COOS BAY  - Jim Davidson has a scale model of the World War II B-25 bomber "Yankee Doodle Dandy" hanging in his Coos Bay home. It's the very same plane he was shot down in over Italy in 1945.

Being blasted out of the sky by German flak is not a happy memory for Davidson. But it's still one he wants to hang onto.

"I guess it's just about remembering those times," said the 83-year-old Davidson.

 And "those times" are a period of Davidson's life that, 64 years later, are earning the man accolades. Davidson, who returned from Europe a U.S. Army Air Corps  sergeant and retired a colonel after 20 years in the Oregon National Guard Reserve, is being inducted into the Oregon Military Hall of Fame in Portland on April 18.

Administered by the nonprofit  group Remembering America's Heroes, the Oregon Military Hall of Fame is inducting all Oregon POWs this year.

Davidson is one of them, and he believes there are more than 250 others around the state. Davidson and his compatriots will be honored at a hall of fame luncheon, surrounded by friends and family.

A Feb. 6 letter to Davidson from Remembering America's Heroes read, "You are indeed a hero, and your service is an inspiration to us all."

In 1945, Davidson was a 19-year-old tailgunner flying B-25 bombing missions over the Po Valley in Northern Italy, trying to take out a German railroad supply line.

"We were shutting them off (from supplies)," said Davidson. "They shut some of us off, too."

On a Feb. 13 mission, German anti-aircraft fire ripped the left engine off Davidson's plane and the pilots ordered the crew to bail out. But as a tailgunner, Davidson was in the back of the aircraft and the damage had cut off communication with the pilots. He was still scanning the skies for German fighters, thinking the plane was returning home.

Turret gunner Cecil Claflin saved Davidson's life.

Claflin was about to jump out the hatch when he noticed Davidson and the radio-man hadn't answered the bail-out bell. Seconds were precious, but he climbed back into his turret, put on his radio and told the pair in the back of the plane to get out.

"If he hadn't got back in and done that ..." Davidson said, unable to finish the sentence.

Davidson and Claflin, of the tiny town of Phoenix south of Medford, were later reunited when they were both captured on the ground. They remained close friends until Claflin died in 2008. (Claflin's earning a posthumous induction into the hall of fame this month as well).

"Best friend I ever had," Davidson said.

Davidson jumped from Yankee Doodle Dandy at perhaps 6,000 feet elevation and landed in a field with what he guessed was a 15-year-old "Italian fascist" shooting a rifle at him as he tried to gather his parachute. Unarmed - his captain's orders were they not carry weapons, as it would just make it more likely they'd be shot by enemies if they had to bail - he was taken captive and handed over to German soldiers.

"I flew two-and-a-half missions," Davidson said with a laugh.

After being taken prisoner, Davidson and his six crewmates - they'd all survived and been captured in similar fashion - were taken to Verona, Italy, were they were interrogated and kept in stone solitary confinement cells "with rats running around, just to see if they'd talk to us, I suppose," he said.

Then it was a 24-hour, standing room only train ride to Munich, Germany, and on to Camp 13D at Nuremberg. From there Davidson endured a 100-mile forced march in the elements to Moosburg.

Tough living, however, was nothing new to Davidson. He grew up on a 160-acre homestead in Douglas County without electricity or many other amenities.

"I think it was because I was raised on that homestead out there, and we didn't have nothing," Davidson said. "Some of the (prisoners) who were from cities, they had a hell of a time."

Davidson was liberated, along with some 100,000 other POWs, from Moosburg on April 29, 1945, by Gen. George S. Patton's 14th Armored Division of tanks.

"At that point, the war was over (for me)," Davidson said.

Davidson came home to much fanfare in New York. Ferryboats full of playing bands in the harbor and firefighters blasting water in the air greeted the returning soldiers.

For decades, though, Davidson, didn't recount his experiences.

Then he wrote a book, "Yankee Doodle Dandy and the last mission of 6Y," relating his experiences, which were a surprise to his own family - he's married with two sons and several grandchildren.

"For 40 or 50 years, nobody ever talked about (the war)," Davidson said. "You didn't push the subject, because I didn't think anyone wanted to hear about it or gave a damn."

Now people listen, and Davidson is happy to talk about it. And he's proud to be recognized, after all these years.

"It's something I'd never expected," he said. "Not a necessity by any means, but a very nice happening."