Robert "Bob" Rickel was born in Toledo, Ohio in July 1923. Rickel's father came to the United States from Poland. During the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945], his father worked as an electrical fixture salesman, and then eventually began installing radiator heaters. After his father passed away, the family fell on hard times. Rickel's older brother went to work to support the family. Rickel continued to attend school but always had a job after school and during the summer. He started out riding an ice cream bicycle and then when he got his license, he drove a truck. He also worked for Crawford Clothes in Jersey City, New Jersey as a write up boy. He was fired from the clothing store job after he refused to come into work on Saturday for inventory knowing he would receive no pay. Not long after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], Rickel and a friend from high school began to work in the test department for United Electronics company [Annotator's Note: unable to positively identify] that made transmitting tubes for military communications. He and his friend went to the movies often. He had seen the movie, "The Eagle Squadron" [Annotator's Note: "Eagle Squadron", 1942 American war film], and decided that he wanted to fly. He wanted to join the service because it seemed exciting and many of his friends were already in the war. Rickel enlisted in the Air Corps in October 1942 with his friends. He hoped that his oldest brother would not be drafted because he was supporting his mother and sister, but he was drafted. His mother at first had no income, but eventually landed a job. [Annotator's Note: A telephone rings at 0:11:07.0000.] She also received monthly allotments from her sons in the war.

On 20 October 1942, Robert "Bob" Rickel began his military experience at Fort Dix [Annotator's Note: in Trenton, New Jersey] for orientation. Rickel and his friends were put on a bus, received their dog tags, and sent to Fort Dix. He received military clothing and inoculations. He slept in a tent. Three days later, Rickel was separated from his friends and was sent to Atlantic City, New Jersey for basic training. The military put him up in a hotel room. He marched on the boardwalk in the cold weather, fired weapons at the range, and learned that the Air Corps was not planning on making his group cadets. Rickel had a deviated septum, so he could not fly. He became a "casual" which meant he was unassigned and waiting for a technical school to open. While he was waiting, he was put on KP [Annotator's Note: kitchen patrol or kitchen police] and guard duty at the base. He complained to his master sergeant, who told him to do what he was told. The aircraft armament school opened and Rickel was shipped to Denver, Colorado to Lowry Field [Annotator's Note: later Lowry Air Force Base]. While there, he met a guy named Tony Vaccaro [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces Staff Sergeant Anthony J. Vaccaro] from Port Chester, New York. They formed a friendship. To Rickel's dismay, he was required to go on policing duty for the first week at school before he could begin taking classes. Policing duty was going out and picking up cigarette butts and paper with a long stick. One day, he was given orders to burn all the debris. When he sat down to have a cigarette, his corporal drove up and reprimanded him. The next day, the corporal took Rickel outside the base in a car and forced him to get out and walk back, picking up debris. Rickel was so angry about this that when he returned to base, he never reported back to the corporal. As soon as he arrived at base, he was given orders to pack up and ship out to a nearby base, Buckley Field [Annotator's Note: in Aurora, Colorado], because the schools at Lowry Field were overcrowded. After a few day, Rickel finally began armament school. He was amazed by the variety of weapons and that he was instructed by a civilian. On his first try putting a .50 caliber machine gun [Annotator's Note: Browning ANM2 .50 caliber machine gun] together, he ended up with an extra piece. He did not tell anyone and hid it in his pocket. The next day, his instructor made an announcement to the class about the missing piece and instructed the person with it to drop it in a box on the way out. Rickel followed the instructions without anyone seeing him do it. By his third day of school, he had been trained to assemble weapons blindfolded, and with gloves on.

In March 1943, Robert "Bob" Rickel was given orders to go through gunnery school. He did not understand why he was tested to be an aerial gunner if he was not allowed to fly due to his deviated septum. An officer told him that regulations had changed, and he was now allowed to fly. He and Tony [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces Staff Sergeant Anthony J. Vaccaro] were sent to Las Vegas, Nevada for aerial gunnery school. The program was very tough. He had to learn how to shoot the weapons and hit moving targets. He flew for the first time near the end of the program when he had to practice tow targeting. He flew in an AT-6 [Annotator's Note: North American AT-6 Texan advanced trainer aircraft] with one pilot. After he did his target testing, the pilot decided to do some tricks in the air. Rickel was scared and did not know what was going on. He then accidentally kicked a hatch open which made the experience worse. Rickel was very happy when they finally landed. Because he tested well, he was allowed to go into town. In May 1943, he graduated as a buck sergeant, and was shipped to Atlantic City [Annotator's Note: Atlantic City, New Jersey] for overseas training. He was not allowed to leave the area, even though he had family nearby. Rickel was then put on a train and sent to the Queen Mary ship [Annotator's Note: the RMS Queen Mary], which he boarded with 25,000 other soldiers. He shared a state room with five other men. He was very uncomfortable. One night he found the nurses' station and slept there every night for the rest of the trip. After five days, they reached Scotland. He was then put on a truck and sent to England. He was to be a replacement gunner for one of the squadrons. No one wanted Rickel or any of the new gunners because the veterans thought they did not have enough training. Rickel was sent to get some more training for a few more days. He was taken up in a bomber plane to do target practice on a beach. After a few days, he was sent to the 379th Bombardment Group [Annotator's Note: 379th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force].

Robert "Bob" Rickel wanted to fly with his friend, Tony [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces Staff Sergeant Anthony J. Vaccaro] who was assigned to a crew, while Rickel was grounded. Rickel was very upset that his friend had already done two missions and he was not assigned. He learned quickly that his friend's plane was shot down [Annotator's Note: on 25 July 1943]. Rickel was distraught hearing this news. On 15 August 1943, Rickel was assigned to his first mission to Amiens, France [Annotator's Note: with the 524th Bombardment Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force]. [Annotator's Note: Rickel asks to pause the interview while he checks his dates at 0:53:51.000.] He found out that he was one of many replacements for this crew, because the day before, the plane was shot up, injuring several of the crew members. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses to change tapes at 0:58:30.000.] Rickel's second flight was for the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission [Annotator's Note: on 17 August 1943]. His copilot, Arvid [Annotator's Note: later US Army Air Froces Lieutenant Colonel Arvid Dahl], was a great flier and brought them back from a difficult mission. His pilots knew how to maneuver the plane well to get them out harm's way. Two of his crew mates were heavy drinkers. His crew was a good group of guys. The new crews always had to fly in the back of the formation, which they call "tail-gun Charlie."

In August 1943, Robert "Bob" Rickel went on his second mission, the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission [Annotator's Note: with the 524th Bombardment Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force]. It was badly planned. The target was a ball bearing factory in Schweinfurt [Annotator's Note: Schweinfurt, Germany]. Their support from the British Spitfires [Annotator's Note: British Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft] was not adequate. The mission was also delayed because of the weather. Rickel believes that the Germans figured out the Allies' plans and were ready for them. The bombers had to fight off German fighter planes. Although it was a difficult mission, Rickel it was a successful mission and they returned to base safely. Going through flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] was worse than fighting off the German fighter planes. It was difficult to move around in his heated suit. He had missions over the Ruhr Valley, where they had to fight off anti-aircraft guns. When the crewmen had a mission, they were awakened in the early morning for breakfast and then a briefing. [Annotator's Note: Rickel asks to pause the interview at 1:19:22.000.]

Robert "Bob" Rickel had to kick a bomb out of the bomb bay from a B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] because it was stuck. Rickel was assigned to the B-17 called the "Paddy Gremlin" [Annotator's Note: unable to positively identify]. One plane was named "Raging Red" [Annotator's Note: B-17 serial number 42-30309] but was eventually shot down [Annotator's Note: 17 August 1943]. On Rickel's mission to Schweinfurt [Annotator's Note: Schweinfurt, Germany, with the 524th Bombardment Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force], they had at least 1,100 German fighter planes and constant flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire]. He was constantly firing at the enemy instead of shooting in bursts because he felt that his plane was surrounded by the enemy. He thinks he shot two fighter planes and a German reconnaissance plane down, but he did not claim them. They had oxygen checks every few minutes while in flight. There was an instance when the turret gunner was too drunk to fly, so they put a replacement in his place. Rickel asked the replacement if he knew how to work the oxygen and the replacement said yes. When they got up to altitude, they had two oxygen checks. On the second check, they realized that the replacement was not responding. When they checked on him, he was dead. The tube to the oxygen was disconnected. They immediately returned to base.

Robert "Bob" Rickel went on a mission to Anklam [Annotator's Note: Anklam, Germany with the 524th Bombardment Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force] in October 1943. [Annotator's Note: Rickel ruffles through papers looking for the dates of the mission at 1:36:25.000.] The target was an aircraft component plant. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses because of background noise at 1:37:40.000.] After his crew dropped their bombs on the target, they were hit hard by flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] and by German fighters. The number one engine on their B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] lost power and the number two engine caught fire. Rickel's pilot told everyone to prepare to bailout as they were crossing the North Sea. Rickel was about to jump out when one of his crew members waved at him to stay in the plane. The fire was extinguished. They made it back to the base safely. That mission was the closest he came to dying. One of his friends, Freddy, was flying in a plane next to him on a mission to Bremen [Annotator's Note: Bremen, Germany] and was shot down right by him. Rickel saw ten parachutes and hoped that his friend survived. After Rickel wrote Freddy's mother a letter, they heard that Freddy became a prisoner of war. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Rickel to read the letter he wrote to her.]

Robert "Bob" Rickel does not recall the mission to Stuttgart [Annotator's Note: Stuttgart, Germany with the 524th Bombardment Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force] except that there was heavy flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire]. Sometimes coming back to his barracks after a mission and seeing the empty beds made him want to quit. He knew a pilot, named Romano, that did not want to fly anymore because there were too many men dying on missions. The military transferred him to kitchen duty. Rickel, although terrified, knew that he was going to make it. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses to change tapes at 1:53:19.000.] Rickel was very lucky during the Schweinfurt [Annotator's Note: Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission, 17 August 1943, Schweinfurt, Germany] mission. When the officers pulled the red drape from the maps in the briefing room on the morning of the mission, the crew saw that they were headed to Schweinfurt again. Everyone moaned. Rickel and the rest of the crew were given escape kits to help them get around behind enemy's lines if they were shot down. When they headed off to their target, they were protected by P-51s [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] as they crossed the channel [Annotator's Note: the English Channel]. They were met with numerous German fighters and heavy flak. Planes were blowing up in the air in every direction and parachutes were floating in the sky. [Annotator's Note: Rickel shuffles through papers and a machine noise is heard in the background from 1:59:19.000 to 2:00:00.000. There is a break in the video Break at 2:00.19.000.] The Schweinfurt mission took eight hours to complete. According to the military, 60 bombers were lost on the mission, but he believes that it was more. He feels lucky because his was one of few bombers not hit. This mission went down in history as the "Black Thursday" battle [Annotator's Note: on 14 October 1943].

Robert "Bob" Rickel flew with the 379th Group [Annotator's Note: 524th Bombardment Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force] known as the "grand slam group" because they dropped the most bombs with the least casualties and had the lowest number of aborted missions. The worse part of a mission was going through flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire]. He would rather fight enemy fighter planes than go through flak. After the war, he met some of the men that were assigned to anti-aircraft guns. He found out that many of these men were recruited when they were young teens. One of the Germans told Rickel that they were both lucky to be living today. Flak hitting the airplane is like the sound of rocks hitting a tin roof. On his second Schweinfurt [Annotator's Note: second mission to Schweinfurt, Germany on 14 October 1943] mission, he ran out of ammo because there were so many German fighter planes. He felt like a dead duck, but luckily were able to get to base safely. Later in the war, the military gave the crew flak suits, which saved one of his crew members. To keep warm, crew members were also given electrically heated suits, gloves, and boots, which only worked half of the time. Rickel's main concern during missions was accidentally hitting his own plans because they flew tight formations.

During his free time, Robert "Bob" Rickel slept, went to aircraft classes, or visited relatives in London [Annotator's Note: London, England]. He met his aunt, uncles, cousins, and grandmother for the first time while he was overseas for World War 2. One of his cousins worked at the Rainbow Club which was a USO [Annotator's Note: United Services Organization] club. London was in bad shape due to The Blitz [Annotator's Note: German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom 1940 to 1941]. Rickel wanted to try Chinese food. It took him an hour to find the restaurant because the power was out in the city. He was using a flashlight to get around town. When he found the Chinese restaurant, he ordered Chow mein. He was dissatisfied with the meal because the noodles were hard. On the occasions when he visited London, he would bring food for his family because of the scarcity in the city. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer shares a story with Rickel from 2:22:49.000 to 2:23:28.000.] Rickel's last mission was to Leipzig, Germany. He saved a very valuable scotch [Annotator's Note: type of alcoholic beverage] for the completion of his last mission. He was friendly with a guy, named Burt, in the parachute department. Burt would always come out and see Rickel take off for his missions. On Rickel's last mission he told Burt he could have his scotch if he did not return, but if he did return, bring it out when he lands. When Rickel landed, he saw Burt there with the bottle of scotch. Everyone gathered around and drank a shot before they went to briefing. Because Rickel drank a little too much, he told Burt he was going to test his parachute. Rickel stood up on a table and released the parachute, which fell to the floor. Everyone thought it was hilarious, and Rickel was glad to know his parachute worked okay. The intelligence was not very good when it came to knowing where the anti-aircraft was located on missions. The big targets were aircraft plants, submarine pens, seaports, and railroads. He often had two or three targets in one mission. He was told to drop the bombs in the English Channel if he could not drop the bombs on the target.

Robert "Bob" Rickel says that there was very little room in the B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber]. He flew most of his missions as a waist gunner. Where he was positioned, was always cold. The oxygen mask always froze to his face. Rickel received 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 completing 25 missions [Annotator's Note: with the 524th Bombardment Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force]. World War 2 changed his life because it taught him how to be appreciative for everything he has and for being alive. He considers himself lucky. He was glad to have befriended so many people, even though he lost some of them in the war. He was one of 140 first replacements. Only 14 completed all their missions. He thinks he received insufficient training. His group flew day missions which were very dangerous but in the end were very effective. Rickel was never wounded but soon after he returned to the United States, he broke his leg playing football.

Robert "Bob" Rickel fought in World War 2 to defend the United States. He fought because all his other friends fought too. He visited his friend's family after he returned. His friend, Tony, [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces Staff Sergeant Anthony J. Vaccaro] was a POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war]. Rickel returned to the United States in June 1944. He used the G.I. Bill to start a heating business with his brothers. Because he was the youngest brother, he was forced to drive the truck. His older brothers were the salesmen. Eventually they opened a store that sold heating and plumbing parts. His company eventually became Rickel Home Centers and opened 100 stores in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. His company was the first of its kind, even before Home Depot. Rickel believes it is important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] to teach to future generations. [Annotator's Note: A phone rings at 2:56:34.000.]