97-yr old WWII veteran Ralph Pannell shares his stories of victory and valor

A group gathered at Green Acres Baptist Church on Tuesday afternoon to hear the incredible story of Ralph N. Pannell, a 97-year-old WWII veteran. As Pannell spoke, there was laughter and awe as he related the highs and the lows of service in the United States Army Air Corps from 1943-1946 in his 3 years, 4 months and 23 days of service in WWII.

“I enlisted at Turner Field in Albany, Georgia in 1942 and went to Fort McPherson to be sworn in, Pannell said. “I enlisted to be an aircraft mechanic and welder for China Burma India (CBI) Asiatic Pacific Theatre. After I was sworn in, I went back to Turner Field to work on the line and repair aircraft.”

After being there for four months, Pannell describes needing to go to school and attending Seymour Johnson School for six months before heading to Dearborn, Michigan for engine school where he remained for a month.

After a brief stay in Salt Lake City, Utah, Pannell and his comrades moved on to Boise, Idaho where he stayed for over a year. “They were training GI’s and pilots for B-24’s, but I as part of an Air Birds group and we didn’t have any B-24’s. We had smaller aircraft like L-10’s, L-16’s, and some B-26’s,” Pannell said.

After this training, Pannell received his first orders to go home for 10 days and then report to a base in Greensboro, North Carolina for duty and training to go overseas. Following training he reported to Newport News, Virginia where he boarded the USS General Mann, a transport vessel that took him to serve in India. “Then I went to the squadron, said Pannell. “I found out I was going to join the squadron in the 12th Bomb Group”.

Of his many vivid memories Pannell described a scene where he heard fighting and smelled the odors of a battle going on while his group was replacing the engine in an aircraft.

“The place where we had designated was where a troubled aircraft stopped in”, he said. “We went down to see what was troubling it and it needed an engine so we were there about three or four days. There was fire-fighting going on not too far from there and the British, Indians and some Japanese were fighting and you could smell the smoke from the gunfire and smell the body odor from the dead.”

One of the scariest moments Pannell experienced in the CBI Theatre included travelling to and from a para-trooping mission of Anglo-Indians flying a B-247 in a British controlled area. Pannell describes travelling to and from this mission in two of the Group’s own planes and encountering a storm on the return trip.

“I believe we stayed there about six weeks when went down there in our own airplanes, he remembered. “We started coming back in our airplanes, two planes and two crews that had gone down there,” Pannell said.

Along with the threat of eminent danger were the occasional weather concerns that threaten any aircraft, in particular during war.

“Then we ran into a storm coming back, it was a twister,” said Pannell. “We had been in those storms, and one of our crew had been downed there once before,” Pannell said. “They told us to put our parachutes on and the pilot told us ‘we go high, you go low, and we’ll get out of this storm’.”

The most exciting and unbelievable moment for Pannell was the declaration of victory over Japan on August 14. After their surrender, August 15 was known as V-J day, after their official surrender. As he described these moments of the squadron first discovering their victory, he related an indescribable excitement and joy felt by all.

“We received word in the squadron of the Japanese surrender of August 14, and we were very happy,” Pannell said. “There was singing, hollering, calling home, yelling ‘I want to go home! I’m coming home.’”

After a long period of waiting, Pannell finally docked in Seattle at 1 p.m. on Jan. 21, 1946, which is nearly five months after the declaration of victory over Japan.

“GI trucks were waiting to make a 40 mile trip to Ft. Lewis, Washington,” Pannell said. “We were there several days processing, service records, medical records, clothing. Some were taken and some new ones were issued.”

After being assigned to a group that went to Atlanta and Fort McPherson, Pannell and those travelling with him went by train across the U.S. in a trip that with multiple stops took about four days. After reaching Atlanta, he was transferred over to Ft. Mack where he was discharged.

“I was discharged on January 31, 1946. I was given $100.00 mustering out pay or money to get home on.” Pannell was beyond excited, that after nearly three and a half years of service, he was finally going home to his town and his family.

It was a memorable and long-awaited union remembered Pannell.

“I was picked up at Ft. Mack by an uncle that lived nearby and spent the night with relatives there. I traveled by bus to Cordele. The next day, February 1, 1946, it was wonderful to be home again, back with all the family, especially my mother and the love of my life Nellie, soon to be my wife, ten days later on February 10.”

After the conclusion of Pannell’s story, Beth McConnell, a long-time friend of Ralph Pannell and his wife, talked about how they met through church and had known each other for about 41 years. McConnell stated how much she enjoyed hearing stories like this as it gives life to facts about wars and battles and how the details really bring these events to life from the perspective of one who had actually been there.

“I’m a history person, I used to teach social studies back in the day, so I really enjoy the history, the oral history, the live details” McConnell said. “Yes, we knew about the wars, we knew about these battles, this battle, this general, that general, but it’s just interesting to hear about it from an enlisted man’s point of view. The things that they had to cope with and deal with I think is really interesting.”

McConnell admires Pannell for the example he and his wife have both been to her ever since she came to know them. Their example was keenly felt and their legacy left in a marriage of 69 years is something that was a positive example to McConnell.

“We’ve just gone to that same church for a long time,” said McConnell. “He and his wife were just models for us all. Long lives, long married lives, he is just a good solid man.”

McConnell spends a good deal of time by the side of Ralph Pannell because he is one of her dearest friends. McConnell enjoys her friendship with Pannell and describes him as “a lovely gentleman.”