The
Crew was assembled in Pyote Texas and was sent to Lincoln
Nebraska. The Crew brought new B29 from Kearny AFB Nebraska
to Honolulu, then to Kwajalein (2200 miles west of Hawaii),
then to Guam in the Mariana Islands. Before leaving the
states, while in Sacramento California, the Crew was given
many medical shots to prepare for the war, and everyone
in the Crew became sick from the shots. The Air Force
said: "no problem, you will take off at midnight
for Hawaii".
When
the Crew neared Hawaii, the Hawaiian radio was out, but
the Crew somehow received permission to land. This was
still a sick and sleepy crew from all the shots and lack
of sleep. Near Kwajalein, the Japanese held some islands
nearby which all looked alike from the air. It was dark
and a storm was kicking up high waves and the Crew flew
low overhead to hunt for the correct Island. Navigator
Stone brought the Crew to the correct spot to land. A
large piece of coral rock was picked-up between the duel
wheels and it knocked a hole in the wing. Our Crew had
to stay several days in Kwajalein for repairs to be made.
The next flight was to Guam where the Crew encountered
Flack flashing above the nearby Island of Rota, which
was occupied by the Japanese, but used by B29s for target
practice. The Crew also saw flack flashing above another
island, but some said it was another Japanese Island.
Navigator Stone said "no, it was Guam". He was
correct as usual; it was Guam with gunnery practice!!
Once
on Guam, a veteran crew took over the new plane, and our
crew was issued an old plane (which had to be flown at
an exact speed, or its fuel efficiency was terrible).
Had to land in IWO JIMA several times, for refueling,
especially early on. 17 missions, 15 at night. See the
attached mission schedule and photograph compliments of
the Radar Navigator Carl LeVan. When our Crew arrived
in Guam, the bombing of Japan had been going on for 3-4
months (Spring 1945). History books say that the early
bombing (before our crew arrived) had been high altitude
bombing, which resulted in few American losses, but were
hit or miss, not very effective in hitting targets. Then
General Curtis LeMay took over the command of that Air
Force, and he decided to hit the targets much more effectively
by flying much lower, thus bombing much more accurately.
However, this meant far more danger for crews and many
more downed aircraft. Our Crew was fortunate to survive.!!!
The
nickname of our plane "Southern Comfort", named
by our pilot (a Texan). No one was particularly into drinking,
but the plane was named anyway. I guess all planes needed
a nickname, and several members of our Crew were from
the south.
Iwo
Jima, first time was shortly after marines had taken over
the Island (the sara batchi) And our crew had to wait
on the plane for several hours while the Japanese were
still shooting at us. Plane was on the runway at a 45-degree
angle (on the incline) (difficult to sleep).
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