Swampscott WWII vet makes mark on history

LYNN – After Roland Dube signed his name on a piece of a World War II bomber wing Wednesday, the Swampscott veteran wrote the number “34.”That is how many missions Dube, 91, flew over Europe in 1945 as part of the massive air armada that helped pummel Nazi Germany into rubble. On Wednesday, the son of one of Dube?s 8th Air Force comrades brought the roughly 6-foot-long aluminum wing section to Union Hospital, where Dube is currently a patient, and added his signature to dozens of others emblazoning the metal relic.The signing capped off a several-months-long effort by Dube?s sons, John, Roger, Francis and Robert, and their mother, Claire, to recognize Dube?s service to his country. John Dube enlisted fellow town police officer and Swampscott Veterans Service Officer James Schultz to help research and ensure Dube had all of the medals and decorations he received for his military service.Dube?s loved ones placed the decorations in a shadow box and presented the collection to him last Christmas.?He cried a little,” said John Dube.Born in Salem and a Salem High School Class of 1942 graduate, Roland Dube entered the Army Air Corps in March 1943. By January 1945, he was a radio operator aboard a B-17 bomber. His crew?s bomber crashed on takeoff in England on their fourth mission, but were back in the air again soon, flying out of an air base north of London with other 384th Bomb Group planes.Robert Dube said his father?s flight home to the United States at the end of the war was also his last airplane ride.?He?s never been on a plane since. He refused to fly,” Dube said.Dube has lived in Swampscott for 65 years and worked as a town heavy equipment mechanic before retiring in 1984. His sons said when they were young, he never discussed the war or his medals with them.?He never really spoke about this stuff. It was all in the back closet,” John Dube said.A 1990 reunion with fellow bomber crew members prompted Dube to begin attending veterans reunions, but it was Schultz?s efforts that brought into the foreground Dube?s service and war experiences.?One day he brought out a diary he had written his experiences in every day. It was a surprise to us,” John Dube said.Among the medals Dube received are ones recognizing the numerous missions he flew over Germany. In addition to presenting the wing piece to Dube on Wednesday for his signature, Ray Lustig also showed Dube a jagged piece of metal from a German flak shell similar to the ones fired at B-17s.The New York resident?s father flew on a B-17, and Lustig said the wing piece with Dube?s signature will find a place of honor in a Utah military museum.Schultz on Wednesday said helping Dube and his family is gratifying.?So many of these veterans are out there we don?t know about,” he said.