Some long time F16 posters may remember OkAg44. His name was Guy Duren, FTAC 1944. ran across this document that he shared with me back in 2004. It's a scanned PDF of a memoir of his WW II experiences that he typed out in 1945, one week after VE Day while he was still in Germany. It is a scan of old typed pages to it's a bit rough but readable. I expect that he would want his memoir to be read by anyone who is interested, especially Aggies.

The first page is the worst with some scribbling on it but the rest are better. I am just posting a Google Drive link but if someone has a better hosting service, feel free to repost a better link that is readable online.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18mWY_JCTx291okxpwSVnd1wZnRAmtOYj/view?usp=sharing

I remember him.

Outstanding!

Thank you for sharing!

What happened on the first page? A crayon?

That is so awesome!

I'm finishing up reading 'Masters of The Air' right now for the series that just premiered on Apple, so the European theater has been on my mind a lot lately.

What those men did and endured was nothing short of incredible.

My great uncle dropped out of A&M to join up and flew P-38's and P-51's over Europe with the 379th Fighter Group in the 8th. We have a few scattered notes and post-war accounts about his experiences, but nothing as in-depth as what OkAg44 put together. That's amazing.

I remember his posts well, thanks for sharing this! I didn't realize he was 99th - my grandfather is also a 99th vet and Aggie c/o '45, I'm sure they knew each other well.

Thx, might also want to throw this up on the history forum. Love this stuff, and sadly some of that history is probably stuff that many today don't appreciate/know etc (including our politicians on both sides, respectfully).

Great stuff

It wouldn't surprise me if his answer to the 'What's your favorite thing that you've shot?" question on The Outdoors Board is the top starred post of all time on this site.

Thank you.
Great poster and undoubtedly a fascinating man.

Thanks for sharing. This is great stuff!

The Fife said:

---

It wouldn't surprise me if his answer to the 'What's your favorite thing that you've shot?" question on The Outdoors Board is the top starred post of all time on this site.

---

Nobody will ever have a better one word post!!!

The Fife said:

---

It wouldn't surprise me if his answer to the 'What's your favorite thing that you've shot?" question on The Outdoors Board is the top starred post of all time on this site.

---

That was aggie1944…different poster. I think his son still posts around here occasionally.

Both were outstanding posters and - although I never had the honor to meet either - I'm certain they were outstanding men as well.

RIP

The Fife said:

---

It wouldn't surprise me if his answer to the 'What's your favorite thing that you've shot?" question on The Outdoors Board is the top starred post of all time on this site.

---

I thought that was a different poster?

Thank you for preserving this for us and future generations.

He was a great man, a warrior and a patriot. He and his kind will forever be missed.

Thank you fr posting that, Ulysses.

Great to see you back online hawg!

Thanks to U99 for sharing this!

Really loved reading OkAg44's posts and appreciate you sharing this with us.

Yeah, you are right. He's been gone a while now. I remembered the "44" part the most and forgot there were two.

Downloaded. Can't wait to read.

Guy passed away in 2012. I got to meet him in person when he visited Monterey while I was a student there in 2004. He took me out to dinner! Great guy in person who reminded me immediately of Robert Duval when we met.

Great link! Thanks!

Im 16 pages in….damn he took good notes. About 30 or so pages still to read.

Wish my great grandfather had taken the time to do something like this about his experience in Germany close to this same time and place. Too much has been lost to history already so things like this are just gold.

Different poster:

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/1841575/1

The Fife said:

---

It wouldn't surprise me if his answer to the 'What's your favorite thing that you've shot?" question on The Outdoors Board is the top starred post of all time on this site.

---

"Nazis."

One of the best freakin things I have ever seen on the internet, period.

I think he transcribed them in a texags thread but the damn search function is so glitchy it appears and then disappears when trying to get to anther page.

OkAg was one of the greats...got him confused with agie1944 on the "nazis" thing. But yeah, OkAg was a long standing Texags legend.

Gigem314 said:

---

I'm finishing up reading 'Masters of The Air' right now for the series that just premiered on Apple, so the European theater has been on my mind a lot lately.

What those men did and endured was nothing short of incredible.

My great uncle dropped out of A&M to join up and flew P-38's and P-51's over Europe with the 379th Fighter Group in the 8th. We have a few scattered notes and post-war accounts about his experiences, but nothing as in-depth as what OkAg44 put together. That's amazing.

---

I need to read that and didn't realize the series was based upon a book.

My grandfather flew P-51s as part of the 359th Fighter Group. I've never studied up on their missions.

Thanks U90. Reading this is almost like being there.

Will read later. Thanks.