What did you do for National Assisted Living Week?
WWII Veteran to return to the sky during National Assisted Living Week in Mountain Home
Chris Fulton
Baxter Bulletin
Mountain Home Mayor Hillrey Adams stopped by Elmcroft of Mountain Home on Sept. 1 to present WWII veteran Robert Cwiak with a Mayor’s Proclamation for National Assisted Living Week and Dream Flight.
The WWII Bombardier will be taking to the sky again in a WWII biplane during National Assisted Living Week Sept. 13th through 17th at 715 West Sixth St. in Mountain Home. Elmcroft said Cwiak dreamed of getting back in a plane since joining their assisted living community four years ago.
Cwiak graduated from high school in Chicago, Illinois, before attending the Illinois Institute of Technology for his architecture degree. During his third year of college, Cwiak enlisted in the Army Air Force after being rejected by the U.S. Marine Corp for “knocked knees.”
As an Air Cadet, Cwiak attended training in San Antonio, Texas, to become a navigator but ultimately completed a one-year program as a bombardier. He would go on to join a four-man command crew on a B-24 Liberator.
The command crew consisted of a pilot, co-pilot, navigator, and bombardier. All four members of the crew were officers, with Cwiak eventually obtaining the rank of 1st Lieutenant. The bomber also featured an enlisted crew of 10 men who served as gunners to defend the aircraft.
The B-24 Liberator was a large plane featuring four propeller engines and a twin tail. It could carry six 500-pound bombs and was the predecessor to the B-29 Superfortress’ that would carry the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Cwiak said that on one occasion, the bombs that he meant to release did not deploy or fall. He left his station at the plane’s nose and went back to the cargo area to release the bombs manually. The aircraft was at 27,000 feet.
While Cwiak managed to release the bombs, he ultimately passed out from the lack of oxygen. A crew member rescued him before he fell out of the plane and dragged him back to the oxygenated area.
Cwiak was stationed in Spinazzola, Italy, which had a capacity of 50 aircraft, during his time in WWII. He recalled being a part of a group of 1,000 planes that flew to Munich, Germany, on a bombing run, as his crew mainly participated in the bombing of Nazi-occupied Europe.
At the end of the war, Cwiak was discharged and returned to college to complete his studies. He opened his own architectural business in Park Ridge, Illinois. He later worked as an architect for the city of Chicago until he retired in 1986. He moved to Mountain Home with his wife Jane after he retired and currently lives at Elmcroft Assisted Living in Mountain Home.
Cwiak will turn 100 this October.
