Remembering World War Two Airmen

Coming in 2011: New Book about the 95th Bomb Group

2010-09-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

The new 95th Bomb Group history 'Into the Wild Blue Yonder and Beyond' is in its final publication stages with Potomac Books and will be released in 2011. The book tells the story of the Bomb Group and its subsequent Foundation from its inception through the current day. Included are chapters on wives, POWs, ground crews, entertainment and London, the British, and much more. The book is arranged, for the most part, chronologically, except for specialty chapters such as wives or Entertainment.

95th Bomb Group (H) Reunion in Washington DC: Photos Batch One

2010-09-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

Lt. Keith Murray, missing in action. Keith walked over the Pyrenees Mountains to Spain in the fall of 1943. Of the twenty-odd men making the trek, only three survived.

A photo of the young, handsome Keith Murray taken before shipping overseas.

Keith Murray today. Bigger muscles than most twenty-year-olds, Keith pumps iron and plays golf despite having lost a number of his fingers: he plays with a left-handed club. Keith was one of the very first men in the original cadre of the 95th, joining the Group in its infancy in Spokane, Washington .

Charlie Besser and his wife were my tablemates at the final banquet. Charlie won this wooden B-17 model for being the oldest attending veteran at age 94. Charlie was one of the original cadre of the 95th, as was Keith Murray.

Adam Hinojos and his family at the banquet. Adam spent the entire war at Horham as a member of the 457th Sub Depot.

L-R: TT Gunner Irv Rothman (POW); Pilot John Walter; Bob Spinnenweber; Pilot Ed Jacobson; Bob Inman. Men whose crew position is not listed are those that I am unsure of.

Top Row, L-R: Irv Rothman, John Walter, Bob Spinnenweber, Ed Jacobson, Bob Inman, Harry Hull, Jack Bertram.

Bottom Row, L-R: Keith Murray, Charlie Besser, Fred Kennie, Herb Wilkov, Bob Fay.

Rob Morris, Red Dillon and Paul Dillon. Red was shot down on the Broman Crew over Munster in October 1943 and became a POW. He is one of the top-scoring ball turret gunners of the European Theater. Paul is the illustrator of my new book on the 95th.

Mary and Dub Vandergriff look at the 95th's plaque at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery.

Ben 'Rojo' Rojanksy and Herb Wilkov confer.

Herb Wilkov, a shot that captures his humanity and goodness.

My dear friend pilot John Walter, who wrote 'My War' and who helped me write 'Into the Wild Blue.

Thumbs-up from Red Dillon!

Jack Bertram, a quiet hero.

Ball turret gunner Bob Fay, a good friend and a great contributor to the unit history.

Keith Murray and his daughter. Keith proves that real men wear pink.

James Mutton presents Karl Voss with his old kit bag.

Band of Brothers.

Another wonderful reunion filled with stories, friendship, and history. The 95th met at the end of August for its annual reunion. Around twenty veterans of the Group were in attendance, as well as many family members and friends. Here are some photos from the reunion.

Photo of 95th BG Rongstad Crew Discovered after Years of Searching

2010-08-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

Three 95th Vets pay tribute to the fallen crew in June 2010. Redlingfield, Suffolk. (Photo by Richard Flagg)

Monument to the crew, erected in 2010. (Photo by Richard Flagg)

The Rongstad Crew. Front Row: Left to Right: 2nd Lt. Kenneth B. Rongstad of Montana, 2nd Lt. Warren M. Strawn, 2nd Lt. Richard E. Diete, 2nd Lt. Joseph F. Spicer.

Back Row, Left to Right: S/Sgt. Gordon V. Sorensen, Sgt. Julius W. Torok, Sgt. Charles E. Phinney, Sgt. Louis M. Mirabel, Sgt. Aloysius L. Godek, S. Sgt. Agnew R. Eckert.

(Eckert was not on the crew at the time of the crash) S. Sgt. Gail A. Richmond is not in the photo)

Just received news from James Mutton in Suffolk that a crew photo of the ill-fated Rongstad crew has been donated by a neice of crewmen Warren Strawn. James has been looking for a photo of this crew for many years, as the crash of this crew was one of the things that drew him into his interest in the 95th Bomb Group and the air war in World War Two. Rongstad's B-17 crashed shortly after takeoff when it stalled in a banking turn. All the crew were killed in the accident. In June, a memorial was erected at the crash site. For more on the Rongstad crew, see the related stories on this blog by typing in "Rongstad" in the search box in upper left corner of blog.

Two B-29 Bomber Crewman Meet in Idaho Falls

2010-08-15T10:45:00.001-07:00

Marshall Dullum's crew in Korea. Marshall is front row, second from left.

Dean's crew, India. 1944-45.

Marshall and Dean and a model of the B-29. Marshall commented that if he and Dean could find two more old B-29 crewmen, they could form a new crew.

On August 13, 2010, two bomber boys who flew in the B-29 Superfortress met each other for the first time in Idaho Falls. I have known Marshall Dullum for three or four years, but only recently found out about Dean . Marshall trained in bombers in WWII, but did not fly combat. He did, however, fly in the Berlin Airlift and in the United Nations peacekeeping action in the Middle East. He flew combat missions in a B-29 during the Korean War, near the end of the period when the 29 was used as a combat bomber. Dean flew in B-29s during WWII. He first trained crews in 1942 and 1943 in B-17s and B-24s, and was one of the first to train in the new B-29, which he says is the best of the three by far. Dean flew with the 20th Air Force in Asia. A flight engineer who had mechanical aptitude, he was responsible for keeping the mechanical components of the 29 working in flight. His crew "flew the Hump" over the Himalayas 25 times. The crew took off from a secret base in India, flew over the Himalayas--or, if the weather was good---through the Himalayas, threading its way between the jagged peaks. They landed at another secret base in China, and then took off to bomb Japanese-occupied areas in East Asia. Dean remembers that on a clear day you could navigate your way across the Himalayas by following the carcasses of crashed aircraft on the mountains below.

Book Review: 'Last Roll Call: The Adventures of a B-17 Tailgunner, 15th Air Force, 97th Bomb Group, Amendola Italy"

2010-08-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

I had the good fortune recently to read a book by B-17 tailgunner Kenneth S. Tucker, who flew with the 97th Bomb Group in the 15th Air Force in World War Two. I also had the pleasure of communicating with his daughter, Wanda Tucker Goodwin, who helped her dad write the book. Though I've read literally hundreds of books about the air was in Europe, I was surprised at how much interesting information was in Mr. Tucker's book that I did not know about.

Most memoirs of the European air war are about the Eighth Air Force, which during and after the war garnered the lion's share of the publicity. A large part of this was simple proximity to those who reported the war. London was teeming with reporters looking for a good story, and the Eighth's bomber boys were only a few miles away. On the other hand, there were very few reporters willing or able to go to Amendola, Italy, and live in the alternately muddy and dusty tent cities there, surrounded by the crushing poverty of the Italian natives.

Mr Tucker covers his life from his early days as a son of a fisherman in Florida, though his training, and into combat in the flak-filled skies over Europe. His writing is clear, unembellished, and honest. He develops the personalities of the various members of the crew as he recounts the missions, so that one feels like one knows the young men on the crew. He also tells of his visits to various places of interest on his time off, such as Pompeii and the Isle of Capri.

Many readers of WWII memoirs are on the lookout for signed memoirs. Here is your chance to pick one up. Follow the link below to Ken's website, and put in an order for a copy of this book. He'll personalize it and autograph it. 186 pages. Soft cover trade paperback. Illustrated with black and white photographs.

Click link below or phone 850-624-8081.

http://lastrollcall.net/

Captain Halcott Thomas, 95th Bomb Group, 30 Dangerous Missions over Occupied Europe

2010-07-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I heard from a friend who works at a nursing home in Los Angeles named Brad. Brad has been keeping me posted on one of the residents at the home, a man by the name of Captain Halcott Thomas. Capt. Thomas flew with the 95th Bomb Group (H) in World War Two. That happens to be the Bomb Group about which I just finished writing a unit history.

Yesterday, Brad told me that Captain Thomas had put on his uniform and gotten his materials together to give a talk about his experiences and nobody showed up to listen to him. This was in part due to a scheduling error, but it also struck me as symptomatic of our society's flawed values. We are willing to pay a lot of money to watch grown men dribble balls and hit balls with sticks, and we follow every move of people like Paris Hilton and other 'celebrities'.

Now let me get this straight. We pay hundreds of millions to watch overpaid prima donnas but we aren't interested in seeing a real hero, one who helped assure our freedom sixty years ago at a time when the future of humanity literally hung in the balance. One Facebook comment that hit home came from Maria Eck Bullard, whose father, Harold Eck (still alive and in failing health) is a survivor of the U.S.S. Indianapolis sinking. Maria commented it was the saddest thing she'd heard in a long time. I agree.

A lot of people have expressed interest in contacting Capt. Thomas to thank him for his service. This warms my heart, and it will warm Capt. Thomas's even more. But there are thousands of men and women just like Captain Thomas all over the United States. For example, right here in Idaho Falls, there is a gentleman in the Alzheimers unit at a nursing home who is a former P-51 Mustang pilot with 3.5 aerial victories over Germany with the 339th Fighter Group. I visited him a bit last summer and then got busy and haven't been back lately. I dropped the ball.

I am pleased that the school where I work, Clair E. Gale Junior High, holds a Veteran's Day appreciation every year and invites as many local WWII vets as they can track down for a special lunch with the seventh grade students. The lady who coordinates this, Mrs. Pearson, also has the vets sitting at tables with kids who interview them. It is a fine time for all.

Last school year, my 9th grade students corresponded with three Bataan Death March survivors. We did it as a supplementary activity, outside the curriculum, because of the comments from so many Bataan Death March suvivors I'd been interviewing for my Untold Valor: Pacific book that nobody knew anything about the March and that it was never taught in the history books any more. To my surprise, at the end of the school year, many of my students said this was their favorite thing that they learned all year. Why? Because history came alive for them.

We need to recommit to honoring our WWII vets, because in another few years, they will all be gone. Call local nursing homes, or the local American Legion of VFW, and find out if there are vets in your area. In the past year, I have found right here in my small city, almost enough men to fill my Pacific book, including a Navy Cross-winning Okinawa Marine, another Marine who saw the flag go up on Iwo Jima, and many more.

Now, back to Captain Thomas.

Halcott Thomas was working on a degree in Engineering at the University of Southern California and was almost doen when Pearl Harbor was bombed December 7, 1941. "I decided to join the Army Air Corps," he told me in an interview July 2, 2010. "It took one and a half years in five different places to get to Dyersburg, Tennesse, where I got my whole crew.

"Most of the crew had never been in a B-17 Flying Fortress. This included my copilot. We spent a whole month at Dyersburg learning to take off and fly in a 36-plane formation, which is what we'd be using when we got to Europe. A lot of the other pilots didn't let their copilots fly much during this time, as the copilots had no experience. I took the opposite view. I let my copilot do three-fourths of the flying and then he was ready to roll."

After training, we flew to Goose Bay, Labrador. They showed us a movie taken from the nose of an aircraft that showed us how to locate the landing field in Greenland. We had to fly at low-altitude for seventy miles up a deep fjord. Eventually, we would see a three-masted schooner which had sunk in the middle of the fjord. There was a 12,000-foot mountain on the right side of the fjord. We were supposed to fly right between the masts and then we'd see the runway.

"Instructions were very clear. You land. You don't try to go around. And by the way, the runway is three hundred feet higher at the top than at the bottom. And while you're at it, look out for that 12,000 mountain.

"When we flew out of there, we took off, did a sharp turn, flew to the three-masted schooner and jumped out of the fjord. Our next stop was Ireland, and from there we went to England and were assigned to the 95th Bomb Group at Horham, England. I flew thirty missions with the 95th Bomb Group. I remember in particular one mission, my third, where we dropped guns and ammunition at low altitude to the Polish Underground. They were literally underground and the Germans were almost right on top of them. After dropping off the weapons, we flew on to Russia.

"This Russia mission had been planned for some time. Three times we went to briefings and were then told the mission was called off, because they had been unable to get Stalin to agree to let us land. It was a huge operation. All the materials and supplies we'd need when we landed in Russia had to be trucked in from the south before we arrived in a big convoy. Finally, we got clearance from Stalin and flew the mission." (After the war, a diplomat from the Polish Embassy tracked down Thomas and awarded him with a medal for helping to resupply the Polish Underground in its time of need).

Captain Thomas is doing a more extensive record for me, but this was from our conversation last night. It is an honor to thank this American hero.

Rongstad Crew Gets a Memorial

2010-05-16T09:59:00.001-07:00

Official Army crash photos taken after the crash.

Crash site, Green Farm, Redlingfield, Suffolk. Many artifacts from this aircraft have been recovered from the site. (Photo by Rob Morris, June 2008)

Old barn across the lane from Green Farm. (Photo by Rob Morris, June 2008)

The farmhouse built on the spot of the detroyed original Green Farm. (Photo by Rob Morris)

Green Farm Accident Report, 95th Bomb Group Archives.

Crash report.

Lt. Rongstad's obituary in the Daily Interlake, Kalispell, Montana.

Green Farm burns after the B-17 crashed next to it.

B-17 tire.

Memorial (Photo by Richard Flagg)

Photo by Richard Flagg.

Three 95th vets pay homage to the downed crew. (Photo by Richard Flagg)

Photo by Richard Flagg.

Veterans and family members and friends at the Dedication Ceremony. (Photo by Richard Flagg)

Earl Jostwick at the memorial. (Richard Flagg photo)

The Rongstad crew perished in a fiery crash after taking off from Horham on November 19, 1943. The pilot, fellow Montanan Kenneth Rongstad of Kalispell, banked his B-17 sharply after takeoff, the aircraft stalled, and it plunged to the ground, narrowly missing the Green Farm farmhouse, setting the farm house and another across the lane on fire. The men who possibly survived the initial crash were killed when the ordnance went off.

The photos of the memorial ceremony were taken by a friend of mine, professional photographer Richard Flagg, at Open Day yesterday, May 15, at Horham, Suffolk, England.

My Recent Writing on WWII in the Pacific

2010-05-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

Bataan Death March survivor Ed L.

Ralph L., Bataan Death March and POW in Japan.

The USS Indianapolis.

Hap Halloran, top center, with B-29 crew.

The little girl at right watched the Pearl Harbor attack from Pearl City, only a few hundred yards from Ford Island.

Pete Benavage is my old Western Civ teacher from high school. He was a sergeant on Iwo Jima. This photo is captured from a Japanese TV documentary about Iwo Jima.

Bill Morrison, Iwo Jima Marine.

Bill Lynne, Navy Corpsman with 1st Marines.

Bob Crowton's Navy Cross, awarded for heroism at Okinawa.

Bob Crowton's wife Marge admires his Navy Cross.

Kay Morris, B-24 copilot, flew many long over-water missions against Japan.

Bill Lynne, Navy Corpsman, Pacific.

Bill Harten, USS West Virginia, Pearl Harbor survivor.

Joe Lajzer, Bataan Death March survivor and survivor of four years in a Japanese prison camp.

I have been working hard on Untold Valor: Pacific and have some fine stories. The book will be arranged chronologically by battles/campaigns and each chapter will feature two to three men or women who were there. Chapters so far include:

Pearl Harbor: Interviews, Pearl Harbor survivor from USS West Virginia; lady who was a 6-year old whose dad was stationed at Pearl and who watched the attack from Pearl City.

Wake Island: Interview: a civilian construction worker who was captured and spent the war as a POW.

Bataan Death March: interviews with three Bataan Death March survivors who also survived hellish POW camps and Hell Ship trips.

Pilots: interviews with two pilots who flew long over-water missions to Japan.

Navy Corpsmen: Interviews with three Navy corpsmen who served with the First Marine Division on Saipan and Okinawa.

Okinawa: interviews with Marines and Navy Corpsmen who were there, including a Marine Lt. who won the Navy Cross there.

Iwo Jima: Interviews with three Marines who were there.

USS Indianapolis: Interviews with three men who survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, sunk by a Japanese sub in 1945. The survivors spent days in shark-infested waters before rescue, and most died waiting for rescue. Also interviewed Hunter Scott, who as a young man called attention to the fact that Captain McVay was wrongly accused of negligence.

B-29 POW: Interview with a man who was shot down and was a POW in Tokyo during the March 10, 1945 firebombings.

Possible one or two more chapters, but it depends on if I can find the men to interview. I would like to interview a carrier pilot and a Seabee.

U.S. Navy Seabee R.S. Leslie's WWII Pacific Footlocker

2010-04-10T20:25:00.001-07:00

R.M. Leslie was one of my relative's dad. He fought in the Pacific in World War Two as a Seabee. About ten years ago, Jeannie, his daughter, gave me the contents of his old Navy footlocker for my teaching and research on World War Two. These photos show most of the kit. He had two blue cloth jackets, a lighter summer white jacket, and a khaki jacket. He also had pants to match the blues and the whites. The clothing is all in pretty decent shape considering it was packed away in a box for fifty years before I got it. Enjoy this little slice of U.S. Navy history and thanks to R.M. Leslie for his service to his family and his nation. Sadly, I do not have a photo of Leslie, but I'll continue to try to find one.

Note ruptured duck on right breast, bullion insignia device, and 'CB' badge on lower sleeve.

Amazing bullion on the blue and the gray shoulder insignia patches.

Where in the World Have I Been?

2010-04-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

Marine Second Lt. Robert 'Bob' Crowton's Navy Cross, awarded for heroism at Okinawa.

My former teacher Pete Benavage as a Marine Sergeant before heading to Iwo Jima.

Joseph Lajzer as he appeared after over three and a half years of Japanese captivity, including the Bataan Death March and slave labor in Japan.

Have been interviewing a gentleman who was on the Clark Field Baseball Team in Philippines before war broke out. He was on the Bataan Death March, then helped build the airfield at Palawan as slave labor, then took a Hell Ship to Japan and spent a long time "digging coal for the Emperor" at Hiroshima Omine and saw the A-bomb fall thirty miles away that fateful August day. He is in the photo above. (Name withheld)

This youthful gentleman was my Western Civilization teacher in high school. He is Major Pete Benavage, United States Marine Corps (Ret.). As a young sergeant of Marines, Pete helped lead a platoon on Iwo Jima. This is a photo capture from a Japanese TV program about Iwo Jima entitled 'Island of Death'.

Pete Benavage, teacher and friend.

Marine Second Lt. Robert Crowton's "Old Breed" First Marine Division patch that he wore on Okinawa, where he won the Navy Cross for heroism.

Marine Lt. Bob Crowton's lovely wife, Marge, admires his Navy Cross, awarded at a hospital in San Diego after he had undergone surgery to shrapnel damage to his face. (Bob Crowton collection)

Bob's Purple Heart and the box for his Navy Cross.

Bob awarded his Navy Cross in San Diego, CA.

William Morrison, who as a young Marine guarded a gun emplacement at the base of Mt. Suribachi and saw the flag go up.

Navy Corpsman William 'Bill' Lynne, who served with the First Marines at Peleliu and Okinawa. The corpsmen fought alongside the Marines, and saved many lives in battle. (Bill Lynne photo)

The wounded Corpsman in this famous press photo is Bill Lynne. (Bill Lynne collection)

Greetings to my faithful readers, all 26 of you. :)

Sorry I have not written on the blog much lately. I've been very busy working on my next book, and since it is not about WWII airmen, this page hasn't gotten the attention it did before

Right now, I am deeply involved in researching a book about the Pacific War. Lately, I've been working on two chapters in depth. The first involves the men who were on the Bataan Death March and the ensuing years as POWs. The second involves men who were at Iwo. These are but two chapters but I tend to immerse in just a few at a time. I've already put a lot of time into Pacific aviators and into Okinawa, the USS Indianapolis, and Navy Corpsmen. I have also been interviewing several Pearl Harbor survivors. This on top of the fact that I work sixty to seventy hours a week in the highly lucrative field of teaching high school.

I am putting a small sampling of photos of some of the guys I'm writing about at the moment, and who will all appear in the book when it comes out next year.

Stay tuned. I will be back.

Julien Modica: Endorsement Removed

2010-03-20T20:05:00.000-07:00

I no longer endorse Mr. Modica for any office. Sadly, he conned me personally when I went for a visit this summer. I do not trust him.

Robert Law Collection: Royal Canadian Navy World War Two

2010-03-13T11:09:00.001-08:00

Robert Law, standing at right, with crewmates.

This collection of World War Two items belonged to a young Canadian sailor from Edmonton, Alberta Canada by the name of Robert Law, who was the father of a colleague of mine at work. The colleague went up to Canada this year for her mother's funeral and brought back and donated her dad's WWII items to me to share with everyone for historical purposes, so here they are.

Law served as an Officers' Steward on a Royal Canadian vessel that I assumed was named the H.M.C.S. Naden during the war. However, further reseach indicates that H.M.C.S. Naden was a training area in Esquimault, British Columbia. Therefore, I am assuming he must have served on one of the following ships: the H.M.C.S. Chaudiere (destroyer), the destroyer H.M.C.S. Gatineau, of the H.M.C.S. Chilliwack, a corvette. The blue manual was his guide to preparing and serving meals for the officers on board ship. The newspaper clipping is from the Daily Telegraph and Morning Post, London, and tells of the sinking of a German U-Boat by the group of ships with which the Naden was sailing. Dated June 1, 1944. The U-Boat was sunk by the H.M.C.S. St. Catharines and its escorts. Ships named as being involved in this action include the H.M.C.S. Gatineau, the corvette H.M.C.S. Chilliwack, the H.M.S. Icarus, the H.M.C.S. Chaudiere, the corvette H.M.S. Fennel, and the corvette H.M.S. Kenilworth Castle.

Also interesting is Law's large collection of pin-up photos, most from the MGM studios. This collection includes large 8 by 10s as well as numerous 5 by 7s of various movie starlets at the time of the war. I have never seen so many pinups in such good condition, and I photographed and posted all of them because they are of great historical interest to readers.

Enjoy this collection, and thanks to Barbara Sweetland for donating them to me to share with historians everywhere.

50-mission Officer's Crusher

2010-03-11T06:16:00.000-08:00

I found this excellent, near-mint WWII-era officer's crusher cap at Deseret Industries for $5.00 last week. The officer's crusher was so named because it could be 'crushed'. The stiffener was removed from the top of the hat so that the wearer could fit the ear phones over the top in flight. The flight model had a single-layer leather bill that allowed the hat to be literally folded in two and carried in a pocket, though few did so. The officer's model is different from the enlisted man's model. The main difference, other than quality, is that the officer model has a cloth knit band around the base of the hat, and also has a larger eagle device.

My hat was manufactured by Knox, New York. It is named to Jay M. Strong and has his Army serial number as well. Haven't found out anything about this gentleman yet. The hat is near-mint, appears to have been worn only a few times. The ear phones on the hat did not come with the hat.

The Story of Larry C Thornton, MIA in Laos, Continues

2010-02-27T15:52:00.000-08:00

Larry C. Thornton's MIA dogtag that I wear every day to remember his sacrifice.

After a recent posting about Master Sgt. Larry C. Thornton, whose memorial I came across by chance at the Iona Cemetery during a run a few weeks back, I have found out more about him.

A new friend of mine who operates his MIA page on on an MIA/POW webring contacted me and told me that Larry has a building named for him down at Hill Air Force Base in Roy, Utah. Here are photos she sent of the building at the base. It's a small building, but at least he has gotten some recognition for his sacrifice.

Remembering Larry Thornton of Idaho Falls--MIA in Vietnam

2010-02-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

The AC-47D 'Spooky', similar to the one on which Thornton and crew were lost.

Photo Montage from the Virtual Wall website hyperlinked below.

MIA Larry Thornton's memorial stone in the Iona Cemetery. As of 2003, Thornton's remains have not been found. The crew was lost Christmas Eve, 1965 on a mission.

While running in the country last weekend, I stopped in the Iona Cemetery to take some photos. I noticed one grave belonging to a Korean War and Vietnam War veteran who was listed as Missing in Action. After taking a photo, I went home and did some research. The story is quite compelling, and illustrates the sadness surrounding all cases of Missing in Action men and their families.

Larry Thornton's story is on the Virtual Wall, and can be accessed by clicking on this hyperlink.

95th Bomb Group's Larry Buchholz Flies Final Mission

2010-02-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

A fallen hero is honored. Riverside National Cemetery, California. (Photo courtesy of Larry's granddaughter Rachel Terry)

Eagle on Larry's casket. (Photo courtesy of Larry's granddaughter Rachel Terry)

One of my heroes, the soft-spoken, brilliant Larry Buchholz, passed away last month, I heard from his granddaughter a few days ago. This news makes me very sad, because Larry was a hell of a nice guy, a true gentleman, and a man who bravely answered his nation's call to service in its time of need. Larry flew 30 missions as a radio operator on a B-17 Flying Fortress with the 95th Bomb Group out of Horham, England in World War Two.

I had the pleasure and honor of meeting Larry in Tucson Arizona a few years back at the 95th Reunion. He was kind, quiet, and possessed a thoughtful and intelligent nature that I really appreciated. Though I only knew Larry for a few days, we became friends and his loss is just one more example of the rapidly-disappearing 'Greatest Generation'. God bless you, Larry, on your final mission.

Read the obituary of an American hero here.

PBS Program on 8th Air Force and Air War Feb 8

2010-01-23T06:20:00.000-08:00

A program about the air war over Europe airs February 8, 2010.

Click here for trailer and info.

Camouflage on the Home Front--Lockheed's Burbank Aircraft Plant in WWII

2010-01-16T07:55:00.000-08:00

Burbank, CA Lockheed plant before. According to this website, Lockheed hired Disney to turn the plant into a suburban community shortly after Pearl Harbor. Read the story here. (Click on the purple 'here')

After.

My friend and former student Jeff Shirts sent me this post. I've seen the photos before and am fairly sure this is true. Anybody know more about it? This is Lockheed's Burbank aircraft factory disguised as a residential subdivision during World War Two.

Lack of Posts

2010-01-08T06:31:00.000-08:00

Just and update to let readers know I am still alive and working on stories. What you may not know is that I am a public high school teacher (in the US, public means public not private). I work at a school that is officially a Title I school, meaning it has such a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students that it gets extra government help. Also, though I teach a high school level, the 9th grade is in a junior high. Go figure.
I have been at this school since 1989, other than for a six-year hiatus resulting from the necessity to distance myself from a corrupt former administration which is now gone. (This administration tried to ruin a fellow teacher, defamed his character, and later lost a large monetary settlement in the ensuing lawsuit, not to mention their collective jobs). But that's another story.
Teaching requires massive amounts of daily work, and it doesn't end when the final bell rings. Ten-hour days are the norm. Weekends are full of planning.
On top of that, I am putting finishing touches on the 95th Bomb Group book, and also working on my next book. This weekend will continue to work on a chapter about an amazing man who got the Navy Cross on Okinawa. He lives right here in town so I can drive over and see him.
It seems there are not enough hours in the day to do everything, and the first thing to suffer is this blog, but rest assured, things will pick up again.

Huge 1:6 Scale B-17G Model RC Plane Flies in Australia

2010-01-04T19:05:00.000-08:00

The above RC plane is a 1:9 scale B-17. The B-17 shown in the video below is even bigger, 1:6 scale. The Tondelayo, flying out of Australia, is 108 pounds!

Incredible dedication to build, maintain and fly such a huge RC plane. (Click the purple hyperlink to find out more about this magnificent piece of machinery and to watch it fly)

Update

2010-01-02T16:18:00.000-08:00

Readers, so sorry for the lag since the last entry. I have been very busy finishing up the 95th Bomb Group history (it is now done) and also working on my next book, about World War Two in the Pacific. I had an amazing interview yesterday with a man who was in the Big Red One on Okinawa and won the Navy Cross for heroism. Like most heroes, he doesn't accept the classification as such. When his story has been vetted and okayed by him, I will post it here. Suffice it to say it is amazing and literally brought me to tears writing it. I am blessed to know these great men who put their lives on the line so that the world could be free. I hope we never let these men down and forget their sacrifices.

Old Negative Restored--339th FG P-51 Marinell

2009-12-13T07:11:00.000-08:00

The digitally restored negative. Click to SUPERSIZE. Great detail.

The restored Marinell.

I found an old negative inside a P-51 Mustang pilot's photo album. It had been tucked loosely inside the album and was in rough shape. No business in Idaho Falls has the capability to restore a negative, but fortunately, I have a friend who can digitally restore it.

I believe this photo to be of the P-51D Marinell, flown by a gentleman who lives in Idaho Falls. He scored three aerial victories in her during his tour. Another pilot was flying her and crashed in France in 1944, killing the pilot. The plane was wrecked but not totally destroyed. It ended up in a scrapyard until a wealthy British hobbyist bought it and restored it a few years back. It is now flying again.

Thanks to JG McCue for the restoration. Please feel free to use this rare old photo, available for the first time ever.

Watch Marinell's first flight since 1945 here.

See another old photo of this plane here.

Read about the 339th Fighter Group here.

Read about Marinell here.

For more posts about how I found out about this plane and pilot, just enter Louey or Marinell in the search box on the blog, upper left.

Three Good Books: Reviews to Follow

2009-12-01T06:43:00.001-08:00

Books I've read in the last two weeks. All very highly recommended. Reviews to follow in short order.

1. Bleeding Sky: The Story of Captain Fletcher E. Adams and the 357th Fighter Group, by Joey Maddox.

2. Courtesies of the Heart, by Kenneth Breaux.

3. The Road to Big Week, by Eric Hammel.

Interview with 95th Ball Turret Gunner Robert Fay

2009-11-28T17:25:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of talking with 95th BG ball turret gunner Robert 'Bob' Fay this evening as part of the final research for my book. Fay flew 35 missions in a B-17 Flying Fortress between September 13, 1944 and early March, 1945. Throughout his time at Horham, Fay kept a diary. "I'd come home from a mission, and make notes while it was still fresh in my mind," he remembers. However, at the end of the war, before he could send the diary home, it had to be passed by the Army censors. "They gutted the center section out, and left the rest. Later, when I was back in the States, they shipped the gutted part to me after censoring."

Fay flew on the Hiram Griffin crew, in the 334th Squadron. He ended up in the ball turret because of his small stature. At first, we flew whatever plane was available. When they showed up at their barracks, they found they had been assigned to Barracks 13. There was only one man inside. He had missed the mission a few days previously, and the other men of the two crews who shared the barracks with him had been shot down. "He was the only one left in there," remembers Fay, "and he was really in trouble mentally by that time." The Griffin crew promptly changed the number of their barracks to 12-B.

Finally, after a few missions, "we got a new bird and we named it Victory Devil. On missions, lots of times things didn't work out. You'd be pushed to a secondary target due to weather mostly, and when that happened, you often got a lot more than you asked for." One particularly memorable mission was to Merseberg, to hit a synthetic oil plant on November 14, 1944. We had to bomb with PFF (Pathfinder radar) even though we could see fairly well. The Germans had put up a smoke-screen that obliterated the target. But we made a tragic error. We turned twenty miles too late, and went over the target through a flak area. We were suddenly in range of hundreds of guns, and had to put up with fifteen minutes of flak. Wicker's crew burst into flames and damn near took us down with him. Grif saved the day by cutting the throttle. We lost fifty-six bombers and 30 fighters that day, because of that error. I wrote at the time that considering the loss of life and equipment, the mission was a failure."

Fay did not particularly mind the tight confines of the ball turret. However, there were several things he didn't care for. First, "I didn't like the fact that the ball had a door that had to be opened for you to get out, and if it didn't rotate right, you were a cooked goose. You had no chute in the ball; there was no room. Second, it was damn cold down there."

"I had to get pulled out twice after losing my oxygen. Fortunately, our crew called around frequently and made sure everybody answered. It was a team effort. I was pulled out unconscious by our waist gunner, Bob Hamlin. I owe him a debt for that."

Close calls were frequent. Fay saw many bombers explode, or go down in flames, as well as American and German fighter aircraft. Flying in the winter of 1944 was dangerous, as the weather was terrible. On a December 16 mission to Stuttgart, the weather got so bad that Griffin had to drop out of formation and try to return alone. "We were out of oxygen, so had to drop to lower altitude. By the time we got back, you could hardly see the runway. Three ships overshot the runway that day and had to be scrapped."

Flak was the main enemy on many missions. "We'd get briefed for twelve flak guns and then we'd go over the target and there would be 100. On one mission down the Ruhr Valley, we ran the gauntlet of 1,200 flak guns. And then on another mission, there would be none."

German fighters still made frequent calls. Once, Fay saw two of the new German jet fighters, the Me262s, suddenly scream through the formation. "All they did was fly through and by the time I got a burst off they were gone! We knew they (Me262s) were there but didn't know when we'd run into them."

The closest Fay came to death was when a German shell ricocheted off the armor-plate behind his back in the ball, tearing a gash in the only place on the ball that could withstand such a hit. Otherwise, I would not be here."

As the crew neared the magic number 35, they had to try to make sure to finish at roughly the same time. Some days, one or more of the crew would be sick or couldn't fly. At the end of Fay's tour, he had to fly two missions after most of the rest were finished. "They all were there waiting for me at the end of the runway when I came back."

After the war, Fay didn't talk much about his experiences, but after a while, I began to get together with the other men on the crew. To this day, Fay and his wife have visits with the crew's original navigator, Bob Inman, as well as the co-pilot, Ken Wright. All three made it to the reunion in Dallas, Texas in October.

"We were very fortunate," he says.

This B-17 was One Tough Aircraft

2009-11-25T16:53:00.001-08:00

They all came back to base alive, except togglier Staff Sgt. George E. Abbott of East Lebanon, PA. The bottom photo is one of the most famous of the air war.

No longer possible to cut and paste text, but I am posting the photos and the link to an amazing article about a 398th BG B-17 piloted by Lt. Lawrence M. DeLancey of Corvallis, Oregon, that took a direct hit and came home October 15, 1944, with all the crew alive but the togglier, who had been killed instantly when he took a direct flak hit.

Read the story that accompanies these incredible photographs here.