Evening star., 1942-06-25

at the guns put up a curtain Of fire
that was deadly. The dive bombers
couldn't get In very close.
"The ship had docked in Dutch
Harbor only the night before the
first dawn bombing raid She was
taken out into the harbor after the
bombing started. She was rushed
out from the docks where she could
have maneuyering space.
The anti-aircraft fire that went
up from the ship was really some
thing to behold.
Surprising Suddenness.
"We had heard that a sizable task
force was in the Pacific off the
Aleutians, but the recollection I
have most vividly Of the bombing
was the surprising .suddenness with
which 1t came.
II was awakened by the anti
aircraft firing. My bed faces over
the bay, and jumped up and flicked
up the shade. AS I recall it, saw
three planes coming in over the
head, about a mile and a quarter
from my home.
1T was an ideal day from the
Japanese standpoint. The planes
came over the island head out of
broken clouds and could not be
heard until they were in close, Then
they broke down through the scat
tered cloud formations.
Il don't think they expected to
run into the hot fire from anti
aircraft guns that greeted them"
Mr.. Fletcer said one wave of three
bombers was driven of by ack-ack
fire. He estimated the raid lasted
80 to 40 minutes. The bombs lust
seemed to float down slowly"
Japs' Eyesight Plenty Good.
'They talk about these Japs hav-
ing bad eyesight," he continued.
That's a lot of bunk. Their eye
sight is plenty good and they didn't
lack any courage up there. I saw
one getting blaze of anti-aircraft
fire on his nose. but he kept right
on coming"
The Unalaska Mayor said the
action of the bombs after exploding
led military authorities to conclude
that they included incendiary quail
tiles.
He declared people never would
be able to understand the horror of
being awakened in the early morn
by a bombing attack until they
actually experience it.
One Of the ships crew members,
who grabbed a rife and blazed
away at the bombers, was Arthur
S. Myers, 27, of Chicago. He brought
home a verification by a superior
oficer of his plucky action. He re-
ported. with confirmation by a
superior officer, that he sa% one of
the Jap divers plunge into the bay
about two miles away after it swept
away from the barrage from ack-
ack guns-and Myers rifle.
Thought Ship Was Lost.
Lamar Chandler. a ships waiter
from San Francisco, told how he
was ready to give the ship up for
lost when a dive bomber came re-
lentlessly toward it in the face of
a devastating A-A fire He had re-
tired to port hole because 1T was
getting too hot on deck"
That's one of those suicide
divers. I said to myself" he related
Every gun seemed to be on him,
but he made no effort to turn.
Finally he turned up. My knees
we're weak. If I had a rock, I
think I could have hit him with
it, he was so close"
Ivan Tallman, third cook, said
that from his vantage point on the
promenade deck. he could see the
pilots as they dived down close to
| the vessel.
I'VE are still digging the machine
gun bullets out Of the decks"
He added that the men aboard the
ship were too busy fighting for their
own lives to notice just how many
planes were attacking Dutch Harbor.
The biggest wound IN the ship,
oddly enough, was caused by a
chunk Of rock from shore
A bomber released its death
dealing cargo short Of either the
Navy installations at Dutch Harbor
or the ship. It struck a rocky area
and hurled a chunk about the size
of a football through the upper
deck OF the ship.