How my dad got his middle name.
He was in the army/airforce in World War II. It turns out they needed men under the height of 5'7" to operate the rear machine gun in the (I believe the B17 bomber). It was a small round pod at the very back of the plane. That was about the worst place to be in a bomber in war since in the back of the plane it was the first most visible target for enemy fighters. It was the first to draw fire from enemy guns. And you did not live long as that rear gunner. So you might do anything NOT to be the rear machine gun operator. So the guy in charge of finding guys to be recruited to be the rear gunner chose a completely random way of picking people. He had a list of names of guys under the correct height and he thought he would just pick those guys with no middle name.
So my dad's name Eli Lipman had no middle name. When a some crucial moment arrived he was asked if his name was written correctly as Eli Lipman. He immediately said No he had a middle name," It was umm umm "A, " "
His middle name suddenly became A. For umm umm Allen. And thusly he did NOT get put in rear gunner position of the B17 bomber.
Comments
Post a Comment