Crew Diaries
Lt. Keith W. Lamb - 35 Times
35 Times is the story of LT Keith W. Lamb
"35 Times" is courtesy of Christine Lamb Stern, Keith Lamb’s daughter; and Renée Neale, Keith Lamb’s Grand-niece.
Forward from "35 Times":
The story you are about to read is true. it is about my experiences, and those of my friends, from the time I received my second lieutenant's bars and pilot's wings at Brooks Field, Texas, to the time 1 returned home from Europe, thirty-five combat missions later. My story points no moral. It bears no social significance except for what you may care to read into it. The episodes which follow, many of which are humorous, document my experiences as a young American--in my early twenties--facing the obligation of performing thirty-five missions over Europe as a bomber pilot during World War
Discovering, remembering—and sometimes creating--humor in an otherwise deadly serious situation was a great help in coping with the daily realities of war. In most cases names are real, but some, of course, are fictitious. Dates and happenings were recalled from my notes.
This story achieved its final form in 1994, fifty years later—organized from that series of notes and a rough draft I made shortly after my return from overseas. The current interest shown in World War II by the younger generations--my grown children, my grandchildren, nieces and nephews--gave me a reason to preserve this little bit of personal history for posterity.
I'm dedicating my story to my mother, for without her inspiration I may never have made it back. I'm sorry she never got to read it.
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