Frank Greer with wife Ruthie

First I should note that Uncle Frank is married to my father's sister, Ruth Patchin Greer, and has been all of my life. Frank has spent his life working and is now enjoying retirement and selling a few cracked nuts on the side. He always asks what are you doing, where are you now? He is not the kind of person to sit and talk about himself unless he has an amusing story. Often the joke was on him when he tells it, and after 50 some years you think you know the father of the late Johnny Lee Greer pretty well. That is until on my last visit with them. He hustled us over to the fireplace wall and pointed out his shiny new medal. Heck, I didn't even know he had been in the service. But there it was, a brand new Distinguished Flying Cross Medal, the fourth highest award given to servicemen.

Frank said that Pauline Bynum found out that he never got the medal awarded him for his WWII service and promptly went about the task of setting things right.

Uncle Frank was the Ball Turret Gunner in a B-17 and flew 29 missions over Germany and German occupied territories. According to a recent article in The Neodesha Derrick, on one mission the bombs had been loaded backwards and locked up when released. The load shifted and the crew prepared to bail out. Not a pleasant thought over German occupied France. He and two others managed to open the bomb bay doors, saving the plane and many lives aboard.

Frank said the average life of a B-17 was 8 missions before being shot down, and that they flew 29 before being rotated out. According to the Derrick article, he didn't expect to live through the scheduled flights. Considering his position as Ball Turret Gunner, he was especially blessed.

The Greer's are a special couple in Neodesha, with or without the medal, and I have always been proud to call them Uncle Frank and Aunt Ruthie. Below is the photo from The Neodesha Derrick of Frank and his award.

I should note here that Uncle Frank came from a pretty good sized family, and is Uncle Frank to about every Greer in a hundred mile radius. In addition, he is Uncle Frank to the Carver's, including Larry and Vickie, whose mother was Frank's sister. We all congratulate Frank on his distinguished award.