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Sunday, December 28, 2014

Movie "Unbroken" familiar flight scene; Ralph H. Hepworth

Saturday afternoon (27 Dec 2014) Earl and I went to the movie “UNBROKEN” a true story of the life of Louis Tamperini an Olympic runner and a hero in World Ward ll.  We enjoyed this story of survival, determination and forgiveness.  Makes a person (again) appreciate the sacrifices made by those men and women who fought for our freedom.

In the beginning of the movie is a scene of a B-24; damaged with its belly ripped apart; the occupants clinging to the sides and 500 miles from their base yet the pilot landed the crippled plane safely.  My thoughts were “mmmmm the details about this crippled plane sound so familiar.”  Earl read the book but, I did not.  After the movie while driving home I reflected about that scene when I remembered posting in 2012 on this blog about a first cousin of my father’s Ralph Huntington Hepworth who was in World War ll.  He was a Lieutenant in the Navy and a Co-Pilot on an American Privateer Search Plane stationed in Okinawa.   

On 2 July 1945 Ralph experienced what I saw in this movie.  The headlines in the Twin Falls Times were:
Albion Pilot’s Mangled Plane Back With Chunks of Ripped-off Jap Mast.

This story was in Newspaper’s all over the world.  If you click on the words Ralph Huntington Hepworth it will take you to the story I posted on Friday 25 May 2012 that describes men holding on for dear life in a crippled plane(the belly of the plane was ripped apart) 500 miles from their base and safely landing.  

If you want to know 'the rest of the story'  click on the words In Honor of Ralph Hepworth. THis happened 24 July 1945; twenty two days later.