Of the 12,000 B-17s built, only a dozen still fly. Of the surviving B-17 pilots, so does Caperton. He earned his wings “over there.”

“I flew all over Europe; Berlin six times; France,” he said.

Caperton is modest about his missions.

“We were doing good to end the War for America,” he said.

Boeing's flying fortress was a long-range bomber designed to go deep into enemy territory and to take flak because, “flak took more planes than fighters.”

Flying last month on the Experimental Aircraft Association's touring B-17, Caperton recalled when a big shell ripped through his bomber's radio board, and why he didn't hear from the operator.

“Fitz is okay but he can't talk,” he recalled.

There were no flak attacks on this run, just a 71-year-old plane and friends, soaring above a colorful Ozarks autumn landscape. As the rolling countryside slipped by, the retired colonel was ensconced in the cockpit, reveling again in the power and performance of this old warbird.

For the fellow pilots who arranged his flight, “it was a tearjerker,” said Jan Hoynacki of the Missouri Pilots Association.

Hoynacki said this was more than the ultimate joyride for an 88-year-old veteran who helped her aviation achievements.

“We thought about what he did for us, multiple missions, serving our country, for our generation,” Hoynacki said.

Back on the ground, the retired colonel summed it all up with typical pilot cool and collectedness.

“You always try to equal the number of takeoffs and landings,” Caperton said.