I have always been moved by this poem.

[Katt in Hat]

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
by Randall Jarrell

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from the dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.


"A ball turret was a plexiglass sphere set into the belly of a B-17 or B-24 bomber and inhabited by two .50 caliber machine-guns and one man, a short, small man. When this gunner tracked with his machine-guns a fighter attacking his bomber from below, he revolved the turret; hunched upside-down in his little sphere, he looked like the foetus in the womb. The fighters which attacked him were armed with canon firing explosive shells. The hose was a steam hose." (Jarrell's notes)

 

[PADDY]

Cuts to the bone (poem)

Took a certain type of character to perform that role, not just because you had to be the right size for such a small compartment, but psychologically too. Being cramped in a foetal position for 9 hours is tough going. The imagery of birth and death in a steel womb is very powerful and very moving and just seems to stick with me.

 

[Katt in Hat]

To say nothing of these Bad Boys...

Messerschmitt Bf 109 - Luftwaffe Mainstay
Focke-Wulf Fw 190

http://www.acepilots.com/german/bf109.html

http://www.acepilots.com/german/fw190.html

 

[Doc.Freddy]

heart felt

This is a good poem, so much feeling and so true. So much death in war it makes you think.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

To me the juxtaposition of birthing imagery mixed with the imagery of death is deeply affecting.
There is a nice pun on "state," as in falling into that condition and also into the state, or government, that requires or conscripts for military service.
Then the final line where images of the birthing process are equated with those of death.
This was always one of my favorites.
Thank you for reminding me of it.