"," Veteran Ray Crewson last survivor of downed plane, ; online archives (: accessed ).

• Title	"," Veteran Ray Crewson last survivor of downed plane, ; online archives (: accessed ).
  Short Title	The Review - Alliance, OH - November 11, 2014
  Source ID	S4931
  Text	Sebring resident and veteran Ray Crewson is the last survivor of a plane that was shot down during World War II.He still remembers that day in 1944 when the B17 light bomber was shot down. Crewson bailed out of that plane along with two other survivors. Three others died."I kicked the side door off the airplane; we had no choice," Crewson said. "It went up as a fireball in smoke."After it was all over he said he was too busy to get scared."We jumped into Germany; were on the ground for five minutes when a German soldier said to us, 'For you the war is over' -- the war was winding down, so as a result, I was a prisoner of war for six months," Crewson said. "General Patton came through on April 29, 1945, and liberated us."But before he left Europe, Crewson recalled the day he met Gen. Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower."I was with a kid from McDonald (St. Valerie), saw a crowd of people around that airplane, the crowd separated and made an aisle," Crewson said, adding he saw a Jeep approaching, some men in civilian clothes and a guy walking out in front who turned out to be Eisenhower. "He came to see how the prisoners looked; he stopped right in front of me and my buddy, had a big grin on his face."The POWs were flown to France, processed and flown back to the United States in July.Crewson landed in Boston after an 11-day ocean trip. He was then transferred to Indiana along with POWs from all over the country, then the men were sent home.The soldiers got a two-month leave that included two weeks of rest and recreation at Miami Beach, where they enjoyed deep-sea fishing, swimming and sightseeing. The soldiers also had to visit the service personnel office, where they got to choose what base they would report to next. Crewson chose Columbus, at Lockborne, just south of the city.Crewson and fellow soldiers were shot down twice prior to that last incident when he was captured. "We crash-landed in safe territory, got out and ran; nobody got hurt and we scrounged a ride back to England," Crewson said. "We were missing in action for four days."The second time the plane was shot up pretty bad, but nobody got hit and they crash-landed on an airstrip in England. But, after the third time of having to parachute out of a plane, Crewson never jumped out again.After his release from the service he re-enlisted in the regular Air Force in 1947 as a ground operator and was sent to duty in Korea. Crewson also served in Tripoli, North Africa, Pakistan, Port Austin, Michigan, South Texas, North Carolina, back to Korea twice then northern Japan over a course of 20 years.When Crewson's dad died, he came home and his duty was over.He applied to serve as an Air Force recruiter and went to school in San Angelo, Texas. Crewson was then assigned to Akron, then Canton, where he spent four years as a recruiter. "I put over 200 people in the service," Crewson said.As he reflected back, Crewson said his favorite place for duty was England."It was voluntary; I would do it all over again," Crewson said of his military service.Crewson is memorialized in the mural at Schreckengost Park in downtown Sebring. A plane shown airborne in the mural with the initials "R.C." along with a logo, a white "L." His memorabilia has also been on display at the Strand Theatre Museum.Crewson graduated from Sebring McKinley High School in 1941. He married Delores on Nov. 7, and the couple had three children, Linda, Dona and Dave, who were all born while he was in the in service.Crewson will be 92 on Jan. 3.