DeKalb veteran recalls air force service in WWII, Korea: ‘One person survives and your buddy doesn’t’

DeKALB – U.S. Air Force veteran Bob Sage, 96, flew planes in nearly 30 missions for the military in World War II and said he still often recalls the people left on the ground.

Sage served in the U.S. Air Force during both World War II and the Korean War. As a flight and bomber engineer during the second world war, he flew in 27 missions over Germany. He was later recalled to duty during the Korean War to train flight engineers. Sage lives now at Barb City Manor in DeKalb.

“I flew in 27 missions, and sometimes I wonder about collateral damage,” Sage said. “I think about that a lot. I worry about families that were unaffectedly impacted by the bombs. I pray about that, for them, a lot.”

Sage was born July 6, 1924, in Monmouth, but he spent most of his life in Rochelle.

The day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Sage enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.

“My brother said that I should wait until I was drafted, but I wanted to pick the branch and service,” Sage said. “So I enlisted. I trained in Biloxi, Mississippi. Then I flew to South America, Africa and then to England.”

In England, Sage became a flight and bomber engineer in a Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Bomber pilots at that time were required to fly 25 missions. As Sage approached his 25th, the quota was raised, he said.

On Sage’s 27th mission to bomb German territory, his plane’s gas tanks were hit by enemy fire.

Sage described the enemy fire as “flak,” a World War II-era term that derives from the German word “Flugabwehrkanone,” which refers to an aircraft defense cannon.

“We were shot up so bad, we couldn’t make it back to our base in England,” Sage said. “So we landed and spent time in a neutral country – Sweden.”

As a neutral country, damaged planes could land in Sweden if they could not make it back to their home base.

Sage remembers landing in Malmö, Sweden in a grass field. After landing, the American soldiers were picked up and taken to a camp to be interviewed. They were given civilian clothes to wear, because U.S. uniforms were not allowed in the neutral zone.

He spent about five months in Sweden. During that time, Sage traveled around the country freely and befriended local Swedish people. He also remembers helping transport a repaired aircraft to Stockholm with a Swiss pilot, who flew around Sweden navigating by lakes.

Sage said that his missions bombing Germany were similar to the plot of the 1990 movie “Memphis Belle.” In the movie, a crew of a B-17 heavy bomber based in England prepared for its 25th and last bombing mission over Germany before returning home to the U.S.

After World War II, Sage returned home to Rochelle and went to work constructing homes. Sage served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II from 1943 to 1945. When he was honorably discharged, he chose to remain in the military reserves.

In 1951, Sage was recalled to duty during the Korean War to train flight engineers. After serving in the U.S. Air Force again until 1953, Sage returned to Rochelle to continue his civilian life. He married his wife of 60 years, Elizabeth, and they had three children.

When Sage turned 90, he celebrated by parachuting.

Paul Herrmann, 91, a fellow resident at Barb City Manor, describes Sage as his close friend and considers him like an older brother.

“I don’t think he gets the recognition he deserves,” Herrmann said. “He flew 27 missions, and for every single one, he didn’t know if he’d come back. ... I befriended him when I moved in, and he had an interesting story.”

Sarah Davis, assistant administrator at the manor, said learning of Sage’s story helped her understand what veterans sacrifice.

“The soldiers had so much weight and responsibility on their shoulders,” Davis said. “It’s humbling to listen to [veteran residents’] stories. They have done amazing things in their military careers. They are the lucky ones, because they made it home. They returned home alive.”

Sage said that especially at Memorial Day, he remembers friends and fellow soldiers that did not make it home alive from the war.

“That’s the way it goes, one person survives and your buddy doesn’t,” Sage said. “I made it back, but many didn’t. I wonder how in the world I made it back.”