Ben Ennenberg, 96, grew up in Lexington. He served his country as a 1st lieutenant in the US Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1946.
Lieutenant Ennenberg has possessed a great affinity for planes since he was a youngster. âI had the best goddamn eyesight in my whole neighborhoodâ¦in school too,â he said.
In the summer of 1942, the Army announced that it needed aircrew members. After entering military service he was sent to the Cadet Classification Center and assigned to Maxwell Field in Alabama. After graduating preflight school he was sent to flight training school.
After nine weeks of training Lt. Ennenberg was given his first assignment as a navigator with the 8th Air Force, where his mission brought him to a Royal Air Force Base in London. He said the average life of an airman in the 8th Air Force during the war was an astounding 13 missions. The average age of a crewman was 21, while the average age of a flight officer was 23.