Jerry Duran, who served as a ball turret gunner during World War II, was recognized at a meeting of the Veterans Coffee Club on Thursday, Feb. 18, at the B-17 Alliance Restoration & Museum in Salem.

Simple History. B-17 Ball Turret Gunners – The Most Dangerous Job in WWII! Posted: January 31, 2025 | Last updated: July 10, 2025. Flying a B-17 was a very risky job since they were huge, slow ...

What does it take to become a legend? On a fateful day in 1943, a B-17 ball turret gunner risked everything to save his crew. This is the incredible story of courage, resilience, and heroism.

Once the B-17 was in the air, the gunner would enter the turret by placing his feet in the heel rests on the front wall, hunker down in a fetal position, and then close the hatch.

Letter: The ball turret gunner. ... This Plexiglas ball hanging from the bottom of the B-17 or B-24 was a heavily armed bubble just big enough to hold a small man and two 50-caliber machine guns.

Mighty 8th's B-17 gets its ball-turret. ... the 93-year-old Army Air Corps veteran who flew 11 missions over France and Germany on an 8th Air Force B-17 crew admitted some benchmarks along the ...

He wound up as a turret gunner/engineer on a B-17 bomber, was shot down on his eighth mission and spent more than 16 months as a POW. Skip to Article. Set weather. Back To Main Menu Close.

Kuhl was a ball turret gunner. A ball turret was a Plexiglas sphere set into the belly of a B-17 or B-24 bomber. It carried two .50-caliber machine guns and one man, who was usually short and small.

World War II veteran Al Shaw points to a B-17 model that hangs from the ceiling in his Belle Fourche home. The model, which shows a translucent, bubble-like ball turret on the underside, is just ...

The Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins unveiled a piece of World War II history on Monday. A ball gun turret from a B-17 flying fortress was restored and is on display. The turret is the first ...

The turret in question could be found at the bottom of a B-17 bomber — a plexiglass ball containing two .50-caliber machine guns and a very short gunner. The sphere could pivot to fend off attacking ...

On Veterans Day we remember from World War II the hazards faced by young men who became our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers. For example, the 8th Air Force suffered more ...