World War II from a Waist Gunner's View of Stalag 17
Luther Irwin Kelley, born 1924, in Lexington, Oklahoma, son of Ray and Florence Kelley. They moved to Colorado in 1933. Irwin completed high school in Fowler, Colorado in 1943, going into the military service before his graduation ceremony. He was fortunate enough to be assigned to the Army Air Corp. His love of flying started when he took his first plane ride at age eleven. He didn't get to do much flying because on his first mission they were shot down and crash-landed in a German Infantry field. They immediately became prisoners of war.