[Annotator’s Note: For the first two minutes of the recording, the interviewee is getting prepared for the interview.] Ralph Boyer was born in February 1921 in Anna, Ohio, the third of eight children. During the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], his family lived on a farm and his father was a farmer. He often helped his father with the work on the farm. He started flying lessons in the 1940s. It cost him eight dollars per lesson. After high school, he went to work for a machine and tool company in Ohio that made .50 caliber machine gun ammunition loading and reloading machines. His roommate, Leo, worked the same job, but a different shift. On the afternoon of 7 December 1941 Boyer’s roommate arrived for shift change and told Boyer that Pearl Harbor had been attacked [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. The following day, the two went to Lima, Ohio where they volunteered for service in the Army Air Force. Boyer had to have his father sign permission for him since he was only 20 years old at the time. He had one other brother that also served in the Army Air Force during World War 2, and they were able to visit each other. After being called up, Boyer was sent to Fort Hayes in Columbus, Ohio for induction, then on to an Army airfield in Tennessee for four weeks of basic training.

After enlisting in the Army Air Corps, Ralph Boyer went to Tennessee for four weeks of basic training. There, the Army lost his records. For three months after finishing basic training, he trained new recruits for no pay. He often got bored at the base and went into town to meet ladies. He was caught by his commander and was reprimanded for his actions. Somehow Boyer got eight days leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] to go home and see his family. Finally, in early May 1942, he got orders to report to a bombsight maintenance school in Denver, Colorado. He was about halfway through the course when he got orders to report to bombardier school. On 23 January 1943, he completed bombardier training and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. Almost immediately, he got orders to report to navigator school in Monroe, Louisiana. On 1 June 1943, Boyer completed navigator school and was ordered to Tennessee for crew training. He spoke about a pilot who was killed while flying over the Mississippi River near Memphis [Annotator’s Note: Memphis, Tennessee]. Even though Boyer had acquired his private pilot’s license before entering the service, he went overseas as a bombardier-navigator. With their crew training completed, Boyer’s crew was sent to Grand Island, Nebraska to pick up a plane to fly overseas. When they arrived there, however, they were one of about 60 crew members with the same orders. Since there were not enough planes, an officer lined the crews up and counted them off. The crews with an odd number were given a plane to fly over, while the even numbers would be going by ship. In August 1943, Boyer’s crew went by train to the East Coast and, three weeks later, they boarded the passenger liner SS Argentina for an 18-day trip to Europe. When Boyer boarded the Argentina, he was one of about three thousand Air Corps airmen. Also on board were roughly five thousand African American troops who were also on their way to Europe. [Annotator’s Note: A beeping noise is audible in the background at 0:30:14.000.]

Ralph Boyer was on the SS Argentina with his crew heading to Europe. He slept with 15 other men in a stateroom. The beds were stacked on the walls. One guy accidentally shot off his .45 and the bullet him in the chest, but he did not die. Bower speaks about some of the men on his crew, their positions, and their hometowns. They were all between the ages of 18 and 20 years old. The crew fit together very well and believed in each other. However, his pilot cracked up and had to be sent to back to the United States. On 6 September 1943, the day of the big 8th Air Force raid on the German city of Stuttgart, Boyer and his crew went ashore in Liverpool, England. After a week at a replacement base, they were sent to the 560th Bombardment Squadron, 388th Bombardment Group in Knettishall [Annotator’s Note: Knettishall, England]. The day they arrived, their new squadron commander, Major Roy Forrest, gave them a talk during which he informed them that they stood about a 15 percent chance of surviving to complete their 25 missions. As if that was not bad enough, one of the first sights Boyer witnessed was seeing a handful of officers going through the footlocker and belongings of one of their squadron mates whose plane had gone down.

Ralph Boyer served as a bombardier with the 560th Bombardment Squadron, 388th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force at Knettishall, England. When he saw B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] return all shot up, he realized the reality of war. Boyer and the other officers on his crew, Lieutenant Robert Simons (pilot), Lieutenant Alvin Marcus (copilot), and Lieutenant John Pond (bombardier), lived in a Nissen hut [Annotator's Note: prefabricated metal building], which was a round metal building, with the officers from four or five other crews. The enlisted members of each bomber crews lived in huts of their own. In the center of the hut was a pot belly stove that they used to heat the room. As crew members disappeared for one reason or another, the surviving crewmen would switch bunks to get closer to the stove. By the time Boyer finished his combat tour, his cot was right next to the stove. Boyer’s first mission was a milk run [Annotator's Note: slang term used by American airmen to describe an easy combat mission] to an airfield in occupied France. He wore long underwear with his electric-heated flight suit over it. Then he pulled overalls and a jacket over his flight suit. On one mission, Boyer’s electrically heated suit shorted out and caught on fire. After he realized that he was on fire, he unplugged the suit and spent the rest of the flight a little colder. Besides the cold, other difficulties included the long flight hours, making sure the crew had enough oxygen, and making sure the radio was operating. Boyer also wore armor and his parachute pack. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 0:56:02.000.]

Ralph Boyer served as a bombardier with the 560th Bombardment Squadron, 388th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force at Knettishall, England. The first time Boyer encountered German fighters was during his fifth mission. This particular mission was to Gdynia, Poland to attack the German battleship Tirpitz. During the majority of the flight to the target area, they were shadowed by a German twin engine fighter aircraft. When they arrived over the target area, the Tirpitz was not there so the formation attacked some type of ocean liner or troop transport. His crew were given orders to fire upon the enemy. His gun became inoperable, and he had to figure out how to make it fire again. Once he did, he fired four rounds of ammunition at the enemy. At one point, his plane dropped in altitude and the crew could not figure out why. Then suddenly, the plane shot back up in altitude. After the mission was complete, his crew were the only plane left out of the bottom squadron. He was relieved to step on the ground at the airbase after that mission.

Ralph Boyer served as a bombardier with the 560th Bombardment Squadron, 388th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force out of Knettishall, England. A typical mission began by being notified the night before. They would be awakened at two o’clock in the morning and be debriefed on their mission while eating breakfast. They were given as much detail about what obstacles the crew would be facing on the mission. They would then board a truck that took them to their assigned plane. His named their plane “Return Engagement.” Boyer’s seventh mission was to Schweinfurt, Germany. It was his worst mission. Even though their group was the only one not to lose a bomber during that mission, the oxygen system on Boyer’s plane was hit so he and the bombardier were forced to make the return flight to Knettishall at 22,000 feet without it. The squadron often formed over England before heading over to Europe. Boyer’s first tough mission was the October 1943 raid on Bremen, Germany. During that mission, Boyer watched as planes collided during the confusion caused by the German flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] over the city. Miraculously, his was the only plane from his group that was not hit. When long range escorts started, it was a lifesaver for many bomber planes.

Ralph Boyer served as a bombardier with the 560th Bombardment Squadron, 388th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force at Knettishall, England. During his time in England, he was able to visit London [Annotator’s Note: London, England]. On one of his visits, there was an air raid. There was another instance when the Air Corps base was bombarded by the enemy. Boyer was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross [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] for his 25 completed missions. By 2 March 1944, Boyer had completed his 25 missions. His last was the same as his first, a milk run [Annotator's Note: slang term used by American airmen to describe an easy combat mission] to an airfield in occupied France. He remained in England for a few months before boarding a ship on 6 June 1944 for transport back to the United States. Around 18 October 1943, Boyer’s crew took off on its eighth mission. As their B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] gained altitude, it got lost in the clouds. Boyer’s pilot, Simons, increased altitude to break out of the clouds which they estimated would be at roughly 8,000 feet. When they did finally break out, they were at 28,000 feet and could see nothing below them but clouds. When the plane started icing up, Simons took the plane back down through the clouds and flew until he located a small British airfield. Simons made several attempts to land on the small field, but missed the airstrip. Finally, he forced a landing. He overshot the airstrip and put the plane down in a field. Shortly after touching down, the plane’s landing gear was ripped off when it hit a ditch. Then the wings were torn off, the nose section broke apart, and the destroyed Flying Fortress finally skidded to a stop. Five of the crew were injured, including Boyer. When the plane stopped, they could hear the ball turret gunner calling for help because he was trapped in the wreckage. They were able to free him, and the wounded were then transported to a local aid station by a British ambulance. This was the last mission that Boyer’s pilot completed with them. According to Boyer, after the plane came to a stop, Simons climbed out of the plane and just walked off and never bothered to check on his crew. He simply left. Boyer and the other injured men spent a couple of weeks in a hospital in England recovering, then returned to their squadron to fly out their remaining missions. They never saw Simons again. With his departure, copilot Lieutenant Alvin Marcus became the pilot and a new officer, Lieutenant William Lentz, joined the crew as copilot.

Ralph Boyer served as a bombardier with the 560th Bombardment Squadron, 388th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force at Knettishall, England. On 2 March 1944, Ralph Boyer completed his 25 missions. His last was the same as his first, a milk run [Annotator's Note: slang term used by American airmen to describe an easy combat mission] to an airfield in occupied France. He remained in England for a few months before boarding a ship on 6 June 1944 for transport back to the United States. For at least part of the voyage, the vessel was part of a 90 ship convoy. Boyer went ashore in New York City [Annotator’s Note: New York City, New York]. Shortly after his arrival, he got orders to report to Tampa, Florida where he was assigned as an instructor. While there, he reapplied for pilot training and was accepted. On 4 August 1945, Boyer completed his pilot training. Two days later, the same day the first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945], he married his fiancé in Prosper, Texas. Boyer was separated from active duty on 15 October 1945 as a first lieutenant. He joined the Reserves until 1957. He tells a story about when the radio operator stole chickens from a farmer. Boyer ate some of the chicken for dinner. The MPs [Annotator’s Note: Military Police] came by asking questions. Boyer had some difficulty readjusting to civilian life, mostly because he was uncertain what he was supposed to do.

Ralph Boyer has many memorable experiences of World War 2. He fought because it was necessary for everyone to do their part in the war effort. The war changed his life by putting him on track. He also met other people besides those in his hometown. Boyer believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations. Boyer spoke of a story about being in Indianapolis, Minnesota at a hotel. A young lady came and asked him about his hat that said World War 2 on it. [Annotator’s Note: Interviewer asks someone off camera if she knew any stories that the interviewee did not mention in the interview. Video break at 1:56:30.000.] Boyer’s first tough mission was the October 1943 raid on Bremen, Germany. During that mission, Boyer watched as planes collided during the confusion caused by the German flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] over the city. Miraculously, his was the only plane from his group that was not hit. When long range escorts started, it was a life saver for many bomber planes. The first time Boyer encountered German fighters was during his fifth mission, which was to Gdynia, Poland to attack the German battleship Tirpitz. During the majority of the flight to the target area, they were shadowed by a German twin engine fighter aircraft. When they arrived over the target area the Tirpitz was not there so the formation attacked some type of ocean liner or troop transport.