For This Glider Pilot, D-Day Was Just The First Step

Captain Bob Meyer, WWII veteran glider pilot, tells us, among other stories, about his role in D-Day

Captain Bob Meyer, in the closing months of WWII, found himself in a brutal fire fight in German itself.  Unable to determine who was friend and who wasn’t, he decided to push himself as deep into his foxhole as he could and wait this one out.   That tactic wasn’t to be.  A German paratrooper, Luger in hand, literally dropped from the plane into that hole with him.  Pushing the gun to the Captains head, he growled in perfect English, “You want to die?”

Curiously enough, Captain Meyer wasn’t in the infantry; he was in the Air Force.  And a Glider Pilot.  Dragged into the clouds by a mother ship, he was responsible for bringing in equipment and munitions to the troops.  Just to give you an idea of the danger the good Captain experienced, once he was tasked with carrying in a glider full of landmines.  Usually he flew with a copilot, but this time, when he showed up to fly in the landmines, he wasn’t given a copilot.  “Why?” he asked. 

“No reason to waste two of you guys,” he was told.

This morning Captain Meyer spoke to our meeting and started with D-Day and his role in it.  He and his unit brought in heavier equipment like jeeps and light tanks which made the paratroopers he supported a more capable force.  The Captain’s Unit was given 4 distinguished service citations while he was a member.  He has a book coming out in November, “Flying in, Walking out” that details these experiences.

Important to note is that Captain Meyer wasn’t here just to talk about himself and his exploits.  The military, being an important part of his life, he’s taken on an vital mission on behalf of our fighting men and women in Afghanistan.  When speaking with many of them he found that their lives overseas are divided into three parts, 8 hours of sleep (if lucky), 8 hours of hard work and dangerous duty, and 8 hours of complete and utter boredom.  He couldn't do anything about the first two, but he could about the last.  He started a ministry to send DVDs to our troops, along with battery powered players.  He was there to enlist our help, and we gave it, both with more DVDs, and with a donation to help him cover his shipping costs.

If you would like to help the Good Captain out, visit his website, www.abitofhome.org and email him at bobmeyer@yahoo.com.  He and our troops could use your involvement.

Oh, by the way, the German who dropped into his foxhole turned out to be a German American Citizen who'd been sent to German by his parents before the war to learn better German and ended up being drafted by Der Fuhrer.  When Captain Meyer replied, "No, I don't want to die,"  the transplanted American said, "Me neither.  Let's sit this one out."  And for the next six hours Captain Meyer and his new buddy shot the breeze.  And they had a lot of breeze to shoot.  They were both from the windy city - Chicago.