Orrin Brown Jr. is a youthful 103 years old, and one of the ever-dwindling Alabama veterans of World War II. His combat experience as an Army Air Force bombardier navigator included 30 successful missions over enemy-held territory in France, Belgium and other targets in northern Europe, including one on D-Day. But during Brown’s four years of military service, he never dropped a single bomb.

On this Veterans Day, hear Brown – an Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) graduate who lives in Opelika – recount the story of his extraordinary contribution to the fight against Nazi fascism during “Operation Carpetbagger” in this Alabama News Center video: