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Description
Herman Cohen was an aerial combat gunner. In WWII he served as a ball turret gunner on a B-17 with the 457th Bomb Group in the 8th Air Force. After the war, he served as a reservist with the 728th Bomb Squadron of the 452nd Bomb Wing based at Long Beach is sunny Southern California. Then the Korean War broke out and 728th with their B-26 Invaders were shipped off to Japan and then later to Pusan Korean. Like Herman Cohen, most 452nd Bomb Wing reservists were retreads from WWII, they had combat experience, but they were about to experience a different sort of war, the Cold War. Much of the flying was done at night against an almost invisible enemy. Their job as well as that of other B-26 units was to fly night interdiction missions deep into North Korea. Their targets were elusive truck convoys and freight trains bringing supplies south to Chinese and North Korean troops. During the day the 5th Air Force ruled the skies, nothing moved under their watchful eye, but at night, under cover of darkness, the Communists were able to move supplies to their troops, however if spotted by B-26 crew these supply lines were cut with extreme prejudice. Crews learned to spot tell tale signs of convoys and trains and then rain down holy hell on them with as many as 14, 50 caliber machine guns and a vast array of bombs and missiles. The aerial gunner on a B-26 saw his targets through a periscope device, from here he was able to direct and fire up to 4, .50 caliber machine guns from remote controlled gun turrets. The B-26 really wasn't designed for the role it was thrust into, but it proved to be a formidable machine for bombing and strafing enemy targets at night. Many a Chinese and North Korean truck driver or train crew met their maker on these night interdictions missions by B-26 Invader crews. Illutration is based on an in flight B&W photo by Herman Cohen.

Adobe Illustrator 8.0 on a Power Mac G4, OS 9.2.

Description
Herman Cohen was an aerial combat gunner. In WWII he served as a ball turret gunner on a B-17 with the 457th Bomb Group in the 8th Air Force. After the war, he served as a reservist with the 728th Bomb Squadron of the 452nd Bomb Wing based at Long Beach is sunny Southern California. Then the Korean War broke out and 728th with their B-26 Invaders were shipped off to Japan and then later to Pusan Korean. Like Herman Cohen, most 452nd Bomb Wing reservists were retreads from WWII, they had combat experience, but they were about to experience a different sort of war, the Cold War. Much of the flying was done at night against an almost invisible enemy. Their job as well as that of other B-26 units was to fly night interdiction missions deep into North Korea. Their targets were elusive truck convoys and freight trains bringing supplies south to Chinese and North Korean troops. During the day the 5th Air Force ruled the skies, nothing moved under their watchful eye, but at night, under cover of darkness, the Communists were able to move supplies to their troops, however if spotted by B-26 crew these supply lines were cut with extreme prejudice. Crews learned to spot tell tale signs of convoys and trains and then rain down holy hell on them with as many as 14, 50 caliber machine guns and a vast array of bombs and missiles. The aerial gunner on a B-26 saw his targets through a periscope device, from here he was able to direct and fire up to 4, .50 caliber machine guns from remote controlled gun turrets. The B-26 really wasn't designed for the role it was thrust into, but it proved to be a formidable machine for bombing and strafing enemy targets at night. Many a Chinese and North Korean truck driver or train crew met their maker on these night interdictions missions by B-26 Invader crews. Illutration is based on an in flight B&W photo by Herman Cohen.

Adobe Illustrator 8.0 on a Power Mac G4, OS 9.2.