Lawrence Brooks, born September 12, 1909, served in the predominantly African-American 91st Engineer Battalion, which was stationed in New Guinea and then the Philippines during WWII. He was a support worker for officers in his battalion, performing any task asked of him. Brooks attained the rank of Private 1st Class during the war.
Brooks' stories are loaded with heart and candor. In this clip, he shares a story that he described as both frightening and tremendously entertaining.
While aboard a C-47 going from Australia to New Guinea that was transporting a load of barbed wire, Brooks said one of the plane's engines went out. The co-pilot came back and instructed the crew they needed to ditch their load in order to make the plane light enough to continue on. Brooks remembers hurriedly throwing crates of barbed wire into the ocean in order to keep the plane in flight and says he had very amusing exchange with the pilot and co-pilot as the plane stayed aloft over open ocean. Discover more amazing war stories like this at The National WWII Museum.
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