DALLAS — In his final days, John "Lucky" Luckadoo was true to form. Didn't want help, didn't want medication. And even in hospice care, he didn't want to cause a fuss.

"He was a very strong man, and his body did not want to let him go," his daughter Lainy Abbott said.

The World War II hero, the last surviving B-17 bomber pilot from the "Bloody 100th" Bomb Group, died Sept. 1 , but he leaves a legacy that will outlive even his remarkable 103 years.

"He was a wonderful man," Abbott said. "And I was so proud of what he did."

Luckadoo was barely more than a teenager in World War II when he flew bombing missions over Germany, his hands and feet sometimes frozen to the controls. The 100th Bomb Group was known as the "Bloody 100th" because so few of them made it home alive.

"I didn't tal

See Full Page