| DATE:
August 6, 1945
TARGET:
CITIES OF FUKUCUIYAMA, KASHIWAZAKI, and TAKADA
TIME:
Night
Briefed
at two o'clock, ate, then took off at four o'clock on
time. The trip up to Japan was the same as most of the
others. There were a few clouds, but not many the weather
was not bad.
Over
the targets the sky was almost all clear. And at the first
target they had seven lights on, and five of them were
on us for three or four minutes. But we did not see any
flak or fighters. We did see some of the towns burning
which had been bombed the night before.
We
were over the Empire for about two hours, returning to Guam
and landing at ten-thirty. Only seven more!
DATE:
August 14, 1945
TARGET: CITY OF ISESAKI
TIME: Night
For
this mission we were not briefed because we were slow-timing
the engines because they had just been changed.
Our
plane was about the last to take off. Therefore, we were
one of the last over the target. All the way up the weather
was fair with the exception of a few rough clouds. But
the most outstanding thing of all was the radioman. He
was told to listen to the radio at all times because the
mission might be called off at any time. The reason for
this was because of the rumor that Japan had accepted
the surrender terms of the Allies. The radio message must
not have come because we went ahead and dropped our bombs
on the target. Like most of the other raids, it was a
burn job. And maybe the last.
Over
the target we did not see any fighters or lights but we
did see a few bursts of flak. And of course, the burning
target which was one of the best I have ever seen. The
fire was well concentrated and the smoke was well over
twenty- thousand feet.
On the trip back I heard some of the best news that I
have ever heard in my life:
The
news was that President Truman announced the war was over,
which means:
"The End"
I
sure hope I get home soon. |
