Maj. John H. “Lucky” Luckadoo, World War II veteran and the final surviving pilot from the original cadre of the U.S. Army Air Forces’ 100th Bomb Group, died this week at age 103. A Chattanooga, Tennessee, native, Luckadoo joined the Army Air Forces at 19 and was assigned as co-pilot to Glenn Dye’s B-17 crew in the 351st Bomb Squadron. From Thorpe Abbotts, England, he flew 25 combat missions between June 1943 and February 1944, including the Bremen raid during “Black Week.”

“I looked death in the face — and survived,” Luckadoo said about the raids, according to the 100th Bomb Group Foundation.

Following his combat tour, Luckadoo served as operations officer for both the 351st and 350th Bomb Squadrons before returning home in 1944. He married his wife Barbara in 1946, and they had one dau

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