2022 update. These memoirs, while heartfelt when written, were written some 40 years after the events and have, upon further digging into official records, been revealed as... often factually inaccurate, to the point where I'm really unable to vouch for any of it. Ira's own CONTEMPORANEOUS handwritten record of his missions, recorded in the flyleaf of a pharmacy textbook he apparently took with him to England, exactly match the official record of his service as recorded in meticulous detail on the website of his unit. My father was always truthful, so I am forced to conclude that the memoirs offer a fascinating peek into how, over several decades, our memories of past events can be muddied with others' anecdotes, things we may have read in newspapers or heard from colleagues, dreams, and a soupcon of wishful thinking.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
It must, however, be noted that these memoirs were penned in the 1980s and by that time Ira's memory for details had clearly faded. He remembered arriving in England to start active duty in January 44; yet the record clearly states that he in fact flew his first mission in October of that year. There are other inconsistencies as well. Still, an interesting read!
ReplyDelete