LEESBURG, Fla.,None — Some pieces of military history have been drawing crowds to the Leesburg Airport.
Eyewitness News reporter Berndt Petersen met some of the veterans who flew aboard those World War II bombers.
Howard Collins epitomizes what this nation's greatest generation is all about.
"I've always been proud that I'm an American," said Collins, a World War II veteran.
Collins was called into duty in 1944. He left high school to man the machine guns aboard a B-24 bomber, under fire over the South Pacific.
» IMAGE GALLERY: WWII Military Aircraft at Leesburg Airport
"Just bursting all around you; big puffs of black smoke, unless you got hit, and when that exploded it threw shrapnel everywhere," said Collins.
The B-17 at the Leesburg Airport is the only plane of its kind that still flies, and is one of just 10 in flying condition. There’s also a P-51 Mustang that is just as rare. The planes are at the airport as part of the Wings of Freedom national tour.
"I think it brings the history alive," said P-51 pilot Mark Murphy.
Hundreds of people showed up at the airport to tour the historic warplanes and watch them fly.
Murphy is honored to pilot the plane, and proud to be part of this tour. However, his biggest thrill is taking veterans up for a ride. He will never forget a 91-year-old veteran of the Army Air Corps.
"When I took him up, I gave him the controls and he kept saying, 'I remember, I remember.' And he flew that thing like he never got out of the cockpit," said Murphy.
It all makes Collins feel like a kid again, too. And part of what made him who he is.
"It's woven inside of you,” said Collins. “You need a thank you. That's all you want. You don't want anything else, just a thank you."