HENRICO COUNTY, Va. β Dan Dorchak's yellowed diary pages tell a story that reads like fiction, but every word documents his real experiences as a 20-year-old bombardier flying dangerous missions against Japanese forces 80 years ago. The 101-year-old Henrico resident still keeps his well-worn logbook close, a tangible connection to his most harrowing chapter during World War II.
"I enlisted in the Army Air Corps because I wanted to fly," Dorchak said. "This is my logbook. I logged every mission I was on. January 11, 1945. It was recon for the US Navy."
Dorchak flew 50 missions on a B-24 bomber as part of the Flying Tigers, based in China and targeting Japanese Army and Navy positions.
Beyond enemy fire, Dorchak and his fellow airmen faced another deadly adversary known as "the hump."
"The hump was the Himalayan mountains," Dorchak said. "We are flying in a valley. So if you hit a cloud in the valley you may not come out."
The towering mountain range proved fatal for many pilots in Dorchak's 308th Bomb Group.
"They sent me for R&R to India. They were three planes going. And we hit a cloud and we came out and there were only two," Dorchak said. "They never found them. The whole crew gone."
Close calls accumulated throughout his service, but none came closer than one day in May 1945.
"They came off of that train with rifles and they started peppering that B-24 with rifle fire," Dorchak said.
A bullet crashed into the cockpit, killing the pilot and lodging in Dorchak's neck.
"When I came to after being hit the first thing I said was, 'God if you let me live, I'll be a good Catholic the rest of my life.' And I tried. I'm still here," Dorchak said.
After one week in the hospital, Dorchak returned to flying. He kept the bullet doctors removed as a unique souvenir.
"To remind me how lucky I am," Dorchak said.
Dorchak's experiences are captured in the book "Chennault's Forgotten Warriors." At the Virginia War Memorial, visitors from New York and Virginia gather to meet this member of the Greatest Generation, a fraternity whose ranks continue to thin.
Following World War II, Dorchak rose to the rank of major in the Virginia Air National Guard.
"I've been very fortunate. I have a good family. I have no regrets," Dorchak said.
The veteran still thinks of the names etched in stone and glass at memorials β men who never made it home.
"They gave it all. They gave it all to the war effort. And that is how we won the war. Because of what they did," Dorchak said.
September marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
"I'm confident that I felt that I did my part. Almost gave my life," Dorchak said. "You know, I never thought I would be killed. For some reason. I was optimistic. I always thought I would make it."
Eight decades later, Dorchak remains the man who counts his blessings and keepsakes.
"I never knew anybody 100. And here I am 101 and a 1/2," Dorchak said.
In addition to serving in the Virginia Air National Guard, Dorchak spent 50 years as a funeral director at Bliley's Funeral Home.
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