April 29--As soon as the plane lifted off from the runway at Van Nuys Airport on Saturday, World War II veteran Pete Howenstein was all smiles.
The ride in the plane -- a working B-17 bomber from the WWII era -- was a trip back to the glory days for Howenstein, a decorated Army infantryman who fought in the Normandy Invasion and the Battle of the Bulge.
The Northridge resident's ride in the "Aluminum Overcast" came courtesy of local firefighters at Los Angeles Fire Department Station 87 in Granada Hills, who "adopted" him several years ago and got about 50 firefighters around the San Fernando Valley to chip in for the flight.
"We wanted to get together and do something nice for him, because that generation's losing so many
people so quickly," said LAFD Capt. Wendell Smith. "So we figured this would be like a little nostalgia for him."
Although Howenstein, 87, never flew in a B-17 during the war, Saturday's flight did take him back to those days. He was wounded during the Battle of the Bulge on Nov. 11, 1944, in Metz, France, when German artillery fire sent shrapnel into his neck. It remains there to this day.
And while Howenstein was laid up in a field hospital, Gen. George Patton personally pinned a Purple Heart medal on him.
"I wasn't in the Air Force, but it brought back a lot of memories," Howenstein said after the flight, which took a small group of passengers over the Valley and out to the Pacific by Malibu. "That was awesome. What a ride."
Howenstein struck up a friendship with the crew at Fire Station 87 about four years ago when he would bring bread by. Firefighters there have looked after him since, sharing meals or trading stories with him several times a week and even inviting him and his family to the station for Thanksgiving dinner after Howenstein's wife died last year.
"We just enjoy having him around because he teaches the younger firefighters about dedication, loyalty, duty, things that
they need to learn," Smith said. "He sets a good example for all of us, because we just don't see people from that generation anymore, the greatest generation."
Several firefighters escorted Howenstein and his family to the airport Saturday in a rebuilt, vintage 1927 firetruck, and watched as the four-propeller craft made a slow, low arc over the Santa Monica mountains.
"He's in seventh heaven," said daughter Sharon Mercado, of Northridge.
"He's never going to shut up," she joked.
And after the flight, the firefighters surprised him with a bomber jacket with the B-17 stitched into the back.
When they told Howenstein that more than 50 firefighters had pitched in, it brought tears to his eyes.
"They're the best friends I've had," Howenstein said of the crew. "They treat me like a king. There's no one better than them."
To the firefighters, it was the least they could do.
"Everything he did, he did for us," said Firefighter Mike McKnight. "We're all here because of him."
The B-17 model, nicknamed the "Flying Fortress," was one of the best-known aircraft during WWII.
This particular plane, the "Aluminum Overcast," was built in 1945, but was delivered to the Army Air Corps too late to see any action in the war.
It features a glass nose turret, side turrets and replica bombs.
The bomber will continue on to Napa and Hayward as part of its 2012 "Salute to Veterans" national tour.
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