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F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction (New Weird) Author

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Tail Gunner

January 8, 2010 by fpdorchak

The past month or so, I’ve been having this persistently strong urge to write about a WWII B-17 tail gunner, so this week I began the story.  Am ten or so pages into it.  I got the urge last month or so, while stretching in the gym.  I was overcome by powerful emotion about a guy shot down over Germany during a bombing run. The imagery continued to plague me, so I knew I had to do this.  It was emotional, it was fearful, it was tragic. Then a short time later, while channel surfing at home, I spotted the Memphis Belle movie on TV.  I didn’t bother with it (though mentally noted the synchronicity), but later that night I again crossed paths with the movie, and sat and watched it for a spell, hitting the record key.  As I watched it, the last half hour, it showed a bombing run over Germany, and the scene where another B-17 in the formation was struck by a German plane that the Memphis Belle had just shot down.

This was my story.  The imagery in my head that wouldn’t go away.

Hope I do it (and the gunner) justice.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. fpdorchak says

    September 6, 2014 at 7:02 am

    Reblogged this on Reality Check and commented:

    I’ve reblogged this to my Reality Check site, since I don’t seem to find this post there, and it’s on this site where I’m, keeping a record of things-paranormal in my life!

Trackbacks

  1. The Tail Gunner and His Ticket Taker « Runnin Off at the Mouth…. says:
    January 26, 2010 at 12:09 pm

    […] Leave a Comment I just completed and submitted my WWII tail gunner (see previous post) story. I’m quite happy with it. 2,200 words.  And it seems every time I read it, well…a […]

  2. The B-17 Liberty Belle « Runnin Off at the Mouth…. says:
    May 29, 2010 at 1:15 am

    […] For some of my own fascination with the tail gunner position, please check out my previous posts (first post and second post). Though there was a intense sense of familiarity around the B-17, there was […]

  3. My Civil War Life | Reality Check says:
    October 6, 2014 at 1:20 am

    […] move on. But some lives were quite intense and had nasty outcomes, like my Civil War, Titanic, or WWII B-17 tail gunner experiences. I think we do attract experiences and “things” from other lives into the […]

  4. Dreams | Reality Check says:
    January 26, 2015 at 1:17 am

    […] Tail Gunner (fpdorchak.wordpress.com) […]

  5. The Man With No Name | Runnin Off at the Mouth.... says:
    May 29, 2015 at 1:01 am

    […] I go to the gym and walk by that now-hurtful-decible-levels-screaming-music-for-Zumba/whatever room where I first met my tail gunner, I look to that overhead fan. Yesterday (as I originally wrote this post, May 14th) that fan was […]

  6. Tail Gunner | Runnin Off at the Mouth.... says:
    November 27, 2015 at 1:06 am

    […] first installment of short stories has a lot of history behind it, if you’ll pardon the pun. This story’s journey started way back in late 2009. It’s a metaphysical one, for sure. It was a story I just couldn’t shake. It eventually […]

  7. The Reincarnation of F. P. Dorchak | Reality Check says:
    January 1, 2016 at 2:18 am

    […] Tail Gunner (fpdorchak.wordpress.com) […]

  8. The Reincarnational Conundrum | Reality Check says:
    January 11, 2016 at 1:14 am

    […] Tail Gunner (fpdorchak.wordpress.com) […]

  9. Floating | Reality Check says:
    February 5, 2016 at 1:01 am

    […] Tail Gunner (fpdorchak.wordpress.com) […]

  10. Float Number 3: Or Where The Hell Am I? | Reality Check says:
    June 26, 2016 at 1:43 am

    […] Tail Gunner (fpdorchak.wordpress.com) […]

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