An American World War II veteran visited the country that he helped save for the first time in 71 years -- and died there.
Melvin Rector of Barefoot Bay, Florida, this month returned to England, where he was based as a gunner and radio operator on B-17 Flying Fortress Bombers in 1945, The Washington Post reported Thursday. He flew eight combat missions over Germany from the Royal Air Force station in Norfolk, England. Rector came under heavy fire on half of them.
He toured west London's Battle of Britain Bunker, a command center for flight operations, on the day of his arrival May 6. Rector said he felt dizzy as he climbed out of it, the Post reported. He died on the spot. He was 94.
"He couldn’t have asked for a better way to go,” his daughter Sandy Vavruich told Florida Today. “It was quick and painless. He had just gotten to see two planes, and he passed away between them.”
British and American military got wind of Rector's passing and put together a proper sendoff for a man of valor.
"There was no way we were going to just give him a very simple service," funeral director Neil Sherry told ITV. "I wanted it to be as special as possible."
The veteran's remains were to be sent home and a service for the father of six is scheduled for June 9 in Barefoot Bay.
Many outlets reported that Rector flew in the famous Memphis Belle, but the Post stressed in a correction that it was a different plane.
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