Editor's Note: The following is based on two unpublished remembrances written by Curtis Miller, who was a B-26 Marauder pilot during World War Two. Sent in to us by his stepson, G. David Germeyer, they were discovered in his mother's papers prior to her moving into a retirement community. He does not know whether these were written as letters home, biographies or simply a way to help remember what happened during the war. David remembers that his stepfather never really talked too much about his war experiences. There was one time, however, when his stepfather did relate the story about long, single engine flight back home across the Mediterranean Sea, after one engine had been knocked out by antiaircraft fire. Curtis Miller received a citation from General James Doolittle for his actions. David also remembers his stepfather telling about the time he was in a club when he overheard another pilot talking about escorting a crippled B-26 across the Mediterranean, which ultimately belly landed in North Africa. Curtis Miller introduced himself to the other pilot and it was indeed the pilot who escorted him home. It truly is a small world.  Captain Curtis A. Miller was assigned to the 441st Bombardment Squadron of the 320th Bombardment Group. He passed away in 1982.

Monday Afternoon
May 24, 1943
The order just came out to the effect that now the Africa campaign is over we will be able to write home about places we've been and experiences we've had during and preceding the campaign. I figure that you'll be mighty interested in knowing what's been going on - sit yourself down and make yourself comfortable cause this'll probably be the great granddaddy of all epistles. Hold tight! I'll have to refer to my diary along the lone in order to get the dates right. Starting from the day we landed in Africa - December 18, 1942, at Accra on the Gold Coast. Up to the last hop before that we had stayed intact as a squadron - I'd been flying on Chuck's right wing. The last hop before we hit Accra, I had my first real trouble. We took off for Accra and I had one of the proverbial runaway props, and managed by the skin of my teeth to make it around and set her in for an emergency landing. It would take the full length of the letter to explain the whole thing, so we'll let the details go till another time. One thing I will say - it was the first time I had come that close to looking down the valley of the shadow and I mean it made a believer out of me. It was honestly a case of, "I brought it this far, now God - you take over." Anyhow, we fixed it temporarily and the next day we took our last long over-water flight to Accra (Little Joe navigating).

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