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Show \ , . , GO GOD 6 . - . : IS " M MY MYCol ; , ! < ? & W t \ rl , [ 1 , ' N 6 1 2 > ! ft ; _ _ _ t r d , dCol GBfiPlhOJft : : d { > Col C.ol . . R Robert Robe ber . . * L.Sco LSco L.Scott LScott L.Scoft LScoft L.ScoftWHoU L.ScoW . WHoU W NU . + RULe.AS RULeAS RELA . - ! nr The 8100 , fry tery ' thUI Was * > > " far * ' Rober Robert aaTt & Scott seott M ! , l , a aIt'lt aelf , It'lt Itlt elf ' made Wed Wert Point Polnt .ra4ua&e .ra4uae ra4uae graduate . & , wllQ wins ilia Ids iliawlnll Idswing wlnll wing , Ai st Kelly field Texa Texas . , anel and marrl niarrlea niarrleaa am . * a girl , < Irl l'ri lri ' 'rom rom from ' tr Geor.la Georla Georgia G . s a "W W FrOm " MJ&ellell'1elG MJellell1elG MUCbeI MItcartMt-N MItcartMt N & Wield ' , - , N Y a be * fa ii < leu Sent < & f to pali&ma palima Panama Maa & a wkera where .he he . ' " hireal bly blyreal r.al ral real . por.ute porute purnlt r.alt ralt . , traWDI training In at ' I it . be began 1Ql < to III In a . M"nr Mnr p.us pus F-183 F 183 . - . " . dYiflElie W Job lob eon&ructJD eonructJD cofStrUOtln c . & tmetlMK . 1I71n dYiflE ylai . II lie . t li II , given < tlve Iven " a fields fielda Cefielda ! wUck which waM would 10m some . cay day cta ) ' protec pro wt Ce ct & ' the thee tfc e ( ( anal n l ir lie Re be.IDI beIDI begins . " to * vaID train t al other t w pUo pilots Hl.tiTk HltiTk . " , . Tbe The WIU war u II l * ftttot .etUne etUne getting . crw dOlu clofer and aa < aa he lie b Is * na . + h.T hT happy . , . lIecaule becaae , he a realises reallz r ate < ' S . be Ia . I is . aettttig aettttigfarther , ftttolartfcT .WIIt WIIt . .WIItfarther farther ( and 'artller artller farther ( ' r r trar from actaal .ctua1 ctua1 actual . flHkaduty e combat combatduty dtae dtaeduty A AI As * liecft Jreetor director of t trtlalat vaJulDc training III in a Wcnnln twIR- twIR twla- twla twIR.nglne twlaengine - - duty .nglne nglne engine . * nlaool tobool lCk 1 In t CalUTlda Callfoml Calltotttla . he b B . Writes wdiea toGeneral to toc.t'oeral tGeirial c.t'oeral c.toeral ctoeral General . ' after ' General Gea r l alk1n ashlag asking . tw f81 for ' a a"haD achanCO IchA.r IchAr "haD haD chanCO " . " * " f to Debt agbt llit When Wbe11 Wa that IbM * * ch.nee chnee chaaCe ek . "c c " COlDe comes comeshe Wb . he reall2e realises r aU2 that thaC III Us Ids . wlf wtfa wife " aad and < cUd child cUdD childn C 0 < D n xnt ani ant America A ric Cr for 111m him himCHAPTER hi CHAPTER VIDoug VI Dour Doug was w an n Ideal flying oftlcer officer officerni , , nr d it was wa to him that I first flr t turned turnedf f 1 advice on how I should make makemysel makemyself mak makmyself < myself mysel ! acquainted with this thIa big air- air airplane airplane ir.plane irplane . - plane Doug had learned to fly atthe at atthf atthe thf the ' period when I had been instruct- instruct instructIng instructlug instructIng - - Ing lug I had taught his hl claw class to Oy fly flyn , , m n < ( w the tables were turned and hewould he hewould h hwould < would have to be tha the Instructor for fora foia a while Don t forget that as a yet 1 I 1badn Ihadn 1badn badn hadn t tlows flown /lows lows / a B 17EIntroductng 17E 17EIntroducing 17EIntroducmg Introducing Introducmg Introductng myself myselt to my co-pilot co pilot co-pilotI co pilotI copilotI - - I said ald How about showing ehowtng ; me howto how howto howto to fly this shlp-I shlp I ship-I ship hlp - - I want to see howIA how howto howto to IA ) work these turbos and suchto such to " He Hen Hen H Hn < n crely 'rely rely erely ( ' grinned gnnned at ma me in dls disbeliefAw disbelief disbeliefAw elle1 elle1Aw Aw Colonel . , he said aid . , "you you " ' " canfly can canfly canfly fly the thing-why thing why thing - why you taught me meI m mt I t I fly I ftnally finally got him to give me mesome mesome meloine some cockpit Instruction by explainIng explain explainIng explaininfi Ing that tbat though I bad had many thou thousand thousand thournd sand houra hours In PT s BT's BTs BT'a BTa ' ' and other othertrdlners othertrainers othertrainers trdlners trainers and knew lot lots * about singleK singlea single singleIiI'1ters a IiI'1ters IiI1ters , ' iters and fast twin-engine twin engine twln-engine twln - - med1 medk medkum medliurn . urn um bombers I knew nothing about aboutliuch aboutsuch bouttuch liuch such planes as this big devillie devILHe devIL devILHe He lie showed me the approved method meth method roethod od of ot starting the four engines when whent t usi USI- use USIthe - . the booster switches , how toset to toset toset set the turbos how to lock the taU tail tailwheeland t taUwheeland Uwheel wheel-and wheel and - and generally how to pick pickup pickup pickup up that fifty fitty seven thousand paunch pounds poundsof paunchat at of flying fiYlJlg dynamite and $ lake akett ake It 1t around aroundtt aroundtI tI e a field I flew It tor for two landingstl landlnestI landingsti landlnes landings tI at iftemoon afternoon and that ( hat night Iclimbed 1 I 1cltmbed Iclimbed cltmbed climbed all over th the Fortress readthe read readthe readthe the entire enUre maintenance manual , , and andlearned andlearned andlearned learned from trom scratch what made mad * the thebig thebig thebig big ship hip go Next day I soloed itf It Itf itt f r l ' over four hours and alter after thetwee the thetwel thetwci twel twee tieth tleth teeth landing I felt as if I wasrea was wasrea wasrem rea rem ly Iy to itart start for war warThen warThen warThen Then we tested everything-fired everything fired everything-tired tired everythingfiredall everythingtiredall everything - firednil all K g ins J08 ms at targets In the everglades evereladesand , and the cordite from tram all those roar roarir roarit roarii ir it e g fifty calibres calrbres gave even thesus the theIiW thecw IiW sus n py glades { lades a sweet aroma hroma aromaMy hromaMy aromaMy My gunners were eager to be on thew the thewyand thew wyand w y and I soon found tound that they theyknpw theyknew theyknew knpw knew exactly what they were domeI domgI doingI dome domg doing I I r r vate vale Motley was my tall tan tail gun gunn'r gunnor gunnrr n'r nr nor ( ' During Durrng the entire trip I think thinkhI thinkhe thinkhe hI he " stnycd t'1yed t1yed st-iyed st iyed ' - in the tall tail ninety per centof cent centof centof of the t me just to get used to thev the theVv thew Vv w . y t t and andle Ie the tail tall turret I used usedt t say s oIy y c ( t f Motley that he just didn dldn t tcire tnre cire ( " 'lfe lfe ' wt wi " ere 1"1'1 111 ' ' he was going-he going he going - he want wante wantI I e ' 1 I to sre spe see where he had been"eqeant beenSergeant been beenSergeant " Sergeant "eqeant eqeant , Ailtonen A'1ltonen A1ltonen A'tltonen Atltonen ' ' the engineer engineerWrlS engineerwas engineerWAS WrlS was crnreed ch'uged chuged charged ' with keeping keepmg the engn en engu engu gu e es functioning functtonmg properly and Ingeneral Ingeneral in ingeneral general the Ihe entire enlisted personnel personnelwas was under him He was a diligent diligentt diligentI I } < . ' r I n and one of at the bravest men menI I have ever seen I can see Aalto Aaltonen Aaltonen Aaltonen nen now standing standmg there behind mysent my mysent mysent sent and nnd the co CD pilot s seat wiperturbed unperturbed unper wiper unperturbed turbed in the roughest of stormsfron storms stormsfrun stormsfrorr | frun fron the violent currents of theeq the theeq theeqiatonal eq In iatonal tOri a 1 front of tha the Hamadans Hamadansto to the thp < ; Shimals htmals of Africa and Ara Arab Arab Arab b i 1 ' FternaUy Fternally watching the many manyir manyit Ir it stn tn n cnt ents * waiting to correct thesl the thesl theslhtest slhtest sl "htest htest " , , htest trouble even before it hap- hap hapened hap-I hap I hapJ - - J , ' ened I'ned Ined When we were lost over overU'1 overLii overLri U'1 U1 Li-i Li i ' - kless kIess seas sea * he was never ruftled ruffled ruffledb , , . b t ready at aU all times with inform informs informati informst a atl tl t ) n as to fuel consumption and the the11"8t thet 11"8t 118t t est " HPM RPM RPMs 3 s for cruising Once whenhe when whenhe whenhe he W.l.S Wl.S WlS was w . . > s told that we would probably probablyt probablyI I vc ve ye to land l nd in the Atlantic there therew w s no change In the expression on onh onh onh h s , face he simply began to movethe move movethe movethe the provisions to a point pornt pomt wherfc wher where they theyc c ild lid be quickly placed In the rub-t rub t rubI rubr rub- rub rub1 rubr - - I 1 r boits bO'1ts bO1ts boats ' His job In case of attackw attack w is to man the top turret with itstw Its Itstw itstw tw n FiftiesSergeant Fifties Ftfties FiftiesSergeant < ' Sergeant 'ergeant ergeant Baldbridge was the th head headradioman headradioman beadradioman radioman His secondary duty was wasto wasto wasto to handle one of the waist guns back backaft backaft backait aft of ot midships Corporal Cobb wassecond wassecond was wassecond second radioman he would leavetl leaveU leave leaveother tl U a at t to enter the lower turr turret . The Theothpr Theother other othpr waist gun on this flight wast was t ' be handled by a radio ractlo officer officerI I ' eutenant I'utenant Iutenant HersheyThe HersheyThe Hershey HersheyThe The navigator was wa . a Lieutenantwhom Lieutenant Lieutenantwhom Lieutenantwhom whom 111 I11 I II call Jack .Jack . He was a am anc ani m nc rvy kid who liked hked his job I 1 knowat knowa know knowat a at t after our mission he made madem'1ny mademny madem-iny madem iny m'1ny m1ny mny ' , - raids as navigator to bomb bombthl bombthe bombth thl the < . Jnps JnpB Japs in RangoonW RangoonWe Rangoon RangoonWe W We I ' tested the bombardier and IUld thebombsight the thebombsight thebombsight bombsight . , . , too before we started startedthe startedthe startedthe the flight . . Lean l lanky nky , , six foot footthree footthree footthree three Bombardier George--I George I George-I GeorgeInever GeorgeInewer George - - I never newer neverri newerd i d < wiggiaInto wiggleInto d see how he managed to wiggle Into the nose Dose of the Fortress I Iran Ican Ican ran can see him there now tense over1 overI over I s sight waiting waltin tor for th the bombs toK toKever to toa toever a / ! . ) > } - -ever ever --ever - - - ver witti with the cross hal hairs halr . on the thetarget thetarget thetarget target George bad had a coupla couple of fiftycalibre fttty fifty ftttycal1bt"e fiftycalibre cal1bt"e cal1bte calibre " guns gun * . up there In the noseP.i nosee nose P.i Pi e . v th him too He was waa just the tb op op- opposite op . . - posite cf ( t the taU tail gunner-he gunner he - - never neverd d ( i d know where be he had been but butlways butalways butalways lways always * got there first firstAnd firstAnd firstAnd And so the eight of them madeup made madeup madeUP up my crew-eight crew eight crew - - e4sht good 801diera soldiers 801dieray soldierswho soldJersv"o soldJersvo y , who . ho " had volmitecred voltmteered volrmteered and who want wanted wanted wanted ed to hurt the enemy None of ofthem ofthem ofthem them worried worned about whether or not he nothe d get home ttome--for ttome for i ome-for ome for - - for he knew of big-e big e big- big bigen big5er - en 5er r things that had to be doneWe doneWe done doneWe We had to test everything ; , , for It Itwas Itwas Itwas was over sixteen thousand u miles 1es to Japan toJapan the tb way wa7 we were having togo to togo tono go there couldn't couldnt ' ba be a sllp-up sllp up aUp-up aUp slip-up slip - - - onthis onthis on onthis this mission mission ml sion . , and so w we didn't didnt ' takea take a chance When finally ftnaU ) ' all aD wag was . set .et et II I bitIn7 bitemy was about nervous nenous enough eJ10Uah t to 0 bit bite e ebe bitSyo In7 my Dalls nails " off I tw tor for , : o.ff off . ID7 my IIhI ship * hlp was w . to be last Iatt to leave the State States wsJ1 I : bait baitworried wonted worried * > " * wry eVery ttlnuta nute minute tt [ of 01 the th time timw timewe we * bad .been been bebn . Sir : e tha80me thatsome biting walUng Waiting tor for ter fear tt tha thae that ; t 80me some som rdat"Wbafore . brass brsse brs * hat would get < t tny thy toy orders rd rdt rdat g37nn5way Change4 ordersChange4 baDie "Wbafore Wbafore " , before I 1 could let get on : n my r ; way myway . th ' 1'he 1he a other twelve ships IbtPI bad led1naIn gone hadtwe badgone . , ; With vJlth ColoDe1 Colonel Co l Baynes Haynes B.yne.readS Byne.readS BynereadS . . led1na leading _ . In iu htJ his B-24 B 24 13.24 1324 - . . 'lbey lbey They ' aD all made their way Wat theirWat theirway : to th the Ba East t . separately seetrately .ep ep # rately , with withtostructlon withlnstmctfona withInstructions ' IncUa Indin to&r.cht.faOla torcht.faOla torchtfaOla lnstmctfona Instructions . to meat meet In karachl Karachi & . . , In cUa din cbJwa Karachiwas : . , tor for anal nal final orders order . An As And 9 Karachi Kar Karachiwa cbJ 1 1Aa was wa . . 12,000 12000 , mUes milep aes , .way way awat away . awayAs tbaWest theWe.t theWest Aa As soon 'OOn OOn ' asl . 11 . w we could eavl leave ( leava the We.t Wet West . cout coast : cos t of Florida Ftorlda , w we IQaded loaded loadedup IQadedup up and crossed th the . Stat State Golna Going Goln , on onth onEast East over We.t Wet West . Palm Beach , I rang r the rthe rangthe th alArm alQrm ben beU bell . . , putOni puttlne putting all aU an men en ena a : TO on the onthe a.with awith . alert alert y , , a a4d atd ; d we dTOWed dropped drop ed down down . . , with - the crew flring ftring firing at the wnlte white- white whitecaps whitecaps - . - caps cap out over the Gulf Stream Tbe The TbeI Tbeguns Theguns ThaCUM wI guns were wbre working nnc floe fine but wecouldn't we wecouldn't I couldn't couldnt ' taka take a chanca chance I had to tolearn learn right now whether tha the crew crewcould crewcould crewcould could work a as . a team for once one * westarted we westarted wastarted started It would be too lateA1J lateAs late lateA A1J As A we w cama came back towards the last lastfield lastfteld fteld field wa we were to land on In the theIUS tbaUSA theU IUS U S A , something ctrange strange met mysight my mysight mysight sight , , , something that made mad * the theblood blood pound a little harder In my temples mytemples There along tha the entire entirebeach entirebeach entirebeach beach jaggedblack jaegedblack faggedblack of Florida , , was as a jaeged fagged black line-the line the line - - the clean sand of Flor Flor- FlorIda Florida's Florida's - - ida's idas Ida ' , beaches bad had been made blackand black blackand blackand and terrible-looking terrible looking - - by the oil oU from frommany frommany frommany many tankers sunk by the Axis sub- sub submarine submarine aub-marlne aub marlne - - marine war It gave me toe a queer feeling queerfeeling for along the beach beaches s there thereCl 'I I 'ICol ' , 4 Cl Col * Scatt'a Scatta SeoU's SeoUs Scott's Scotts ' saperiT superior fflcera omcen officers , . , GetJaseah Gen GenJoseph GenJoseph Joseph Stilwll Stilwell , left Ieli , aDd and aaa Geai OeD Gen . . . Cla.Il'e Cla.Ile ClaIle Claire Cla.Il'eChennault ClaireChennanlt . ClaJrCheiaaBit ClaJrCheiaaBitwas ' * Chennault Chennanlt . Chennanltwas was also the beached wreckage of ofseveral ofseveral ofseveral several ships This war was mean meaning meanIng meaning ing more and more to us as we pre pre- prepared prepared prepared - - pared to shove off oil for the first tirst stop stopout stopout stopout out of AmericaNow America AmericaNow Now we were poised for our ftigh flight flightto flightto & to Puerto Rico In our two-day two day twodaywait twodaywait two-daywait two daywait - - wait for technical changes on thaengines the theengines theengines engines I worried more than ever ' for the other twelve ships were go golie golieand goneand e eand and I was getting frantic trantlc |