Naval Commander That I Knew

[BiPolarBear 476]

He flew a Corsair in WWII, Korean, and Vietnam. I have seen debate on whether the Corsair was used in Nam or not. The Commander told me he did directly, so it is a dead issue with me. He specialized in night bombing and strafed Tokyo. Some of you may be familiar with the incendiary bombing of Tokyo. 

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/firebombing-of-tokyo

B-29's did the major bombing, killing more civilians than the both A-bomb drops, combined. He also me he also strafed Tokyo in a Corsair. When I asked if the Japanese returned fire, he pulled a Walking Liberty fifty cent piece out of his pocket. it was shaped like a funnel. The actual slug had been in the hole for years, but had finally fallen out. He said that the impact gave him a big bruise, but it didn't break the skin; so he did not receive a Purple Heart, "Not that I ever wanted a Purple Heart".

The commander did engage enemy fighters, mainly 109's. In Korean, he saw a first generation MIG. Way too fast to "engage" but he shot ahead of it, guessing the arch, and hit it. They showed the nose camera footage back at the ship, and he lit the guy up pretty good with "sparklers" (his gleeful name for the bullets sparking off the MIG's fuselage). The MIG split the area. Another day light  bombing run had him reach the end of the mission with bombs left over, needing to drop them before returning to the ship. They were over a no-bomb zone, but he had his hand on the bomb release, just waiting to cross over the line. His wing man buzzed him and he jerked, releasing the bombs. The Koreans, knowing it was a no bomb zone, had concealed a huge ammo dump there. The shock wave from the explosion almost blew them out of the sky. 

The commander was not eager to sit around telling stories, but I spent a lot of time with him. If I ask him if he ever flew a plane he would tell me about it. I know a few WWII era planes and never managed to come up with one he did not fly. Closest I came was a Brewster Buffalo. He flew it for one minute. The engine started sputtering just as he was leaving the ground. He gunned it and made it over a water culvert at the end of the runway, and landed. He was a passenger on a B-29, and the pilot asked him if he would like to take it up. He did. Ever fly a B-58? Sure; just because he could. Showed me a Zippo with a raised image of a B-58, with his name inscribed. He made it his goal to fly a plane he never flew before every day, and with his rank that was no problem. His log books would probably be in the Smithsonian, but he got pissed at the brass over one thing or another, and tossed them in a dumpster. He had his photo taken in a bunch of planes, including a breaking the sound barrier shot in an F-16. He would fly an F-16 up from Fort Worth to Denver to have lunch at the officers club. The cat just loved to fly. 

I struck out, trying to find a photos of old pilot licenses that matched his. It had a drawing of a mono-plane, with a tall metal post in the middle of the fuselage, holding guide wires that went to the tips of the wings. His retirement pay-out was one of the largest (on one hand) in U.S. Naval history. 

His whole family had been remarkable, and prominent, in this country, back into the 1800's. Some of them were wealthy San Francisco residents. Another relative was an Indian Commissioner. I held a letter written by an Indian chief. His command of the English language and penmanship are forgotten arts, compared to goofs like me. I held a peace pipe given by Sitting Bull, and was shown a picture of Sitting Bull holding it. He also had a pipe given by Geronimo, but no photo of him holding it is known. The commander had other talents and interest. His old table saw was about 15 inches square. He ordered the plans to make a ski runabout out of a Mechanics Illustrated magazine with that table saw. He put a new crated corvette engine in it. Lots of Scouting awards for leadership as well. 

 

 

[Hardcore troubadour 12,799]

Great post! Really enjoyed it! 

[wiffleball 4,657]

I bet the Japanese were surprised as all hell that we strafed Tokyo during the Vietnam war.

 

I hope we at least did it on December 7th.

[Engorgeous George 1,229]

Childhood neighber was a double Ace.  He had a late-in-life kid.  I baby sat.  One day I came home and asked my Dad why the neighbor had pictures of fighter planes around his house.  My dad said because he flew those planes, was a double Ace, and I could ask him about it if i wanted.  I did.  All he would say is he flew a few missions during the war.

[BiPolarBear 476]

8 hours ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

Great post! Really enjoyed it! 

Thank you so much! 

On a night mission over Korea, he received radio messages from a Korean military member, attempting to pass himself off as a friendly. His English sucked. 

This is a reenactment dialog, not historical fact:

K: "Hello, American pilot, this is your home town. We request your current location." 

U.S.: "Sure, How is the home team doing this season?"

K: "The Yankees?" 

U.S.: "Yes"

K: ...

U.S.: I am over the river, flying low...

...Actually he was paralleling the river, about a mile out. He said the whole sky along the river lit up with all kinds of anti-aircraft flack. LOL. 

Also: A bomb stuck in its attachment to his plane and would not release over Tokyo. He had to ditch the plane on the way back to the carrier. A helicopter was dispatched to pick him up. I guess he was a little amped up after bringing his plane in for a landing on the open ocean, but when he landed he opened the cockpit and jumped in the water. He allowed that this was stupid, since his fuel was low, and the plane would float. He could have just sat in his seat, instead of bobbing around in the dumb ass ocean. On board the carrier, he was invited to go topside, and witness the sinking of his plane. He declined. 

 

[Pimpadeaux 2,287]

Great post, sir!

 

[BiPolarBear 476]

2 minutes ago, Pimpadeaux said:

Great post, sir!

 

Thank you, Rusty. If you ever get close to Cowtown, let me know. :). 

 

[BiPolarBear 476]

20 hours ago, Engorgeous George said:

Childhood neighber was a double Ace.  He had a late-in-life kid.  I baby sat.  One day I came home and asked my Dad why the neighbor had pictures of fighter planes around his house.  My dad said because he flew those planes, was a double Ace, and I could ask him about it if i wanted.  I did.  All he would say is he flew a few missions during the war.

Very typical of military heroes who would rather act than talk. 

I knew a guy that carried 50 cal ammo in Nam for six months to earn the right to be the machine gunner. I guess he has killed the most people of anybody I know. Never told me one story. 

[Cloaca du jour 2,072]

Sweet Post!!!  My dad flew b17 in ww2. 35 missions.  Had some impressive stories!!  Not alot of them but good ones.  He said if the germans had come out with the jets sooner..we would have lost.

[BiPolarBear 476]

On 12/9/2022 at 12:31 PM, Cloaca du jour said:

Sweet Post!!!  My dad flew b17 in ww2. 35 missions.  Had some impressive stories!!  Not alot of them but good ones.  He said if the germans had come out with the jets sooner..we would have lost.

I believe your dad out performed life expectancy by quite a lot. I don't think B-17's typically lasted that long either. Did he fight out of multiple B-17's? 

Anyway, I thought about the courage it must have taken to fly right into a lot of flak that there is not way to dodge. It kind of reminds me of charging across the open field at Gettysburg, when the cannons had the high ground. 

 

 

[Hardcore troubadour 12,799]

Masters Of The Air, by Spielberg and Hanks, will be coming out this spring. It’s about Bomb crews in Europe in WW2.