Monroe S. Wolyn was born in Brooklyn, New York [Annotator's Note: Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs in New York, New York] in January 1923. He was a schoolboy before the war. He was in a pool room playing a game of pool when he learned about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was drafted in January 1943. He was in the Army and later they put him into the Army Air Corps. He entered service in New York. He went to basic training in Miami Beach, Florida. They were living in a hotel. They did close order drills and marched in the sand. They would have lectures on military procedures. They took special weapons courses after basic training. He qualified as an expert on machine guns. They deployed overseas in March 1944. They were shipped to Staten Island [Annotator's Note: Staten Island is one of the five boroughs in New York, New York] by troop train. It took 13 days to get from New York to Scotland. They had to get familiar with how the RAF [Annotator’s Note: the Royal Air Force] operated.

Monroe S. Wolyn would not return fire if it was anti-aircraft fire. If it was enemy fighters, however, they would return fire. The food in England was very good. Wolyn received two wounds to the head and one to his right foot. On VE-Day [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945], he was sitting in a German POW camp in Poland. The Russians told them it had happened. On VJ-Day [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945], he was in Times Square, New York. He returned on a troop ship. He served overseas from March 1944 to June 1945. He had basic training in Miami Beach, Florida. Then he went to gunnery school. He trained on the .50 caliber machine gun [Annotator's Note: Browning ANM2 .50 caliber machine gun], then he took air-to-ground gunnery training. Next, he went to Texas where he learned all about airplanes. He trained on B-25s [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber] and B-26s [Annotator's Note: Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber]. They went to Salt Lake City [Annotator’s Note: Salt Lake City, Utah] for assignment. They were assigned to the 487th Bombardment Group which was a B-24 [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] outfit. Wolyn was assigned to a crew and then went to Arizona for his final training. They were learning combat flying, and he had to learn some navigation. They were there for a month. They went to New Mexico for more intensive training. They were flying every day in old B-24s. They flew for about 10 and a half hours one day. They got orders to go overseas and had to take all kinds of equipment on the planes. Wolyn went by train to Topeka, Kansas, and then went to England by ship.

Monroe S. Wolyn remembers that while traveling to Europe in a convoy, on one side all he could see was the ocean, and on the other side all he could see were ships. They arrived in Scotland. They took a train to England and then got on trucks to go to their air base. They had to wait for the airplanes to arrive. They had training for aerial navigation. After the training, they went operational. Wolyn slept in barracks. He was trying to go to bed one night when he was told to get ready for a briefing. They flew a mission twice to get the job done. The second mission was against an air base. They had 100-pound bombs strapped on. The flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] was moderate. He does not think anyone in their group was shot down. On the next mission, the lead navigator got lost. They were five miles off course. They went in at 12,000 feet. Five airplanes did not make it back that day. Wolyn’s plane was shot up. There were several holes. No one got hurt. At bombs away, the bombs would not release. They could not keep up with the formation because they still had a full load. They had to drop out of formation to save gas. As they got halfway across the Channel [Annotator’s Note: the English Channel separating England and France], an engine caught fire, then a fire started behind the cockpit. They had to bail out of the plane. They were still over the English Channel and just as they opened the bomb bay doors, they crossed the coast. Everyone bailed out and the plane was turned back toward the Channel.

Monroe S. Wolyn remembers that the number three engine burned through fuel lines to the number four engine. Their plane was flying on two engines and started to turn. Wolyn thought that the plane would run into his parachute. The plane went into a timber yard. There was a large explosion. All the men landed on the ground. The pilot did not have a standard parachute like everyone else and when he hit the ground, he broke a leg. They were in southern England. They were taken to an RAF [Annotator’s Note: Royal Air Force] base. The mess hall hours were different and the food was good. The base sent trucks down to get them. While they were there, they ate in the sergeants’ mess.

Monroe S. Wolyn was impressed by the military power of the 8th Air Force. Wolyn’s plane was in the lead group [Annotator’s Note: he served in the 839th Bombardment Squadron, 487th Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force] to bomb Frankfurt [Annotator’s Note: Frankfurt, Germany]. There were several other B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] and B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] in the group. In front of them were P-51s [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] and P-47s [Annotator's Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft]. His friends under Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] said that they would follow him to hell and back. Each hut had three crews housed in it. They only knew the guys housed in the same barracks as them. They became like a small family. The first thing they did when a plane returned from a mission was to look for battle damage. They saw several men who had breakdowns after missions.

Monroe S. Wolyn remembers the missions they went on usually had between 100 and 300 airplanes. Many missions were routine. They went out, bombed, and returned. 25 August 1944 is a date that he will never forget. They were switched from B-24s [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] to B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber]. The crews were reduced from ten men to nine men. They got rid of one of the waist gunners because the Luftwaffe [Annotator’s Note: German air forces] was almost nonexistent at this point. Wolyn loved to fly. They went through a two-week training for lead crews. Wolyn was picked to be the tail gunner. All the airplanes were taking off and everyone had to be in their own squadron. They had two leaders along in case something happened to the other. Wolyn missed the briefing and he installed his guns. The pilot told him he did not have to fly that day. The rest of the crew started suiting up. He was told it would be a milk run [Annotator's Note: slang term used by American airmen to describe an easy combat mission] and that he should come to get another mission under his belt. The target was an airfield near Berlin [Annotator’s Note: Berlin, Germany]. Two P-51 [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] squadrons would be there for support.

Monroe S. Wolyn remembers that they went north instead of south on this mission. They headed across the North Sea. There were clouds all over and turbulence. All the airplanes scattered. They could not see 50 feet. When they broke out into the clear, they could not see any of the other airplanes. As they continued on course, the whole group formed up again. On 25 August 1944, Wolyn was awakened late and missed the briefing. He went to breakfast and then went to install his guns. He was told he did not have to go on the mission. Another crew member told him to just go on the mission because it would add one to his record. Wolyn offered to fly on the waist gun. They had 11 people on the airplane. They flew over the North Sea and entered some bad weather. The formation broke up because they were scared of collisions. As they went on course, they rejoined as a group. As they started the bomb run, the flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] started to come up and it was very accurate. Wolyn could hear the guns going off. They let the bombs go and he could feel the plane lift. The right-wing was hit and on fire. He took off his flak helmet and suit and then put his parachute on. He made sure the others were going to bail out as well.

Monroe S. Wolyn ended up flat on the floor of the plane. He heard a loud bang. He could not move. The wing had blown off. He could smell the plane burning. He thought he was going to be burned alive. The plane was spinning and it had them pinned to the floor. He wanted the plane to blow up, and then it did. Wolyn was flying through the air, and when he came to, he pulled the cord on his parachute. The pilot’s parachute hit him in the face as it opened. He blacked out again. When he woke up, he looked around to see where the others were. He landed in a lake. He tried to swim, but getting to land meant swimming against the wind. He was wearing a heated suit that day. He was able to get the suit off. He lost his shoes as soon as the parachute opened. Two Germans approached him to pick him up. He had to hang on to the back of the boat. One of the Germans spoke poor English. He was taken to an encampment. It was the 88s [Annotator's Note: German 88mm multi-purpose artillery] that shot him down. Later on, six or seven other bodies were found and interred locally. [Annotator’s Note: Wolyn lists the members of the crew]. Wolyn and the pilot were the only survivors. They brought a German policeman over to him.

Monroe S. Wolyn was led down to the shore by the flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] battery. There was a motor speed boat. They went down to another town. He could see his pilot out on a raft. The Germans went over and picked him up. Wolyn had no shoes, shirt or pants until two weeks later when they took him to the POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] camp. The German military police led him to the town hall. He was put into a cell. His pilot was in the next cell. They were going to be taken on a train to the next destination. They were taken by two German soldiers who were going to guard them. During their training, they were told they would be taken to a German interrogation place. They only told the interrogators their name, rank, and serial number. The train was a commuter train. They went to Berlin [Annotator’s Note: Berlin, Germany]. It was dark. The RAF [Annotator’s Note: Royal Air Force] was bombing Berlin. The guards took them to the city prison. Wolyn was walking through the streets with no shoes. They went into the subway to be protected from an air raid. They went and sat in an alcove with civilians. A woman came over and shared some wine with them. When the raid was over, the guards took them directly to the jail. They were put into another jail cell.

Monroe S. Wolyn was shown the railroad tickets. They went from Berlin to Frankfurt [Annotator’s Note: Berlin and Frankfurt, Germany]. This was one of the only railroads left. There was no more industrial corridor. Germany was in rubble. When they got to Frankfurt, they still had not been fed. Wolyn did not have shoes. They walked all the way to the camp. Every time the train stopped, they picked up more POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. They finally got to eat something the next morning. They were led to a cell and left there. After about five days, Wolyn finally caught up on his sleep. Wolyn figured out he could make a hole using things in the cell. He made a hole in the drywall behind the cot. He would stuff it under his undershirt and then would throw it in the latrine. The only thing between him and the French border was a barbed wire fence. He had everything just about ready for escape when a German worker came in to fix the light. A German guard came in and saw what he had done to the wall. He was taken to the officer's desk. He told the officer his uncle was Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.].

Monroe S. Wolyn told the German officer he was Jewish. The officer said he would take his head off. He was taken to another cell. Later when he was put into the POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] camp, he was put into solitary confinement for a failed attempt to escape. The guys in solitary confinement ate better than the other prisoners. Wolyn was taken to a headquarters building. In the middle of the desk was a bottle of ice cold beer. Finally, the major came in. He told the major that America would win the war. He told them they had thousands of planes and tanks and people waiting to come over. Then he was taken to the regular POW camp. When the Russians entered Poland, they were moved. They could hear the Russian guns rumbling in the distance. The next day, the Germans were gone and they had to break their way out of the barracks. The Russians showed up the next day. They were drunk, and could hardly stand up. They told them they were free and could leave. The senior Allied officer said they were going to stay right there. They were communicating with someone and were told a task force was coming to get them. A major pulled up in a jeep with the American flag flying and told them they were there to take them home.

Monroe S. Wolyn remembers everyone was happy to be liberated. A bomb group flew in with B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] to pick them all up. They were taken to Camp Lucky Strike [Annotator's Note: one of the transit and rehabilitation camps in France named after popular cigarette brands; Lucky Strike was near Le Havre, France] where they were fed, bathed, and deloused. Then they were put on a ship and sent home. They landed in Virginia. Wolyn went home to Brooklyn [Annotator's Note: Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs in New York, New York]. He called his mother to tell her he would be home soon. He made it home in the evening. There were celebrations all over. The big celebrations did not start until after VJ-Day [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945].