100th Bomb Group Website, 2010
The pilot Lyman Fillingame stayed in contact with Donald throughout the years. In fact, Lyman even named his son Lyman Donald Fillingame. Donald did not talk about his war experience much, but when he did, he always spoke in high regards of his pilot Lyman. By reading through the information I have posted on this website, you will find that the men of the Bloody Hundredth went through harsh and very cold conditions in the planes, saw their friends getting shot down in the planes next to them, and were scared for their own life as they crash landed or saw enemies approaching. If you can imagine going through all of this, you can probably imagine how close crew members became as they took to the skies one mission after the another, counting the days until they could return home to their families. I don't know the details of Lyman and Donald's relationship, but I can imagine how much they meant to each other as they sat side by side and worked together on every mission. In the letters, Donald talks about Lyman (he calls him Phill in some of the letters). I still need to organize and edit the letters so they are easier to read, but when I do, it may help to uderstand the relationship their crew had.
Donald Fillingame sent me the following information about his father after the war:
My Dad thought seriously about staying in the Army Air Corp as a career, but
after the War, they had him and most of the other soldiers just cooling their
heels and lots of them got homesick and just mustered-out. I suspect that was
the intent of the Army as they didn't need all them on active duty any more.
Dad came home and married my Mother and started a family. He did stay in the
Reserve and eventually retired as a Lt. Col. He went to work for the Post
Office and retired at 55. When he was 60, he was able to start drawing his Air
Force pension, so he did all right for himself.
He and Mother had five of us. I am the oldest. Three boys and two girls. All
are doing well. My Mother died eight years ago, but Dad is hanging in there at
age 88. In fact, he even has a lady friend.
He still lives at home, very independent, and, although slowing down more each
year, is still pretty active. His lifelong hobby has been, and still is,
growing flowers - particularly camellias, which he still exhibits prize-winning
blooms at several shows each year.