Lauri Rautio

Staff Sergeant Lauri Rautio and his brother Unto, were another family that gave and fought during WWII. Unto would be an aircraft mechanic on P-51 Mustangs for two flying-aces out of Bodney, England. Lauri was with the Mighty Eighth in the belly of a beast-B-17 lower ball turret. Lauri explains how he would squeeze into the thirty-six inch sphere and fly for 5-6 hours non-stop shooting at the enemy to protect his plane and crew. He shares his original mission flights diary in detail with us, giving a perspective otherwise mostly forgotten by decades gone by.