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Troy Meink: “Dick flew 35 B17 missions over Europe.”

Featuring: Troy Meink, Secretary of the Air Force | National

The State of the DAF | 2025 Air, Space & Cyber Conference

Published October 6, 2025 | Video Starts at 05:42

And I got a chance to meet a lot of airmen and I got to Meet with two airmen that have been around longer than the Air Force has been around. Dick Nelms and Alan Shapiro were there. Dick flew 35 B17 missions over Europe. I think in the beginning of the war, that was statistically impossible to survive. 35 B17 missions over Europe. And Alan flew C47s across Europe, including over Normandy. (05:42–05:49)

CLAIM

Asserts the number of missions flown by Dick Nelms during World War II.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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