Henry Sherman Fouts was born in June 1924 in Atlanta, Georgia. Life was hard. His father worked for a dollar a day to provide for seven children. Fouts turned 18 and knew he had to register for the draft. He did not want to be in the infantry, so he joined and asked for the Army Air Corps. A LIFE magazine [Annotator's Note: an American general interest magazine known for the quality of its photography; 1883 to 2007] article he read about aerial gunners at Nellis Air Force Base [Annotator's Note: in Las Vegas, Nevada] impressed him. He enlisted at Fort McPherson, Georgia [Annotator's Note: in Atlanta, Georgia] on 8 August 1942. He went to Miami Beach, Florida for basic training. He requested to go to aerial gunnery school and was accepted. He transferred to Fort Myers, Florida's Buckingham Army Airfield. About 30 August 1942 he began training and graduated 17 October 1942. He was promoted to Sergeant. His first assignment was at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, and then later to Waycross, Georgia. He flew the A-31 Vultee Vengeance dive bomber [Annotator's Note: Vultee A-31 Vengeance dive bomber]. That plane was phased out for P-51s [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] and Fouts was sent to Aircraft Maintenance School at Sheppard Field, Texas [Annotator's Note: in Wichita Falls, Texas]. He had earlier been assigned to Columbia, South Carolina, flying B-25s [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber]. He applied for pilot training and was accepted. He was then sent to Lansing, Michigan to Michigan State University. He went to San Antone [Annotator's Note: slang for San Antonio, Texas], Texas where he was eliminated from the training based on some prior surgical history and grounded from flying. He appealed it on the basis that he had been flying as a gunner at high altitude with no problem. He was then sent to B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] training at Drew Field, Florida [Annotator's Note: Drew Army Airfield, Tampa, Florida] in May 1944 and finished in July. He went to Hunter Army Airfield [Annotator's Note: in Savannah, Georgia], picked up a brand new B-17 and flew to Maine, then Newfoundland, to the Azore Islands [Annotator's Note: Autonomous Region of the Azores, Portugal], to Marrakesh [Annotator's Note: Marrakesh, Morocco], and to Italy where he was assigned to the 346th Bomb Squadron, 99th Bomb Group [Annotator's Note: 346th Bombardment Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force] as a B-17 engineer. He arrived 14 August 1942 and he flew his first mission 29 August 1944 [Annotator's Note: Fouts corrects his earlier date of 1942 to 1944].

Henry Sherman Fouts flew his first mission on 29 August 1944 [Annotator's Note: with the 346th Bombardment Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force]. He flew 35 missions with last one on 11 April 1945. The war ended shortly thereafter. He was on a boat headed home when Germany surrendered. His ship arrived in Boston [Annotator's Note: Boston, Massachusetts]. Fouts was sent to Fort McPherson, Georgia, [Annotator's Note: in Atlanta, Georgia] and was discharged on 24 May 1945. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Fouts about his service overseas.] He was impressed with the types of buildings that he noticed from the air, and with the people. On landing in Africa [Annotator's Note: February 1943], he encountered a lot of prisoners of war begging for cigarettes. He went to Italy where the living conditions were terrible. It was muddy, and there were snails everywhere. The airmen set up their own tents and slept on canvas cots. They improved their living conditions to include a stove made out of a 50 gallon barrel that burned airplane fuel. More than one tent burned down. On his first mission, they came under fire. At first, he thought it fascinating. Then he realized they were trying to kill him. On his second mission, he didn't find the flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] funny. Around Munich [Annotator's Note: Munich, Germany], they used phosphorous [Annotator's Note: phosphorous is an element that spontaneously ignites on contact with air] flak, with fuses set to explode above the plane, which sent a phosphorous stream down. If the phosphorous hit the plane, it burned a hole right through it. If it hit a fuel tank, chances were, the plane would explode. Fortunately, Fouts' plane was never hit with that flak. He did witness several planes that were. It made him feel, that could be him. On a mission over Blechhammer, Germany, one squadron dropped bombs on another squadron. This was unfortunately, a common occurrence. On 27 February 1945, Fouts' flight was diverted to Augsburg, Germany, where they encountered a lot of flak. The plane flying on his left wing got a direct hit. The crew was ordered to bail out. Fouts saw the ball turret gunner bail out first and he later met the man at a reunion. Others from the plane made it out as well.

Preflight for Henry Sherman Fouts' missions [Annotator's Note: with the 346th Bombardment Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force] usually began with H-Hour [Annotator's Note: the specific time at which an operation commences] at three or four in the morning, depending on where they were going. A record would play over the speaker system, often the Vienna Waltz [Annotator's Note: song by Johann Strauss, II], to wake them. Then, they went to the chow hall, where they generally got powdered eggs, toast and oatmeal. If it was a lengthy mission, they would get a K ration [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals], which usually was not very tasty. After roll call at Squadron Operations, the pilot, copilot, navigator, bombardier and radio operator would go to a briefing. Fouts never went to a briefing because it was his job to go to the plane, along with the other gunners, to check it over. When the rest of the crew returned from the briefing, they would all get suited up. A flare was fired from the control tower to signal the planes to start engines. The sound of 48 engines all starting at the same time made quite a roar. Then a signal was given for the lead aircraft to taxi, and the rest of the squadrons would take off on the green light signal. It would take almost five minutes to get all the planes off the ground. Once in formation, five bomb groups would start out for the target. Normally there would be five bomb groups of anywhere from 36, times four, times five aircraft. Generally they would get out over the Adriatic Sea before they got into enemy territory. Sometimes they flew over the Brenner Pass [Annotator's Note: a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria], which was a rough way to go. The Germans had gunners up at 25,000 feet. Usually that flight pattern led into Germany, around Munich [Annotator's Note: Munich, Germany] or Regensburg [Annotator's Note: Regensburg, Germany]. Fouts had a great crew. Fouts served as top turret gunner. When he first arrived at the airplane, it was his job to call the control tower and set the altimeter to the barometric pressure. He also had to ensure that the plane was fully loaded with gas. He checked the forms for malfunctions that might jeopardize the flight. On engine start, he would observe the RPM [Annotator's Note: revolutions per minute of the engines] and manifold pressure to make sure they were within limits. He also had to check that the plane was fully loaded with oxygen. The weather in Germany, and particularly southern Europe, was usually cloudy. They liked to have the cloud cover below, so the German gunners couldn't tell exactly where they were. The vapor trails from the many planes in the formation created their own weather that the aviators had to fight on the way back.

The mission for which Henry Sherman Fouts was awarded the DFC [Annotator's Note: the Distinguished Flying Cross, or DFC, is awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight] started out like any other mission. The assignment was to bomb a synthetic oil refinery at Brux, Czechoslovakia [Annotator's Note: Brüx, Czechoslovakia; now Most, Czech Republic]. They started their bomb run, and his airplane was flying straight and level. At that point, the bombardier is actually flying the airplane through his controls. As soon as the bombs are dropped, the pilot takes over again. Fouts' plane got hit early in the bomb run, and lost one engine, causing them to drop out of formation. His aircraft continued on, by itself, to the target, even though the airplane was loaded with holes. After they dropped their bombs and came off the target, they were alone flying back. Just after the target, the copilot slunk forward over the controls from lack of oxygen. Fouts hooked him up to the portable oxygen bottle, and he revived. They lost most of their instruments, and the hydraulic pressure went to zero. When they assessed the damage to the airplane, they knew they had no brakes. They had to manually crank down the landing gear and flap settings. Fouts suggested to the pilot that they stop the plane using a parachute. The pilot requested permission [Annotator's Note: permission to land] from the tower, and it was granted, but they had to land last. Fouts went back in the tail and connected his parachute harness to a torque bar. He realized he had to get his chest pack outside the door before it opened. He jettisoned the tail gunner's escape hatch door and lay on his stomach. As soon as the plane touched down, he threw the chute out, and jerked on that wire, and it popped the D-ring [Annotator's Note: release ring; also referred to as the rip chord]. The parachute blossomed out behind the plane. The landing was filmed, and it showed that the plane went off the runway to the right, caused by a flat right tire, and the fact that the parachute went out of the plane on the right side. Fouts has procured a copy of the film. He believes the plane made about a 370 degree turn when it went off the runway. He does not remember the aircraft making that turn, because he was laying in the tail, couldn't see out, and had no sense of direction when the plane was coming to a stop. He ultimately was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions. There were a lot of people running to the airplane when it came to a stop.

One of the targets Henry Sherman Fouts flew to [Annotator's Note: with the 346th Bombardment Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force] was Vienna, Austria. That always was a very, very tough target. His mission list reflects that he went there seven or eight times. It was always a scary time. The targets around Munich [Annotator's Note: Munich, Germany], where they shot phosphorous [Annotator's Note: phosphorous is an element that spontaneously ignites on contact with air] flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire], was also a scary place. After his first mission, all of them were scary, once he realized that each side's object was to kill the other. Although Fouts was a top turret gunner, he never experienced an attack by fighter planes. He remembers seeing several German jet planes on one mission, but fortunately there was a B-24 [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] group flying next to his squadron, and the Germans attacked it. He also encountered the deadly Me 163 [Annotator's Note: Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet rocket-powered fighter aircraft] pulsating jet that had to land after one pass. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Fouts about the psychological aspects of dropping bombs on a target.] They thought about it a lot. They knew dropping bombs on towns would most likely cause civilian casualties, but it never bothered him because he knew what they were doing to their prisoners, including cruelty by civilians. Fellow airmen reported having been beaten by civilians as they were marched between towns to prison camps. Another thing he was told was that the German airmen, aside from trying to get information, treated the American airmen decently. Aside from the fear of being killed, Fouts worried about his airplane catching fire, in which case an airman's chances were not good. Oftentimes, a fire would cause a plane to explode. His toughest mission the one over Brux, Czechoslovakia [Annotator's Note: Brux (Most), Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic)], which precipitated his plane's landing by parachute. They were shot at on every mission that he can recall.

The housing at Henry Sherman Fouts' base was very primitive. He slept on a canvas cot and had only a couple of blankets. He kept one under him and one on top. In the winter, they managed somehow to get mattress covers. They went out to area hay fields and traded the farmers, cigarettes for straw stuffing. The weather was a big factor, with lots of rain and mud. When he wasn't flying, he shot skeet [Annotator's Note: a shooting sport in which a clay target is thrown from a trap to simulate the flight of a bird], which was considered part of their training. He also passed time writing letters. He was engaged, and he corresponded regularly with the girl he married after the war. All of his mail was censored for sensitive information, and he had to be careful about disclosing the location of his missions. Nevertheless, his girlfriend and his sister were able to figure out his whereabouts. When his wife of 51 years passed away, she was buried in Arlington Cemetery [Annotator's Note: Arlington National Cemetery, United States military cemetery, Arlington County, Virginia]. Fouts was convinced that what he was doing in the war was right. They tuned in to German radio when they were traveling to their targets and were surprised at how accurate they were. He doesn't know how they got their information, but he heard about the discovery of a spy ring in Italy that was getting target information. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Fouts to talk about good times.] When most of his crew had finished [Annotator's Note: their tours of duty]. He was the only one left in the tent in March 1945. He was scheduled to fly, but he missed H-Hour [Annotator's Note: the specific time at which an operation commences] and didn't make roll call to go out on the mission. About nine in the morning, there was an intercom announcement for him to report immediately to Operations. He figured he was going to get chewed out, but when he got there, the Operations Officer asked him if he would fill in on a flight to Cairo, Egypt. The next morning, he flew from Foggia [Annotator's Note: Foggia, Italy] to Benghazi, Libya, where they stopped for the pilot to get what was reported to be a good hamburger, then continued to Tel Aviv [Annotator's Note: Tel Aviv, Israel], which was then Palestine, and stayed a few days before flying to Cairo. After several days there, they returned to Italy. The bad part of the trip was on the way back, over the Mediterranean, when one of their four engines went out. Another good time was in November 1944 when his crew went to a rest camp on the Isle of Capri [Annotator's Note: Capri, Italy]. They flew into Naples [Annotator's Note: Naples, Italy], and took a boat to the island. When it came time to leave, the seas were too rough for the boat to travel back, and their stay was extended seven or eight days. They had a lot of fun on Capri.

Henry Sherman Fouts' last combat mission [Annotator's Note: with the 346th Bombardment Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force] was to Padua, Italy, to bomb a bridge as the Germans were in retreat. They had a fairly low bombing altitude, which was scary because the Germans had their 88mm cannons [Annotator's Note: German 88mm, multi-purpose artillery] there, which were pretty accurate. His plane was hit in a couple of places, but not too badly. The next day he went to the aircraft, called "Weary Willie" [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber, serial number 42-102855], and had his picture taken. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Fouts the names of other airplanes Fouts flew on.] His first aircraft was called "Vicious Vixen" [Annotator's Note: unable to identify], then he flew in "Hammerhead" [Annotator's Note: unable to identify], and there was "Old Lace" [Annotator's Note: unable to identify], and there were others whose names he does not remember. After he flew his last mission on 11 April 1945, he went through processing, and was flown to Naples [Annotator's Note: Naples, Italy] on 20 April [Annotator's Note: 20 April 1945]. His journey back to the United States on the SS Mariposa began on 7 May 1945. On 8 May [Annotator's Note: 8 May 1945], an announcement informed them that Germany had surrendered. Everybody was just cheering. He landed in Boston [Annotator's Note: Boston, Massachusetts] on 15 May 1945, and went to Fort McPherson, Georgia [Annotator's Note: in Savannah, Georgia], and was discharged on 24 May 1945. He later joined the Air Force Reserve at Dobbins Air Force Base [Annotator's Note: in Marietta, Georgia] and was recalled to active duty on 28 December 1949. He stayed until 28 February 1977. After he was discharged, he thought he would take advantage of the 52-20 Club [Annotator's Note: a government-funded program that paid unemployed veterans 20 dollars per week for 52 weeks], but that only lasted one week for Fouts. He applied for a job with Eastern Air Lines in Atlanta [Annotator's Note: Atlanta, Georgia] and got immediate work. He stayed with Eastern until he was recalled to active duty. His first assignment was as an engineer gunner on a B-26 [Annotator's Note: Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber] at Dobbins Air Force Base. Later, he was assigned to B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing KB-29 Superfortress air refueling tanker] tanker planes at Barksdale [Annotator's Note: Barksdale Air Force Base, Bossier City, Louisiana]. From there, he went to Eglin [Annotator's Note: Eglin Air Force Base, Okaloosa County, Florida], then to Columbus, Ohio, where he was put on flying status again. In March 1954 he was promoted to Master Sergeant, taken off of flying status, and for the rest of his career was in some type of aircraft maintenance, inspection, or staffing. He was officially retired from the Air Force on 28 February 1977 after 30 years and three days of active duty.

World War 2 made Henry Sherman Fouts grow up, as it did a lot of people. He thinks what is happening in the world today is frightening. He is afraid of what is going to happen in the United States. After the war in Europe and Japan, the thought was that we would never have another war like that, and he doesn't think there will be another like it per se. We don't know who the enemy really is, and he is fearful of what will happen. He does feel it important that future generations study World War 2. He is a history major, and he can't understand why some of the educators are not teaching history as it really happened. He has visited The National WWII Museum in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana], and believes it important that we have such museums to give a good explanation of events with emphasis on the causes and results of the war. He believes dropping the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945] was worthwhile, and that it saved lives to do so. He is grateful for the opportunity to document the events he went through during his time in the military. His brother, who served in the Pacific during the war, came home safely after six years in the military, and will soon celebrate his 90th birthday.