Our special meeting

Saturday morning was a morning like no other. We were fortunate to spend most of it with Captain Norman L. Kratschmer. He is a World War II veteran, an Army co-pilot of the 390th Bomb Group that was stationed in England. He flew 35 missions, 30 during combat. He is a 87 year old man that looks, talks, and walks like a man decades younger. He's smart as a whip and kindly spent hours with us to share his stories with Andrew. He brought his scrapbook of pictures and memorabilia and won my little boy's heart by lending us his war movies on VHS and giving Andrew his own pilot's wings that he used to wear. Jason buffed them to a sparkling silver and this morning Andrew proudly wore them to church. We heard about the food drops to the Dutch, the missions to pick up the French POW's and the many stories about being fired on by the Germans. We saw a compass that was made to look like a button that soldiers would sew on their uniforms. Then if they were forced to parachute out they'd have a compass always on them. He showed us his map of Africa, Spain, and the Canary Islands that was printed on fabric like an old hankerchiff. Jason took pictures of some of the most interesting pages of his scrapbook and he kindly posed for pictures with my boys. He's was a fascinating storyteller and we came away with great appreciation for all our veterans.