Morristown WWII vet, 91, flies in B-52 again
MORRISTOWN – It’s been more than 70 years since Harry Kramer last flew in a B-25 Mitchell bomber, but he remembered it well enough to discuss the pros and cons of using the aircraft with a pilot when he boarded it in August.
Kramer, 91, of Morristown, a World War II veteran, flew in the plane with his family last month for his 91st birthday, the first time he had been in the aircraft since the war.
“Not as much fun as flying but it was still very good,” Kramer said.
Since he was a boy, Kramer wanted to fly.
“From the ages of 10 through 16,” Kramer said. “I had read and studied many available flying manuals, built and flew hundreds of model planes.”
He earned his pilot’s license at 16, enlisted in the Army Air Corps at 18 and was flying missions in World War II at 20 in 1944.
In all, he flew 31 combat missions in the Pacific Theater – thankfully being selected as a pilot at the last minute when he joined the service after initially being tabbed for a navigator position.
“I accomplished what I wanted to do,” Kramer said. “I wanted to fly.”
Kramer remained in the Air Force Reserves until 1958, discharged with the rank of captain.
Kramer worked in the oil industry after the war, repairing machinery. He also married his high school sweetheart Ruth, who passed away at 89 a few years ago after 66 years of marriage.
He’s regaled his family with stories from the war over the years, particularly his children Jack Kramer and Joan Swanson.
Those stories suddenly became more vivid three years ago, when Kramer discovered a detailed log of his time in the service packed away in his home.
While he was at war, Kramer penned letters to parents, and without his knowledge, his mother typed each into journals, placing them in a box that Kramer just recently discovered in 2012. The journals also contained the original letters he sent home.
“My mother gave me the box when I returned from the war, but because I was so busy with my family I never got around to opening it until February 2012 when I found them cleaning the basement,” Kramer said. “Then I opened it and saw my letters all typed up. I read through them while I was going through chemotherapy.”
Kramer has chronic lymphocytic leukemia but said he is doing OK now but still receiving treatment, which keeps the disease under control.
Kramer said his letters to his mother were understandably sugarcoated, focusing on the positives of his time in the service so he didn’t worry his mother, but each letter he read brought complete memories back.
“Reading them now reminds me of what I did and where I was going,” Kramer said, adding the order of the letters helped him properly sequence his missions.
One particular letter reminded him of a grim assignment, almost all of which didn’t make it into his correspondence to his family.
It was Kramer’s third mission in Rabaul, New Guinea, when a “parafrag,” a bomb attached to a parachute, landed on the plane in front of him. Kramer tried to warn his comrade, but couldn’t reach him in time before the grenade went off.
Despite those sad memories, it was a thrill for Kramer to return to the B-25 for the first time in years when this summer’s Wings of Freedom tour returned to New Jersey, a “living history” museum of classic World War II-era planes operated by the nonprofit Collings Foundation.
Kramer flew during the stop at the Monmouth Jet Center, but also attended the Morristown leg of the tour just a few miles down the road from his home.
He was also a “rock star” at the shows according to his family, drawing the attention of plane enthusiasts once they discovered he piloted the aircraft.
Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com