Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with David Blakely as she shares stories of his father’s time as a B-17 pilot during WWII and his life before and after the war.
![B-17 "Yankee Lady", still flying, based in Ypsilanti, Michigan](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/abc29ee/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1400x1400+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9e%2F07%2F815a8f944c34985754e4759216db%2Fb-17-909.jpeg)
Tom Wilmer
Blakely offers fascinating insights about his father’s life journey and his time as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps flying bombing missions over Germany.
![B-17 909 diving off the California Coast](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6ca1a6a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/623x606+0+0/resize/880x856!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3e%2F0e%2F9eee20494926bd517f21728ccb00%2Fb-17-dive.jpeg)
Tom Wilmer
![50 Cal. machine gun at waist gunner position on Yankee Lady B-17](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f2eee0b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x853+0+0/resize/880x586!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffb%2Fb1%2Fff271d904ee7ad360dd74a5de121%2Fwaist-gunner-position-50-cal-onboard-b-17.jpeg)
Tom Wilmer
Major Everett Ernest Blakely is portrayed by David Shields in the Apple TV series Masters of the Air.
![B-17 "909" flying off the California Coast with P-51 Mustang escort during film shoot.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/469d1e3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x818+0+0/resize/880x562!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe6%2F28%2Fbe9af9914530aaa2659a387d71ef%2Fb-17-w-p-51-photo-credit-tom-wilmer.png)
Tom Wilmer
![Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer featured on the NPR Podcast Directory](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fdae5fb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/300x300+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff4%2F57%2F975c5b2848b5a78b82d8b1a5fb74%2Fnpr-podcasts.jpg)
NPR
You are invited to subscribe to the seven-time Lowell Thomas Award-winning travel podcast, Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer, featured on the NPR Podcast Directory, Apple Podcast, and more than twenty other podcast hosting sites including iHeartRadio and Spotify
![Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer—winner of the Gold Lowell Thomas Award—Society of American Travel Writers](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e976d04/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1050x1050+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fce%2Fd6%2Ff98dd2654f99ad77a4702bc73c68%2Flowell-thomas-award-2023.jpeg)
SATW Foundation