It took 64 years for Primitivo Gutierrez III of Belleville to complete a ride in a C-47 that was interrupted after taking off from Seattle in 1946.
On Saturday, Gutierrez climbed aboard the vintage C-47 plane at Willow Run Airport and took off to complete the flight he started so long ago.
Gutierrez recalls he was coming home to Detroit from Seattle, and he and his buddy decided to try to hitch a free ride in an Army aircraft. Although he and his friend were Navy, they were still military and rated the ride.
Gutierrez remembers they were in the air for about 10 minutes, when the pilot got a message that there was a higher priority in Spokane, to pick up some cargo, and the plane had to land and bump the sailors.
“We decided just don’t fight it and took the train to Michigan,” he recalled.
But now, he had a chance to ride in essentially the same plane – a C-47 – to buzz the Fourth of July parade in Ypsilanti.
Dutch Jordan, a member of VFW Post 2408 in Ypsilanti, made the arrangements for two seats on the Yankee Air Force vintage plane to fly over the parade. The Fourth of July parade in Ypsilanti has been held every year for the past 81 years, he said.
Gutierrez saw his chance to complete his ride on a C-47 and took part in the raffle for the seat – and won.
It was a little harder for Gutierrez to climb up the ladder to the plane now than in 1946 because he’s now got a stiff knee and a burn on the back of his knee from botched treatment after surgery.
But, he said, he practiced climbing a ladder at home so he’d be able to get in the plane – and he did it without any trouble at all.
Gutierrez served in the Navy from 1943 to 1945 in the European Theatre – Italy, North Africa, Belgium, France – and then his ship went through the Panama Canal to the Pacific Theatre.
His 30-man gun crew ship was headed to Iwo Jima, but they were ordered to give their equipment to another ship and head to another island.
“We were so mad,” he recalls, noting they wanted to fight at Iwo Jima. Later they learned of what happened there and, “We were glad we didn’t make it.”
He said he belongs to Belleville VFW Post 4434, and found that another member, the late Leonard Rochon, had been at Iowa Jima. The two didn’t know each other then.
“I came to Belleville from Detroit in 1947. Belleville is my home,” Gutierrez said.
He and his wife Sarah Jane had 12 children: seven daughters and five sons. His wife of 64 years died May 28, 2009 and Jeff and family moved in with him to keep watch over him.
“They really take good care of me,” he said of his children.
Present with him on Saturday to see him off were his sons Primitivo IV, also a member of VFW Post 4434 and also of Belleville, and Jeff. At Post 4434 members differentiate between the two Primos, by calling the younger one “Primo Quattro”.
“I’m really looking forward to the ride,” he said Friday night and his sons agreed their dad was really excited about the upcoming adventure.
On Monday, he raved about Saturday’s flight. “It was beautiful. It was just what I was expecting. It was the end of my flight 64 years ago.”
He said the plane took off and made “four rounds” and then landed. Then it took off again and made another short flight before landing for good.
The Yankee Doodle Dandy aircraft is a survivor, too.
It was saved from a devastating fire at the hangar on Oct. 9, 2004.
The plane never left the states and, most recently, was on loan to the University of Michigan from Selfridge Air National Guard Base until 1970, when the Yankee Air Force purchased her.
The U of M had used her for aerial data gathering for its Environmental Research Institute.
The YAF restored the plane to troop carrier configuration and after 18 months of painstaking restoration work earned the “Best of Transport” category award at Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Gutierrez said the plane he was on in 1946 had no seats on it, being just for cargo. He was happy to see the C-47 he was going to ride had seats – indentations in benches along the walls.
When the YAF Museum was on fire, five members, with adrenalin pumping, pushed the 25,346-pound plane out of the blazing hangar to save it. Also saved were the B-17 and B-25. Other planes were lost in the fire and the YAF and its foundation is on a mission to rebuild into a first-class museum facility.
On Saturday’s flight, pilots were Howard Rundell and Tony Buttacavoli. Ray Christiansen served as flight engineer.
“They talked me into joining the museum,” Gutierrez said on Monday, noting he will be able to do volunteer work there.
The Yankee Air Force Museum will host Thunder over Michigan on Aug. 7 and 8 at Willow Run Airport, featuring what is advertised to be the largest gathering of WWII heavy bombers in the world.
A number of American and German WWII vehicles, with crews, is expected to parade through Belleville on Aug. 6 to promote the planned battle reenactment during the annual air show. The parade will take place if Main Street construction allows.