was eventually assigned as a replacement on a crew, as a ball turret gunner. He could not fit into the turret, so he traded places with the waist gunner, Bob Snow [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces Sergeant Robert E. Snow]. He completed advanced training and was sent to Hunter Field in Savannah, Georgia, then Fort Dix, New Jersey for a few weeks. He was there when D-Day was launched [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. Bachmann's unit [Annotator's Note: 367th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force] was soon deployed and traveled to Europe via Liberty ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship], either the General Wagger [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify] or the Mitchell [Annotator's Note: or USS General William Mitchell (AP-114)], arriving on his 19th birthday.

George W. Bachmann, Junior [Annotator's Note: a waist gunner in the 367th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force] arrived in England and went to the Wash [Annotator's Note: a bay on the East coast of England]. There was an extra waist gunner, so Bachmann was put on a water-cooled .30 caliber [Annotator's Note: Browning M1917 .30 caliber water cooled heavy machine gun] to protect the airfield instead. In September [Annotator's Note: September 1944], the crew's engineer was killed by flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire], and the navigator was wounded on that same mission. They went to the cemetery the next day, and Bachmann was flying on a B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] the following day. Before flying, the crews' pictures were taken in case they were shot down. They were given equipment, including an escape kit with different currencies and a silk map. They wore heated suits and boots; everything was heated except the helmet. One of the toughest parts of a mission was going down the runway with a full load of bombs and gas, as he had seen another plane blow up on the runway. Once in the air, it would take an hour or two for the planes to get into formation. It could take three hours to get to bombing altitude. On one mission in September [Annotator's Note: September 1944], they encountered enemy fighters, killed the engines and dropped down. They turned the engines back on at 10,000 feet. Bachmann was nicknamed "Roughhouse," as he was the youngest on the crew and did not smoke or drink. Another time they flew over Paris [Annotator's Note: Paris, France] at about 500 feet, which was outlawed shortly thereafter. It was very cold in the air at night, 50 to 60 degrees below zero. After Bachmann flew six missions, he was made Sergeant, then Staff Sergeant after another six, and was given an Air Medal [Annotator's Note: US Armed Forces medal for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while in aerial flight] after each set of six missions, plus battle stars [Annotator's Note: Service Star; device worn to denote subsequent awards on medals and ribbons; also called campaign stars or battle stars]. The Princess Elizabeth came to christen the Rose of York [Annotator's Note: now Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, christened the B-17 Rose of York on 6 July 1944]. The Rose went on a mission to Berlin [Annotator's Note: Berlin, Germany], but never came back. Another day when unloading his plane, two formations of B-17s were flying into the field when the last two ran into each other. The next day Bachmann saw the crews' arms and legs embedded in the ground.

George W. Bachmann, Junior [Annotator's Note: a waist gunner in the 367th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force] finished his missions on 8 March [Annotator's Note: 8 March 1945]. He was put on a Liberty ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship] to return to the States. He was issued a .45 [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber M1911 semi-automatic pistol] when he boarded and put on guard duty without any ammunition. The trip home took 13 days. They arrived in New Jersey, where the Red Cross welcomed them with donuts and coffee. There were also MPs [Annotator's Note: military police] with Thompson submachine guns [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber Thompson submachine gun] guarding American prisoners who were illegally selling cigarettes or had deserted. Bachmann was hospitalized for three months at Camp Atterbury [Annotator's Note: in Edinburgh, Indiana] for a skin condition. Once it cleared up, he got a 30-day pass [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] and went to Santa Ana, California. He had 85 points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home], 55 points plus citations over his ten months overseas, exactly the amount required to get out. He was shipped back to Camp Atterbury, then on home [Annotator's note: Akron, Ohio]. After about a week home, he started bar tending at his father's bar. In 1948, Bachmann went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] which is where he proposed to his future wife. They were married in November [Annotator's Note: November 1948] and had seven children. In 1960, his family sold the bar and Bachmann went to work for the post office, a job he loved. He retired from work when he was 62.

In 1983, George W. Bachmann, Junior [Annotator's Note: a waist gunner in the 367th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force] received a phone call from "Saint Pete" [Annotator's Note: a member of Bachmann's air crew during the war] letting him know there would be a reunion that year, and every year following. The group went to England once, and saw the airfield where they served, as well as to other sites around the United States.

The most memorable experience of the war for George W. Bachmann, Junior [Annotator's Note: a waist gunner in the 367th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force] was a mission where they lost all four engines [Annotator's Note: in September 1944]. His longest mission lasted ten hours and 45 minutes. His crew never named their plane [Annotator's Note: a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber]. When he was discharged, Bachmann was ready to get out. He used the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] to attend Hamilton Business College [Annotator's Note: now Hamilton College in Mason City, Iowa], but could not make it through. Bachmann's father served in World War 1 in France, and never talked about it. World War 2 veterans seem to talk more about their wartime experiences. On missions, they used oxygen. As a waist gunner, Bachmann could not even see the pilot from his position. They sometimes dropped chaff, strips of aluminum, to confuse the enemy. They also did paper runs, where they would drop propaganda. The Germans used 262s [Annotator's Note: German Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter aircraft], buzz bombs [Annotator's Note: V-1 pulse jet flying bomb, German name: Vengeance Weapon 1; Allied names: buzz bomb, doodlebug], and V2s [Annotator's Note: German Vergeltungswaffe 2, or Retribution Weapon 2, ballistic missile]. The 262 would fly over their formations, and they experienced flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire]. Bachmann flew 35 combat missions.

George W. Bachmann, Junior had never left his hometown of Akron [Annotator's Note: Akron, Ohio] before joining the Army. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], everyone wanted to fight. When he went overseas [Annotator's Note: with the 367th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force], he kept telling himself the war would be over in no time. He was on his way back to the States when he learned Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] died [Annotator's Note: 12 April 1945].