On Thursday, Emerson H. Shields was dressed in the uniform he wore as a 20-year-old pilot in 1945 when he flew 16 missions over Germany in a B-17 heavy bomber.
Sporting a khaki tie, pilot’s wings, and a lieutenant’s bar, Shields also wore the crush cap, shirt and slacks of the U.S. Army Air Corps, now known as the U.S. Air Force. Sewn on his left jacket pocket was the 303rd Bomb Group patch festooned with “Might in Flight,” lightning bolts, and “Hell's Angels.”