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Randall Jarrell | Death of a Ball Turret Gunner 9/29/2005

Dave "the Archbishop" Smith mentioned this poem in one of our several conversations about war and weaponry so I decided to publish it to commemorate his trip around the world on a motorcycle. The idea was to give him handfulls to dispense along the way. That never happened. Besides, Archbishop had bigger things to worry about, including a crappy-ass cycle. He's back in Sacramento know. Regrouping. Yeah, that's it. Regrouping.

Jarrell's poem isn't so much a homage to the ball turret gunner as it is a reflection on what one website calls "the worst crew position on the B-17 [Bomber]." As the illustration on the back cover illustrates, the gunner is rolled into a tight ball, encased in metal and glass, hanging underneath the bomber (and a mere 15 inches from the ground when landed.)

Posted by: Richard Hansen / 11:50 AM