My Dad turns 97 today.
 

And still going along pretty well. Starting to struggle a bit but not bad for his age.

Still lives in his own home although only 3 nights a week. We take him every 3 weeks from Thursday till the next Monday, then 3 nights at home himself, then my sister takes him for 4 nights, then 3 at home then my second sister for 4 nights and then back to us.

My Mother (94)is in a care home nearby, she has Alzheimer's so she needs 24/7 care but my Dad visits when we can, at least once a week.

Dad was an RAAF bomber pilot in WW2, based in England, met my mother when she was only 17, married at 18 and still together.

With all the sad news in The Lobby these past weeks or so, I thought some brighter news might be in order.

Take care of your folks guys.

Ian:ausflag::ausflag::ausflag:

That’s a great story. Those guys have some stories.

Some well needed good news!

Tell him Happy Birthday from us!
And many more.


:)

Hats off to your dad!

Amazing!

Happy Birthday to your dear old dad!

Happy birthday to your dad

Tell your dad Happy Birthday & thank him for me for his service to all of us!

There aren’t many of “The Greatest Generation “ left.

Murf

Happy Birthday to your dad!
How old was he when he earned his wings?

Happy 97th and congratulations to your father!
Are there any hobbies or pastimes that he can still enjoy?

I had to call and ask him. He was 19. Got his wings on a Tiger Moth, moved up to an Anson then got shipped to the UK via Canada. Flew Ansons in training in the UK then moved to Coastal Command flying Wellingtons. He was briefly transferred to a training base to transfer to Lancaster's, flew his one and only time in a Lancaster on D-day. From D-day, the war was starting to turn, bombing training was rapidly being downgraded and he was sent back to Coastal Command.
He never saw a U-boat but they were instructed to search for crew from a ship. They did find a lifeboat with survivors who apparently were US sailors but apart from that he doesn't know anything more about them other that he understood they were picked up. He said that was nothing special. It was fairly common to find a group of survivors and report back.
When you ask him about such things he just brushes them off saying that was too long ago to remember. Always has. I don't push him on it.

Congratulations. Happy Birthday to him. Thank you for the story. They gave us a gift of freedom. Prayers for him and your mother.

Awesome! Thanks for GOOD NEWS! Lobby is like obituaries these days.

congrats to your Dad! My Dad is going to turn 96 in November. He
served in WW2 as a side gunner on a B-29 flying missions over Tokyo dropping
firebombs in the spring and summer of 1945. He had just turned 19 at the time.
Right before he arrived in Saipan in March 1945, his bomb group had been suffering horrible losses attempting to bomb Tokyo at high altitude. They were
being pummeled by flak and enemy fighters. Right at the time my Dad got there, General Lemay decided to bomb the Japs at tree top level.....too low for both flak and fighter planes to do much good. They were coming in so low that
tar paper and boards from the buildings they were bombing were bouncing off
the sides of the plane. this technique turned out to be a great idea as losses were
cut way down while at the same time the enemy was suffering way more damage.

Happy Birthday to your father. Nice to hear he is still going at 97.

Wow happy birthday to your dad

You're very lucky to have both your parents, Ian. You must have some great genes!


Best to your dad on his BD, and best to you.

Happy Birthday!

I'm blessed to go to church and be good friends with two 99 year old men. I love to get them started talking about their past. Good stuff.