# @thevigilantheroes on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DOzak6KgXJM
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/66793519-thevigilantheroes-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/583d8948c2.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-09-20T00:07:43.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Vigilant Heroes (@thevigilantheroes) — https://gondola.cc/thevigilantheroes

## Caption

Vigilant is proud to honor the life of a true American hero — Maj. John “Lucky” Luckadoo, the last surviving B-17 pilot of the Eighth Air Force’s famed “Bloody Hundredth” Bomb Group—who passed away earlier this month at 103 years old. He lived his later years in Dallas, Texas—and according to his family “left formation the evening of September 1st and completed his final mission to bluer skies.”
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Born in Chattanooga in 1922, Luckadoo joined the Army Air Forces shortly after Pearl Harbor. At just 21 years old, he began flying combat missions over Nazi Germany in the iconic B-17 Flying Fortress....eventually flying the required 25 combat missions most WWII aviators rarely achieved. (In fact, the odds of surviving 25 missions was only one-in-four...attrition rates unimaginable in modern combat)....he was almost shot down a number of times, repeatedly dodging enemy fire and often piloted one of just a handful of bombers to return to base—earning his nickname as one of the few lucky aviators to survive the fierce aerial bombing campaign. 
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After the war, Lucky earned a degree through the G.I. Bill, married, and became a lifelong advocate for remembering the sacrifices of his fellow Airmen. In 2021, he was awarded The National WWII Museum’s Silver Service Medallion—his unit the basis for the Apple TV series, “Masters of the Air” — and his incredible life story is brilliantly retold in Kevin Maurer’s 2022 book Damn Lucky - (also—to hear more: sofrep.com Episode 596 is an interview with Lucky & Kevin)...Check them out for more on this hero—and join us in honoring one of the #greatestgeneration whose courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten—blue skies and tailwinds Lucky...and thank you—🫡 from all of us thevigilantheroes 
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#Lucky #WWII #MightyEighth #B17 #military #history #greatestgeneration #inmemoriam #honor #hero #texas #tennessee #airforce

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## Tags

hero, tennessee, lucky, honor, military, inmemoriam, history, greatestgeneration, mightyeighth, airforce, wwii, texas, b17

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