Old foes meet amid celebration

ZEBULON -- When World War II ace Barrie Davis met his Romanian counterpart in Bucharest last month, the moment was captured by a huge throng of photographers. The historic meeting graced the front pages of newspapers all over the Romanian capital.

Davis, 86, said he had no idea the Romanians would make such a fuss over the reunion.

The Zebulon resident was there to meet retired Gen. Ion Dobran, the Romanian ace who shot Davis' plane out from under him over the oil fields ofPloesti in 1944.

"We rode from the airport to our hotel with a police escort. The sirens were going off, and we moved right through all the traffic," Davis said.

The trip was arranged by Dan Dimancescu, who is writing a story about Romania's involvement in World War II for a Romanian edition of National Geographic magazine.

The former adversaries met for the first time in an aviation museum in Bucharest. They hugged briefly and spent the next several days taking part in a series of engagements arranged by the Romanian air force. They were joined at the greeting ceremony by the head of the Romanian air force and U.S. Ambassador Mark H.Gitenstein, who is a Duke graduate.

"Dimancescu told us he had made all the arrangements for our visit, but when we got there, we found out the Romanian air force had just kind of taken over the whole thing,"Davis said. That didn't turn out to be a bad thing. "The general is the boss. He ranks me," Davis said.

Davis and Dobran spoke to cadets at the Romanian Air Force Academy in a town called Brazos in the Carpathian mountains. They took an hourlong helicopter ride to get there from Bucharest. The men joined for lunch with the commander of the Romanian Air Force and later with the country's national security adviser at the Presidential Palace.

They also took part in several joint interviews with local media.

Davis had a few opportunities to visit with quietly withDobran, whom he described as a quiet, reserved man. Dobran was forced out of the air force after the war when a Communist government took control of the nation.

Years later, though, he was able to resume his flying career as a commercial pilot.

"I thought he was a pretty straight-up guy," Davis said of Dobran.

The trip gave Davis and his son, Mike, an opportunity to do a few other things, too. At dinner one night, they happened to meet the Romanian culture minister, who was dining at the same restaurant. They joined in on a private birthday party that caught their attention as young people celebrated loudly in a neighboring room at a restaurant.

And Davis had a chance to exercise one of his favorite passions. He attended a Rotary meeting where, to his surprise, he learned he was scheduled to be the evening's speaker.

But his meeting with a former adversary was the real topper.

"I had always hoped to meet the fellow who shot me up,"Davis said. "It exceeded anything I could have imagined."