I'm an aviation history YouTuber and filmmaker who shares stories of aircraft, dogfights, & veterans. Subscribe and join over 2,000+ newsletter readers every month!
Share
The Tail Gunner Who Refused to Stop Fighting (And 10 Good Men updates!)
Published about 13 hours ago • 3 min read
17 Kills. 2 Purple Hearts, and countless AI problems.
The Greatest Tail Gunner of World War II
The tail gunner of a B-17 bomber is probably one of the least desirable positions from which to fight a war. It is lonely, cramped, and quite a distance away from the nearest friendly face.
It was also one of the most vital positions in regards to bomber survivability. In the early war of Europe - specifically 1943 and 1944 - tail gunners provided key defensive fire against the Luftwaffe's deadly attacks on American bomber forces.
This past week, I released two videos that cover the story of Michael Arooth, likely the most successful tail gunner in history. According to reports made during the war, he was credited with 17 kills of German aircraft. In this documentary, we walk through his first missions over Europe on the B-17 "Tondelayo" and an legendary mission of Kassel, Germany on July 30th of 1943. Below is the link to part one in my Arooth series.
As insane as Arooth's actions were during this mission, this only raised his kill tally to 6 or 7 (depending on the source). He still logged plenty more action after he recovered from his injuries. In part two, we dive into his actions primarily on a September 6th mission to Stuttgart, shortly after the legendary Schweinfurt raid. Here, he and his crew ended up barely escaping with their lives. Below is part two in the Arooth series.
Telling this story was fantastic, and I really enjoyed diving into the newspaper archives. Stories like this one are great because they have excellent media coverage, which often provides key details that normal research or official combat documents can miss.
For example, here is a newspaper I found that shows that Michael Arooth, after arriving back in the United States and being hailed a war hero, eventually got sick of all of the celebrations. He needed a break and just wanted to retire from all of the public spotlight opportunities.
Article from The Morning Union, February 23rd 1944
Here is another article discussing his return to combat after one of his famous missions.
Another article following Arooth's return to combat after he was injured by 20mm cannon shells from a German fighter.
However, not all of the coverage of Michael Arooth and his unbelievable feats as a tail gunner has been worthwhile or accurate. In my recent research into this story, I quickly found that there were a shocking number of videos online about "Michael Arooth" - and I use quotations becauese these were not exactly reputable. They were a massive wave of AI slop-docs.
AI slop farms mass-producing stories on Michael Arooth.
Fortunately though, I'll be taking on these slop docs in my third video on Michael Arooth. I will be diving into some of this AI content, where it comes from, and how it's inaccuracies (and blatant lies) are harming our understanding of history. This video should come out this week - so make sure you don't miss it!
In other news, I am thrilled to finally share some of our biggest showings of 10 Good Men to date! Specifically, the four that I (TJ) will be at! These are going to be Glendale, CA, Buffalo, NY, Seattle, WA, and Palm Springs, CA! Get your tickets and come see this fantastic film! Additional theater screenings are below!
To see the latest updates on showings, check out the 10 Good Men official website here to see the showing list.
10 GOOD MEN STREAMING ANNOUNCEMENT!
If you can't make these, remember that 10 Good Men is officially coming to Amazon Prime and Apple TV November 11th!
Lastly, if you pre-ordered a 10 Good Men DVD, these will be going out on November 11th as well! I have been working on finishing up the designs, but they are finally almost ready. Expect those in the mail shortly after Veterans Day!
Thanks so much as always, everyone. Love you guys!
-Your grateful friend, TJ
Please reply with your thoughts or feedback here! Here's to saving more history together.
I'm an aviation history YouTuber and filmmaker who shares stories of aircraft, dogfights, & veterans. Subscribe and join over 2,000+ newsletter readers every month!
75 ft alt, 200 mph, and no room for error. The Forgotten Solo Mission to Strike Japan's Oil Many people remember the infamous Ploesti raid to bomb Hitler's oil in 1943. That mission did not go quite so well for the United States Army Air Force. However, what many history fans are not aware of was a similar mission flown on the other side of the world just one year later. That is precisely what my latest video covers. If you can believe it, this mission was flown with just one single B-24, and...
A comparison of weapons Were the Spitfire's guns up to the task during the Battle of Britain? Hello friends! Get ready for some great gun camera footage, behind-the-scenes at the Fox Tucson, and a sneak peek at my next video, which will take us to Vietnam in 1972! To start with, we all know the Spitfire. It was one of the most influential aircraft of World War II and carried the bulk of the work for the RAF after 1941. It also looks beautiful and flies with more grace than perhaps any other...
Baa Baa Blacksheep and Pappy Boyington What is really true? More AI Slop Docs In this newsletter, once again, I am attempting to counter some false AI "history" narratives that are being perpetuated at a massive scale. And this one is perhaps even more disgusting than the last. In addition, we have some more HUGE shows to announce with 10 Good Men! Let's dive into it. VMF 214 - The "Blacksheep Squadron" Many of you know the name Gregory "Pappy" Boyington. He was one of the most famous...