For the Gazette
Flying has always held a great fascination for me. As a child I would watch the birds and I would wonder how they managed to soar and glide. I would run and try to catch them, but they always managed to get away.
At the young age of five, the Germans invaded my country; and suddenly my country and I were introduced to airplanes. With that introduction came death and destruction. It was not something that I could understand, but war has a way of fast tracking one’s education. These war machines rained down terror, death, and destruction on my home town, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.