<< Previous   of   Next >> SCBJ/John Wolcott  (click to enlarge) Art Unruh, of Arlington, a former B-17 gunner, makes WWII history come alive at Paine Field's new Flying Heritage Collection aviation museum in his role as a docent.

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CONTACT SCBJ John Wolcott, Editor jwolcott@scbj.com Dave Clark, Assistant Editor dclark@scbj.com

Warbird's history keeper

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

When Paul Allen opened his highly publicized Flying Heritage College aviation museum at Paine Field on June 6, docent Art Unruh was already busy telling people about his 50 missions over Europe as a waist gunner in a B-17.

He still recalls his World War II experiences in vivid detail and believes new generations should understand the sacrifices people made and the lives that were lost in defending the world against dictators and their followers.

For the three years that Allen¿s restored warbirds were displayed on a limited schedule in hangars at Arlington Airport, Unruh regularly showed up each week to greet tour groups.

Now that the collection has moved to a permanent home at Paine Field, he promises to occasionally make the trip from Arlington to share his memories and the lessons of war.

His lifetime habit of writing notes and diaries, along with collecting stories, photographs and World War II memorabilia, made writing a book a natural next step for Unruh. His book, 'The Shadow Casters,' now in its third printing, continues to sell (call 360-435-4351 or send e-mail to artlee@maxxconnect.net).

His six months with the 32nd Bomb Squadron of the 301st Bomb Group filled his memory with vivid images of exploding and falling B-17s, with many of his friends on board. Just as vivid are battle scenes of Me-109s coming at his plane with blazing guns or trying to ram his plane after they ran out of ammunition.

"Many of them came as close as 50 feet. That's why we were able to shoot down so many on that mission," he said.

That mission was his 50th, a flight that earned he and the rest of the crew a Silver Star decoration for heroism. But that flight also came close to stopping him from ever going home.

Arriving over the target at 24,000 feet, the bombers met fierce resistance. Nearly 70 Nazi Me-109s and FW-190s swarmed over the bombers in three waves of 18 fighters each, firing rockets and then 20mm cannon and machine guns as they closed on the B-17s.

In the first 15 minutes, 11 of the bombers were destroyed in the intense attack. During the course of the mission, Unruh¿s plane received 600 cannon and machine-gun hits. One shell blew away half of the rudder, the left elevator and elevator trim tab, leaving those flight controls jammed.

Hits in the fuselage and wings severely damaged both wing spars, punctured both inboard engines, set fire to the radio equipment and knocked out the plane¿s oxygen system. Unruh still has the palm-size chunk of shrapnel that hit his flak jacket and knocked him off his feet.

After the war, he returned to his home in the mid-west, later moving to Everett in 1952. He spent his career working in auto parts before retiring from Piston Service Auto Parts after 23 years, leaving in 1984. Unruh also played his guitar and sang for 14 years in the Rhythm Wranglers, his country and western band that became one of the most popular in the area.

In recent years, he spent a lot of time visiting area schools with his mementoes of the war, helping students understand important times in history that he has lived through. He can be philosophical, too.

"Life is like a roll of toilet paper," he said, smiling. "The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes."