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"City
of New Bern"
"Strato Wolf"
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Taken:
13 February 1945
Crew
22 at "Sloppy Joe's Bar" in the City of Havana, Cuba
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Courtesy
of Benjamin F. Hill
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Back
Row L to R:
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| 2nd
Lt |
Donald
L. Erb |
Navigator |
| T/Sgt |
Joseph
W. Glezman |
Flight
Engineer |
| T/Sgt |
Frank
J. Policastro |
Radio
Operator |
| Cpl |
Richard
D. Henkle |
Tail
Gunner |
| Cpl |
Benjamin
F. Hill |
Right
Gunner |
| Sgt |
Charles
F. Sauermelch, Jr. |
CFC
Gunner |
| Cpl |
Sherburne
P. Hill |
Left
Gunner |
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Front
Row L to R:
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| 2nd
Lt |
Leo
J. Laux |
Radar
Observer |
| Capt |
Woodland
Styron |
Airplane
Commander |
| 1st
Lt |
Raymond
E. Nation |
Bombardier |
| 2nd
Lt |
Rolla
P. Knibble |
Pilot |
| We
were at Batista Air Field in Havana, Cuba in February of
1945. It was a fun time doing over water missions. Fly to
a mythical point in the ocean, head for another make-believe
dot on the sea and then see if you can find home base. We
did some "splash" target practice along the way. Capt. Styron
liked to see how low he could fly because it made the splashes
that we had created go by that much faster. We got so low
the props were throwing wave tops back onto our side "blisters"
One night in happy Havana some of our crew had a few too
many Cuba Libras (rum and Coca-Cola). Our Bombardier had
confiscated a pocket full of shot glasses. On the bus ride
back to the base he opened the window and began practice-bombing
runs on passing cars with the glasses as bombs. Unknown
to us sitting in the rear of the bus in the dark, was a
Colonel from the Inspector General's office. He wouldn't
let any of us off the bus and put us all on report. In the
morning our crew drilled up and down a hot blacktop runway.
Capt. Styron was our drillmaster and no one was excused.
We had one ten-minute break in the morning and one in the
afternoon, sandwiches for lunch, and we quit at dinnertime.
Sore feet made flying the next day double pleasure. |
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Taken:
July 6, 1945 - Courtesy Ben Hill, RG
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| Standing
L to R: 1st Lt Raymond Nation, Bomb; 1st Lt Donald Erb,
Nav; Capt Woodland Styron, AC; 1st Lt Rolla Knibbe, Pilot;1st
Leo J Laux, Radar |
| Kneeling
L to R: M/Sgt Joseph Glezman, FE; T/Sgt
Charles Sauermelch Jr., CFC;
S/Sgt Ben Hill, RG;Sgt John Saarinen, LG; S/Sgt Richard
Henkle,TG |
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During the Kyushu campaign on the 29 April 1945 mission,
Stryon, (now Major) was awarded the Sliver
Star for gallantry in action. Just after bombs away,
there was a direct flak hit damaging the bay doors so
they could not close. In spite of the crippled condition,
Stryon left the safety of the formation to give aid to
another B-29 that also had been hit and was being attacked
by Japanese fighters. Stryon's crew helped drive off the
attackers and escorted the B-29 out to sea where it made
a successful ditching. Stryon circled the surviviors,
dropped all his emergency equipment to them in spite of
his own damaged condition. As fuel became critical, Stryon
headed for Iwo Jima.
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| Update:
Crew 22's mission are listed on the next page courtesy of
Benjamin F. Hill. |
P-22's
Missions
Crew 22 Main Page
61st Squadron Crew Index
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