WWII presentation to tell story from a tail gunner's perspective
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Apr. 15—On April 25, Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum will hosts its third World War II History roundtable presentation, in which the wartime experiences of Ray Perry — former Texas Gov. Rick Perry's father — will be discussed.
The talk will be presented by Jewellee Jordan Kuenstler, the director of the Museum of the West Texas Frontier in Stamford, Texas and author of the book, "Heavy Date Over Germany: The Life and Times of B-17 Tail Gunner Ray Perry."
Perry joined the U.S. Army Air Force in 1943 after he graduated from high school.
His good aim, after years of practice while growing up on a farm in Haskell County Texas, earned him a spot as a tail gunner on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber named Heavy Date, which saw action in hundreds of missions out of bases in England during the last month of the war in Europe.
Kuenstler, whose family once lived next to Perry's home, based her book off of letters and photos that Perry had saved.
The program will be on April 25 at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
For more information, contact the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum at (903) 450-4502.
