Peter Bielskis joined the Army Air Corps as a cadet at age 19. While he did not receive good enough grades to be a pilot, he still wanted to fly so he became a ball-turret-gunner. After talking to some veteran flyers who told him to spin the ball-turret when they got into flak, Peter thought that the ball turret was probably the safest place in the B-17. After sailing to England on the Queen Elizabeth, Peter flew 27 missions over Europe. On his 2nd mission his plane returned on only one engine and low on fuel. He and the rest of the crew had to throw all the items in the plane overboard to make it over the channel and back home. On his 21st mission, their group encountered some German ME 262's - the first fighter jet to enter the war.

After completing his missions in Europe, Peter returned to the US to train on the B-29 bomber at Lowry Field. However, after the Bombs were dropped, Peter stayed stateside and was discharged on November 28, 1945.

- The Bielskis Family