JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- They are among the last of the greatest generation, World War II pilots who coaxed C-46 cargo planes laden with supplies over the highest mountain range in the world from India and Burma to China in what was called flying the Hump.
Still their wits are sharp, their stories of battling horrendous weather and Japanese fighters compelling and their legs spry even climbing into the cockpit of the military's latest generation transport, the battle-gray C-17.
But, with so few of them left, this month's reunion of the so-called Hump pilots who flew over the Himalaya Mountains was their last. At age 91, Tex Rankin of Fort Worth, Texas, says he's saddened the fellowship is coming to an end.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWACH