Men and women who survive the horrors of combat create a special bond. They never forget each other.

To this day, almost 76 years after World War II ended in 1945, Murray Price remembers each man who served with him on 40 B-24 bombing missions in the Pacific.

All are now gone. He is the lone survivor.

His last crew member passed away several years ago and he gave eulogies at the last 3 member’s services.

Those 10 men flew through hell together.

In Hawaii, Murray was co-pilot on their B-24 and turned down an offer as 1st pilot on another plane to stay with his crew.

FLYING FROM Saipan, their 1st 30 missions covered the brutal island fighting in the Pacific – Truk, Marcus, the Bonins, Iwo Jima and Chi Chi Jima, where future President George HW Bush was shot down.

After their 5th bombing mission, his pilot came down with combat fatigue and never flew again. Murray took over as pilot.

They had returned from that mission badly shot up by Japanese fighter planes but none of them had been wounded.

Their waist gunner was so frightened that he told Murray he could not fly again.

Murray advised him to wait a few days.

Before their next mission, the gunner visited military graves on Saipan. There he found the grave of a Marine friend from Philadelphia, He prayed at the grave, left his prayer beads on his friend’s cross and committed to the next mission .

Murray’s radio operator, a boy from Maine, would become so gripped by fear before missions that he would go behind their B-24 and throw up.

BEFORE THE INVASION of Iowa Jima, one of the bloodiest of the war, Murray’s crew flew 800 miles with P-38 camera planes, the last 100 miles just above the water to avoid radar. That close to the ocean, Murray said, made you tense ... and careful.

On another white-knuckle run over Iwo Jima, they ran into enemy fighters that almost downed them. They were leading a squadron of 12 B-24s when the Zeroes attacked, knocking out control cables.

They plunged almost 8,000 feet before the pilots regained control. Their engineer used wire from bomb safety fuses to repair their cables and help them return safely.

AFTER THE WAR, Murray and Frances were married. He joined PYA Monarch as a food salesman because, he likes to say, the sales men wore the best clothes and drove the best cars. He was so good at it that he rose to CEO of the company.

Murray’s charitable work list is long including St Stephen’s Lutheran Church where he voluntarily took care of the grounds, the Lexington Chamber of Commerce, Newberry College and the YMCA which he helped develop its family camp.

The college honored him with a Doctorate of Humane Letters.

“It’s hard for me to encompass the thoughts of a high school kid who earned his BA degree from the School of Hard Knocks winding up with an honorary doctor’s degree ,” ha said. “I hope those who hear my story will remember all those others who served.”

Next: The meaning of home.