INDUCTION CEREMONY

                  PATRIOTS POINT

                  NAVAL & MARITIME MUSEUM

 Aboard: U.S.S. Yorktown CV 10

 November 11, 1997

     Admiral Flatley bestowed upon me the honor of interviewing the Combat

Air Crews coming aboard for an Induction Ceremony into the Roll of Honor.

In today’s world, young people have little or no knowledge of the sacrifices

Young men made in WW2, the Korean War, and soon will have little memory of

the Viet Nam War.

     Admiral Flatley is well known for his efforts to instill unrevised

History, especially Naval History, into the minds of many young people, and

With the cooperation of the local school system, and our Volunteers, we

Think we are at least starting to do this.

     This opportunity I was given, to interview these men honored today,

has been an extremely proud day for me. I know Admiral Flatley will get the

following stories told to me, via audiotape, somehow into the hands of

young people. Not only young people, anyone who reads the stories of these

men, cannot help but feel they have witnessed through the words of these

men , a part of history.

     I know I was unable to get to every man honored this day, even though

I tried my best. However, the stories below will not only speak for the men

I interviewed, but I am sure for all the others.

     These men were not only fliers on carriers, but also a helicopter

gunner, and men who were crewmembers of planes sent out from many bases.

They had one thing in common. They went out to find and destroy the enemy,

risking their lives not only from an enemy, but the mechanical failures

that caused their planes to crash. They were all Americans fighting for

and, defending their Country.

     We must not forget those young men who never returned. They remain

thousands of miles from their homes and loved ones, in some Sea, or on some

lonely Island.

     One such young man was AMM1/c Bruno Gaido. While aboard the Enterprise

CV-6, as a Japanese bomber attacked the ship, he jumped into a parked SBD

dive-bomber on the flight deck, and manned the .30 cal gun. He then poured

rounds into the oncoming bomber, assisting the other gunners in its

destruction. This act of heroism was not the last in this mans life. At the

Battle of Midway his plane was shot down, he was captured by the Japanese,

then summarily executed by being weighted down and thrown over the side of

the Japanese ship.

     Many others died out there, some captured and executed as was Bruno

Gaido, others killed in action when their planes were shot down, some died

of wounds or they were lost when their planes crashed, and some were lost,

and never heard from again.

     As the plaque on the hangar decks says: KNOWN BUT TO GOD

     These stories have been transcribed from audiotapes, and I have not

changed the wording in any way. They are the words from the men involved.

Jim Verdolini RM2/c U.S. Navy 1943-1951 ` NICK COONEY AMM2/C VT 30 TBF

U.S.S. BELLEAU WOOD CVL 24 APRIL 1945 CHINA SEA

All our torpedo planes were looking for a small Japanese convoy, out in the

China Sea. We vectored and unfortunately, I will say unfortunately, we

found them first. We went into our attack plan and our fighter plane

escorts dive-bombed from heights. And we torpedo planes split into two

sections, and went in low from each side to get the enemy there. There were

seven ships. There were three DE's and four tankers. And as we vectored our

squadron about 100 feet off the water, and when it came time to attack, we

turned in. And, we took a very bad hit right thru the entrance to our TBF.

Just after our pilot released his torpedo. This torpedo got a tanker

midships, but I could not even verify it because I was down in the lower

part working on the radioman who was literally blown apart by the shell. He

was laid open on the left side, and he just bled to death within two

minutes. Our hydraulic lines were shot out and our tail hook line was shot

out. So we pulled up and away, and looking back down we could see a couple

of ships on fire, and steam rising from the one that we had hit. And of

course we limped back to the carrier with another torpedo plane as escort

who went under us and around us just checking where the hydraulic fluid was

coming out and everything. So, as we approached carrier area I just got

down there and wrapped rags around my hands to release the tail hook. We

made a long slow approach and got ready to land. And that's about a quickie

on it.

_________________________________________________________________________

ROBERT L. FRENCH AL1 VP 22 P2V NEPTUNE January 19, 1953 China Area

We were shot down by ground fire. We made a ditching with 13 man crew.

There were several of us hit. The first technician, the radar man was very

seriously wounded, we got one 11 man life raft, which was half burned. It

had two sections. And we had 11 men hanging on to it, with the most

critically burned man in the raft itself. Two of them got out of the

airplane, and drifted off, we don't know where. We were approximately 8

miles off shore at the time of ditching. I got a position report out and we

had a good search and rescue underway, and we were picked up within about 5

hours by a Coast Guard PBM out of Sangley Point, Philippines. The swells

were about 16 to 20 feet, and the pilot made a good landing, a good open

sea landing. We recovered 11 of the 13. Upon takeoff the port wing, there

are two different versions, but anyway he lost power and the port wing

began to dip and whatever he did in the cockpit he immediately reversed it

and the right wing dipped, and hit the water, and we went under. The wing

tore off I exited out where the wing was torn off . I came to the surface

and my good Navy training paid off. I was beating the water as I came up,

and it was afire, an oil fire, gas fire. I went back down under, and

escaped from underneath the burning oil, came up to find a mattress.

 I floated on the mattress for awhile, and another fellow came by, a Coast

Guardsman, came by with a life raft that had been dropped by other search

planes in the area at the time. We survived that until about 2 o'clock the

following morning when the U.S.S. Halsey Powell, destroyer came in and

plucked us out of the water, and we got back with 6 of our original crew

and the Coast Guard lost 5 out of their 8. It was a bad day at Black Rock,

but I am a survivor to tell the story best I know how.

________________________________________________________________________

HARRY R (JES) JESPERSEN ARM2/C SB2C U.S.S. HORNET CV 12 BOMBING SQUADRON 11

OCTOBER 1944 PHILIPPINES DFC AIRMEDAL PURPLE HEART

In October 44 we left the Hornet to make a strike on the Philippines. We

were very badly shot up over there during the strike. We managed to get

back to the Hornet, but we crash landed on the flight deck. My pilot at

that time was Ed Wilson, now a retired Admiral was really Gung Ho, wanting

to go every day, so next day we went on another strike

 same area of the Philippines, around Clark Field. Once again we got all

shot up, a big chunk of the tail was missing. We did not make it back this

time, we ditched off the Philippines. We were picked up by the Mansfield

eventually, and got back aboard the Hornet a couple days later. That's

about it.

_________________________________________________________________________

JOHN E CLARK ARM2/C AIRGROUP 22 TBM U.S.S. COWPENS CVL 25 OCTOBER 1944

PHILIPPINE SEA DFC

We were going out to engage the enemy. We were flying, we were just about

at the point of no return on our fuel. A night fighter pilot spotted it,

the Japanese, and I'll never forget the clouds, those mushroom things, they

fired those mushroom things. We went in there and what I had to call out

the range. The class we sunk was the Mogami or something like that. It was

a cruiser we sunk, yes. We used torpedoes to sink it. My job was to call

out the ranges, and it was I remember at 1200 yards you would holler, one

two and then mark. And he would release the torpedo and that's when we sank

the cruiser. You don't forget things like that. None of us got hurt, my

pilot, my gunner. We were aboard the Independence but she got torpedoed,

then we went aboard the Cowpens.

__________________________________________________________________________

KENNETH W. ROCHEBLAVE ADR1 PBM MARTIN VPB 17 1945 NIGHT PATROL PHILIPPINES

DFC AIR MEDAL

(NOTE: When Mr. Rocheblave gave me his story, I found later that the

recorders batteries had gone bad. I tried to locate Mr. Rocheblave the next

day, but could not find him again. Carl B Shilligo also was not recorded

properly, but I found him the next day, and re-recorded Mr. Shilligo.) My

opology to Mr. Rocheblave.

______________________________________________________________________

CHARLES G. FRIES, JR. ARM2/C TBM U.S.S. YORKTOWN CV 10 APRIL 1945 OKINAWA

DFC AIR MEDAL

I was a tail gunner on a TBM and I suppose that the thing that intrigued me

most was in April 1945 when we went after the what they called the last

remnants of the Japanese Fleet. Which comprised the battleship Yamoto and a

cruiser , a Nagami class, and I just found out recently it was the Akagi.

And there was a two screen destroyers in the same area. When we went to

look for them it was an overcast day, and it was up to the crews of the

bombers to find them. Which of course we did, and of course we did. When we

came into range, the idea was to split the squadrons into two different

sections. They wanted the battleship badly, and if necessary everybody

would hit it.They wanted to bring it down. It turned out, that was not

necessary. They got the wagon, and she was severely damaged, ready to sink

and the difference in the two ships was the armor plating. In consequence

we were briefed on how to change the depth setting on the torpedo so it

wouldn't go under the cruiser and would hit it at the appropriate point and

put a hole in it. We were told a little bit hairy because we told there

were two wires attached to the bulkhead in the bomb bay. We could only get

in there up to our armpit, so you were feeling your way. You did not have

any real knowledge of what you were doing. We were told the wrench that

turned the indicator would change the depth. It was right next to a piece

of arming wire on the bulkhead to the fuse of the torpedo. If you pulled

the wrong one, my understanding was that the air stream coming through

could actually arm the torpedo.I suppose if it were anyway hit in any way

it could be a problem to us. That we accomplished, and we went into the

cruiser. There was a lot of flak from both ships and destroyers, and we

were pleased to see the cruiser go also.Later there was one destroyer down

too, we had one pilot who's torpedo hung up and, he had to make a couple

subsequent runs.He got the torpedo off and he got the torpedo so we got

three of them out of the four.As far as we were concerned, the Japanese

fleet was no more. The thing that intrigued me most was as a young kid, we

were so elated to see those things go. The wagon rolled over on her side

and went under eventually and the cruiser slipped up into the air, bow

first and then slid back down into the war like it was a toy. Your first

feeling was relevant to the Pearl Harbor attack, one of elation. We felt

like we were getting even. However that was soon followed in my particular

case by a great feeling of sadness. We didn't know at the time, as you can

recall everything the enemy did was a big joke.It turned out that they had

a very good fighter plane, and they had the best battleship in the world,

the biggest and best, and it is no more. And that is just about it . Oh,

the men that were in the water. We made a few passes, we had a camera that

was in my plane. Unfortunately the ones I took malfunctioned and did not

come out. However there are many pictures in our part of the archives, and

I have a book at home. It shows them. It is strange to see all the men in

the water, and wondering to this day if there was any survivors. If there

were I would truly like to talk to them if possible and get there side of

the story. At this point in our lives, where we are all in our middle

seventies,is that with war it is the young kids that you send. I don't know

who starts them but it is not a pleasant thing when you consider all those

fellows that did not make it were somebodies son, the same as we were, and

they were only kids too doing what they were told to do. So in this point

of your life I guess there isn't any malice, or hopefully not. And that's

about it for that raid.

_________________________________________________________________________

ARTHUR C HURRELL ACMM USS SANGAMON CVE 26 TBM APRIL 1945 OKINAWA AREA

AIRMEDAL

On this particular mission, we were attacking an island south of Okinawa.

Immobilizing their airfields so they couldn't attack the operations at

Okinawa. While one one these attackes, I was flying as an aircraft

aircrewman. Pilot was Lt. Cagy, we were on a bomb run on the airfield when

a message came over the air, this is 203 I'm ditching, this is 203 I'm

ditching. Lt. Cagy called me and said Hurrell see who that is and where

that is. I said that is Lt. Warren. He said, well find him. I said I would

have to turn the turret. Fine, turn it, he said, find him. I found him, and

I told Lt. Cagy he is at 2 o'clock. He said, well follow him in and find

out where he is going in. Well Warren flew the ship, it was on fire, he

flew it about 1/2 mile off the shore of this particular Island, landed it

in the water. Lt. Warren got out, the gunner looked like he got out, the

bomb bay was open and it looked like Delajay(sp)(radioman) did not get out.

They got into a life raft, and the plane sank. The gunner made two attempts

to rescue the radioman, but he could not get to him. Air Sea rescue was

called in. They were sending a PBM because a submarine could not get in

that close to shore. In the meantime the Japs were firing 5" shells at

them, not quite reaching. The PBM came in I would say, about 20 minutes

later. They swooped down, picked the both of them out of the life raft,

slashed the raft so it would sink , did not even stop to cough, and saved

the two of them.

___________________________________________________________________________

MICHAEL M. GLASSER AMM3/C TBF U.S.S. ENTERPRISE CV 6 AIRGROUP 10 OCTOBER

26, 1942 BATTLE OF SANTA CRUZ AIR MEDAL COMMENDATION

After we took off on that morning, It wasn't too much later, we were

intercepted by a group of Japanese Zeros. And it resulted in the aircraft I

was flying in, being shot down. The Pilot and the radioman, unfortunately

were not able to get out of the airplane. I did, I bailed out, and later on

the following morning of October 27th, I was picked up by a Japanese

destroyer. That was the end of the war for Michael Glasser. This particular

destroyer that picked me up was called the Matagumo and I found many many

years later that it was the same destroyer which the number one inductee in

this honor roll, Guido, the same destroyer , being weighted down with his

pilot and thrown overboard. So obviously I was much more fortunate. I spent

the rest of the war in Japan. After we were liberated, got home very early

after the war and stayed in the Navy and retired in July 1961, as an

Aviation Chief Machinist Mate. While on the destroyer, they were interested

in getting information from me. At the time there was the skipper of

Torpedo 10, he also died in that battle, and his turret gunner did too. His

radioman bailed out and he was captured by a different destroyer. And there

were two pilots from Fighting 10 , Al Mead and Dusty Rhodes. The four of us

including Tom Nelson the Torpedo 10 radioman, we all got together when the

destroyers put into the Island of Truk. None of knew that the others

existed. We all told different stories and it didn't go too well. Well, on

the destroyer that picked me up, while we were still underway, before we

put into Truk, the ones who were questioning me, told me that there were

others captured, and I didn't believe that. So they put me thru a ceremony

back on the fantail of the destroyer, and said that since I refused to tell

them anything, and obviously was lying I was going to be executed. The

Master at Arms drew his sword and in the mean time they put me in a white

robe and whatnot and had me kneel on a grass mat. Then the one that was

telling me this, was also the ships physician. This was a squadron or

flotilla leader, and the doctor as far as I knew, was the only one who

could speak English. He was interpreting the destroyer skippers ceremony,

but he apparently gave the word to end it, and the doctor told me that they

were going to spare my life. I found out much later, after the war, as the

result of War Crimes trials, the skipper of that destroyer was executed.

_______________________________________________________________________

C.L. CHRISTENSON ADC PBM PATROL SQUADRON VP 32 VH1 JULY 28, 1943 U BOAT 359

The incident I am going to tell you about today is the sinking of the U

boat 359. Which occured on July 28, 1943. I'm going to start out telling

you a little about my history of VP 32. I went to VP 32 in early 1941 and

started flying PBY's. We were patroling the Pacfic protecting the Panama

Canal. Then the squadron was transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. And this

is where we were stationed doing anti-submarine work. On one fine day in

July we were sent as a ready crew to San Juan, Puerto Rico. And, that

evening we got word that there was a surfaced sub in the windward passage.

We took off and sighted this sub very shortly and made an immediate attack.

Dropping four depth charges. Apparently we looked back and only two of them

went off, and the sub was still there. The third was apparently a dud, but

now they assume and it has been written up in the reports that the fourth

depth charge landed on the deck. Because the submarine came to a complete

standstill. It wasn't but a short time that, that one went off on the side,

and sank the sub. We went in for a second run . All we had was machine

guns, and they did open up on us and we received 187 holes in our plane.

But fortunately we did make it back to San Juan. Our pilot, Lt Kenholtzer

was given the Air Medal and all the rest of the crew was given a

Commendation. I hope this is of some interest to somebody somewhere. Thank

you.

_________________________________________________________________________

LEO H BURROWS ARM1C TBF VT 8 U.S.S. BUNKER HILL CV 17 1944 PHILIPPINE SEA

DFC AIR MEDAL

This has to do with the 1st Battle of the Philippine Sea. This is about the

19th of June 1944. We had information that the Japanese fleet was out , but

the Admiral did not want to take the carriers out chasing the Japanese

fleet because our main objective was to protect the troops in the invasion

of the Mariana's. So one night we decided to launch a TBF at 2 o'clock in

the morning and they would fly an all night search in the sector that they

thought the Japanese fleet would be. Well, some of the guys in our Ready

Room started to worry about it, but I told them to forget it, because I

flew with Lt John Chunk (sp), and I knew that this type of a search was

right up Johns alley. As it came to be, at 2 o'clock in the morning they

launched two planes, going on the search. We both had wing tanks on. When

we got in the air, the other plane couldn't get it's wing tanks to

function. So it stayed home, and we went off on the search by ourselves. We

searched for 5-1/2 hours but found absolutely nothing. We didn't find

anything, but at least we were able to eliminate where the Japanese fleet

was, and that afternoon about 3 o'clock, they found the fleet, and the 1st

Battle of the Philippine Sea developed. We did not go on the flight,

because when we got back to the carrier around 8 o'clock, we had to hit the

sack, and when the flight was launched to make the strike we were still in

the sack. At least I was anyhow. John and I flew 46 missions on the Bunker

Hill and the U.S.S. Wasp. And for this I was awarded the DFC and seven Air

Medals. Thank You.

____________________________________________________________________________

DAVID J CAWLEY ARM1/C SBD AG10 U.S.S. ENTERPRISE CV 6 SOUTH PACIFIC AIR

MEDAL COMMENDATION

I was a gunner in the SBD Squadron aboard the Enterprise, and I went to the

South Pacific in October of 1942 and remained basically aboard the

Enterprise until 1944, when they had the 1st Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The Mission Beyond Darkness, and flew with Jig Dog Ramage who went on to

become a famous Admiral. And we led our squadron, 12 planes in the 1st

Battle of the Philippine Sea. And flew six or six and a half hours on June

20th 1944, and when we came back from that attack and tried to get aboard

the Enterprise and there was a big fire on the deck , and in the darkness I

found this ship on radar, and I could tell there wasn't even anyone in the

landing pattern that night. And I directed the skipper to fly over to this

ship we and landed in the pitch dark aboard the Yorktown. And, it was an

emotional thing, because the Yorktown didn't get a single one of her own

planes back. She launched half her air group and never got any of them

back. As a matter of fact , I think she only got two planes back. They were

two SBD's, us and another one from the Enterprise. This is my third time to

set foot on the deck of the Yorktown, so it's sort of an emotional thing to

me. Thank you.

____________________________________________________________________________

RAYMOND ST. PIERRE SGT GUNNER USMC HUEY HELICOPTER ICOR VIET NAM SEPTEMBER

1969 AIR MEDAL

The most notable one was when we got the Bronze star along with the Air

medal when we extratradited some beseiged reconnaissance team, pretty well

surrounded. I stood out on the skids of the helicopter and emptied my

weapon and we got them all safely out. About 8 to 11 of them, we got them

out of there.

__________________________________________________________________________

JOHN F LEONARD AMM1/C VB 102/VPB 118 LIBERATORS/PRIVATEERS 1945 OKINAWA DFC

AIR MEDAL

One of the interesting flights was over Cabinia Mirandi(sp). There was a

Japanese radio station, we did not know it, but it was fortified with

Japanese Zeros' . We made a single point attack. And we were hit by the

Zeros'. We were able to get out of there, but I don't know how. But we were

unable to bomb out the station. Two days later my skipper went over the

same place.He bombed it out, but was damaged and shot down, and all hands

were killed. He got the Congressional Medal of Honor for that flight.

Another flight on combat tours with Privateers that was my plane captain. I

was a tail gunner. When we attacked in July 1945 we managed to sink 4

Japanese vessels. And shore installations were damaged. When I received my

DFC and Air medal. I am very glad to receive this award today. Thank you.

____________________________________________________________________________

SHERWIN H GOODMAN AOM2/C TBM U.S.S. COWPENS CVL 25 OCTOBER 26, 1944 BATTLE

OF LEYTE GULF DFC

The morning of October 26th in Task Group 38.1, and we had been called in

to try to catch the Japanese fleet after they had practically annihilated

Taffy 1 Group at Leyte. Halsey had gone North with the big fleet. We had

pulled in for refueling. We didn't take off that night because we were just

too far from the action and we we wouldn't have been able to get back. So

next morning we took off loaded with torpedoes. Five planes from our

squadron were with the group. Finally after three hours in the air, we

finally found the Japanese fleet disappearing to the West in Lingayen Gulf.

And we attacked. We were assigned to hit a cruiser that was on the

screening course of the battle ship Yamato. The five of us made our torpedo

runs, and obviously we must have been successful. We got 3 hits out of the

5 torpedoes that were launched and, onto the cruiser Mashira. She stopped

dead in the water, and then the photographic planes that stayed around

after we left found the ship had sunk. We found out later, that aboard the

ship was an Admiral in the Japanese Navy. We finally got back to our ship

and as we landed and taxied up the deck, we ran out of gas. We were out

about 5 hours and 30 minutes but most of the time we were so loaded, we

were using gas at a quick rate. My pilot Leo Meecher was here with me

today. He sponsored me and radioman Ed Clark. And he was with us, and found

it to be a heck of a good party.

___________________________________________________________________________

CARL B SCHILLIGO ARM1/C PB4Y1 LIBERATOR VD3 1944 GUAM AREA DFC AIR MEDAL

Probably the proudest thing in my collection at home is my Certificate

signed by Chester W. Nimitz for one of my decorations, the DFC. I was

flying a PB4Y1 Twin tail, not the Privateer single tail . The Liberator. I

was in the Navy for 50 months and flew with VD3. I was decorated 10 times,

one DFC and 9 Air Medals. We were attacked by 36 planes and we shot down 17

of them. My plane shot down 5 of the 17. That's all I have to tell you. The

Ceremony today was great.

____________________________________________________________________

ALVIN KERNAN AOM1/C TBF AIRGROUP 6 U.S.S. HORNET U.S.S. ENTERPRISE 1942

NAVY CROSS DFC AIR MEDAL

I flew in Torpedo Squadron 6 aboard U.S.S. Hornet which sank off

Guadalcanal in October 1942. I'll tell you how I got my Navy Cross. I was

flying again in TB6 off the Enterprise at the landings at Tarawa, and the

Japanese were coming down at night to attack us with torpedo planes. And

Butch O'Hare and the Admiral, Radford, put to together a plan to launch the

first night fighters off our carriers, and they used the torpedo plane that

I was in which had a very primitive radar set in it, to track us to the

Japanese planes then the fighters were supposed to attack. But

unfortunately we

 got separated from the fighters, and they got lost and we attacked

instead. Shot down two or three of the Japanese planes, but unfortunately

later in the night Butch O'Hare was killed. After that they gave us all the

Navy Cross, which I was very grateful. This is Alvin Kernan again. I just

want to put a plug in for my book "Crossing The Line". Published two years

by the Naval Institute Press, which I describe all my experiences in the

Navy beginning with Boot Camp before Pearl Harbor, and Pearl Harbor right

up to Okinawa and dropping if the Atomic Bomb. (Note: I just read Kernan's

book. Fantastic!)

____________________________________________________________________________

CHARLES E KATELINEK ACCM PB-1 FLEET WING 2 VPB 133 1945 IWO JIMA DFC AIR

MEDAL PURPLE HEART

O.K. while we dispatched to Iwo we were flying missions to Honshu and the

Jap Bettys came over on June the 1st. We still had control of Iwo, but they

still made the night and dawn bombings. I was unlucky enough to be there at

the wrong place and the wrong time. But no big problem, they patched me up

and sent me back out. I am called a survivor. I was wounded in the thigh,

just bomb shrapnel.That's the way it was then. But the bottom line, it all

worked out. You didn't have to be there if you didn't want to be. Just like

the submariners , it is volunteer, and if you didn't want to do it you

don't have to. It is something you have inside you, tells you to do these

things. I have enjoyed today.

_________________________________________________________________________

MARK A HARDISTY AOM1/C TBM(F) U.S.S. HANCOCK CV 19 1945 VICTORY CRUISE AIR

MEDAL

I was a turret gunner. Coast of Japan. This particular instance. We were

after the remaining Jap fleet. The ones able to go out and attack our

invasion forces. There was a Jap cruiser, a heavy cruiser, the Aoba, and it

was in the Kobe harbor, surrounded by anti aircraft guns. Our intention was

to sink it to get rid of it , so it wouldn't be a hazard to the invasion

force. My pilot Lt. D. Temple was the section leader. So we had the

privilege of going down first. We were carrying four 500# bombs, and my

pilot always loved to get a hit. In fact, the results of his hits, he was

awarded the Navy Cross. In our dive shortly after releasing the bombs, we

were hit by a large caliber anti aircraft shell. Which took a tremendous

hit into the starboard wing, a hole you could walk through. It put the

plane out of control. We were too low to bail out, when we leveled off, so

I had one hell of a pilot. He was able to horse that plane out to the

waters edge, there we crashed into the sea. We were so close to shore, that

small arms fire was able to even fire out at us. Thank God, I was able to

get out of the turret, got the raft out, my pilot he got into the raft. But

my radioman Janskow, trapped down in the bilge. We had some very trying

moments there till he popped to the surface. We all three got in the raft.

As I said, they were firing at us from the shore but it was an offshore

wind. If you have ever been in a raft when the winds blowing it scoots the

raft across the water. Of course we paddled like hell, and this radioman of

mine, a big husky fella, when he got on the paddles you would think we had

an outboard motor on the damn thing. Because away we went out to sea,

getting out of range of anything in the way of firing. O.K. We sweated it

out, and kept paddling to get further out to sea, but the current was

taking us down the coast. And as we looked down the coast we could see that

the land jutted out. Which meant that before the next morning. This was a

pre-dawn flight, so we hit em very early in the morning. We spent the day

paddling that raft but knowing that the current was going to take us into

land that night. None of us said it we didn't have to say it to each other.

We knew we weren't going to be taken alive, we were all armed, guns, knives

things like that. But, there was no hooperah about taking the damn thing.

We were just going to do what we had to do. But, all day long, we sweated

out , but just at dusk over the horizon came a puff of smoke. And I thought

well, maybe it is a Jap ship, if it is, we would probably have surrendered

to that, knowing the civilians would eat us alive. But, I fired up the 30

caliber revolver I had with tracer ammunition, and sure enough they saw it.

Well, in they came, and oh God what a wonderful, wonderful thing it was. It

was a destroyer, American destroyer. The U.S.S. Benham. Well, when we went

down, Duke my pilot had given a Mayday, but none of our fellow pilots had

seen or heard the Mayday, but from another carrier a fighter pilot had seen

us go in, and he had notified the Fleet , the Flag that we were down. But

the Flag did not notify our ship, not knowing who we were who was down. Of

course back at ship, they didn't know. So, when this destroyer came in,

they made a broadside pulled us aboard. We didn't know how weak we were

from being just that 12-18 hours, it felt like forever. Anyhow we went

aboard the Benham, and the fleet was leaving out and the Benham had to

chase the Fleet, and they victimized and our radioman did not know what

they gave us, but blanko we went. They stripped us, strapped us down in a

bunk in the bow in the Chiefs quarters. But we went out in the middle of

the night, I did drowse a little bit, but what ever the Corpsman gave us it

, can't remember whether it was a shot or pills. Next morning, I realized

why they strapped us in. The destroyer was going into heavy seas. The

destroyer was leaping, almost clear out of the water, and almost threw us

out of the bunks. Well, it at flank speed burned up it's fuel and heated up

it's boiler room so that it got so hot. It finally got back to it's sister

Tomcat destroyer. Tomcat destroyers range out 100 or more miles from the

Fleet, as radar pickets. It then transferred us by breeches buoy from the

Benham to the U.S.S. Monson. And then the Monson under forced draft, flank

speed, caught up to the back of the Hancock that next evening. And who was

waiting for me at the stern of the Hancock was not only the skipper of the

squadron, but a very beloved man that I will long remember, my plane

captain, Dick Wartinger. And that's how I won my last Air Medal.

__________________________________________________________________________

TOM POWELL AMM1/C TBF TORPEDO 10 (AS TOLD BY ARNOLD OLSON) U.S.S.

ENTERPRISE U.S.S. SARATOGA OCTOBER 1942 COMMENDATION

 I am representing Tom Powell who was an aircrewman in Torpedo squadron 10

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