At Memorial Day event in Tracy, bomber pilot Chuck Childs speaks about his pride in America and for those who served
By Tara Brandl
After 59 years in Rapid City, S.D., Chuck Childs and his wife relocated to Tracy to be near family. While he may have been many places during his 22 years in military service flying B17 bombers, Childs talked about how friendly Tracy was during the Memorial Day Program on Monday,
“My wife Grace and I came here to Tracy two years ago in May,” Childs said. “We left a lot of memories and many, many friends. But when we got here, we have found that this is absolutely the friendliest town we have ever lived in. We have lived in a lot of towns.”
Upon his arrival, the first thing he did was join the local American Legion post. And while his service to our country has made Childs a patriotic man, he would like to see that continue to all of Tracy.
“I found it to be a very patriotic post. The American Legion post would like to see Tracy be a patriotic city. They would love to see an American Flag fly from every residence in the city.”
When discussing his time in the military, Childs talked about being more than just a veteran.
“I am a very patriotic retired member of the military service,” Childs stated. “And I am a survivor. I have survived as a B17 pilot for 37 very rough missions in combat in Europe. My 19-year-old top engineer was killed and I had three of my crew that were so seriously wounded that they sent them back to the States.”
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.