World War II veterans meet for the first time

It was a historic event. Two World War II airmen now in their mid-90s met for the first time Aug. 7 at Delaware Coastal Airport. They shook hands, then hugged each other like lifelong friends.

John Billings, who celebrated his 96th birthday that day, flew to Georgetown from an airport in Luray, Va. Greeting him was Tom Creekmore of Long Neck, who will be 96 years old Dec. 7.

It's not unusual for Billings of Woodstock, Va., to fly, because he's been an active pilot for 81 years. After his military service and retiring from Eastern Airlines after 35 years, he has been volunteering as an Angel Flight pilot for the past 14 years. So far, he has flown more than 460 missions taking ill patients to connections for medical treatment.

Over the years, he's flown more than 30,000 hours.

Capt. Billings was a B-24 pilot with the 15th Army Air Force in 1944-45 based in Italy. After flying bombing missions over Germany, he was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services to airlift spies into France and Germany. The OSS was a wartime intelligence agency and predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Tech Sgt. Creekmore, who was stationed in England in 1945 with the 305th Bombing Group, 8th Air Force, was a radio operator on a B-17 crew flying bombing missions over Germany. Like Billings, Creekmore worked in the aviation industry, based at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, retiring after 40 years in management.

Billings didn't want to retire from professional flying. But, he said with a big smile, the FAA fired him. “I did something intolerable. I had my 60th birthday,” he said. Pilots have to retire at 60.

Billings has flown many planes over the past eight decades, and he said the DC-9, which he flew most of his commercial career, was his favorite. “I fell in love with it and flew it until they made me quit,” he said.

The two veterans are members of a unique and vanishing fraternity. It's estimated about 300,000 World War II veterans are still alive, but the number has dwindles from more than 940,000 just four years ago. Nearly 16 million Americans served in the military during World War II.

Creekmore said his unit no longer has reunions, while Billings' upcoming reunion in Texas might be his last.

A surprise birthday party

Creekmore follows Billings' Angel Flight missions on a website and was determined to meet him and his co-pilot and friend, Nevin Showman.

Showman and Creekmore had been in contact via email to set up a surprise birthday party at the airport in Georgetown. Showman said he did not tell Billings where they were going.

“I told him we are flying to get a Reuben sandwich,” Showman said. “We are Reuben experts.”

“This is landmark. It's the first flight ever that I didn't do the pre-flight check because I didn't know where we were going,” Billings said. Showman took care of all the details. Over lunch at Arena's at the airport, the two shared stories – eating Reubens of course – about the war years.

One of Creekmore's most vivid memories is about a training flight over Washington, D.C., as his crew prepared to be shipped overseas. Creekmore said visibility was next to zero as they headed back to base. “All of a sudden, I looked out and saw the Washington Monument near the right wing. I yelled to the pilot to do a steep bank to the left,” he said. “We just missed it.”

Billings said he heard about the end of the war while flying over the Mediterranean Sea after taking off from Naples, Italy. He went home on the USS West Point along with 12,000 other servicemen on a ship designed for 1,200 passengers and crew. He said it was not the most comfortable boat trip, but everyone was excited to get home.

Creekmore said he was a little more fortunate. He was on the Queen Elizabeth with 15,000 soldiers and about 200 airmen. “We had our own quarters for the trip. It's lucky those Army guys didn't throw us overboard,” he said.