The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-06-12
BRIDGEPORT BOY
 ESCAPES CRASH
tcontlnued from Page 1l

Wise had a shrapnel wound in his knee and was unable to walk, so the others carried him in a litter over difficult mountain trails.
 Frizzle had 8 minor leg injurys Murphy and Shearer had malaria.
 Murphy swan two days, although he was constantly in sight of land. His bomber was intercepted by Jap- anese Navy-O planes.
 we were coming along in per- fec; formation after dumping out bombs" he said. Suddenly we were attacked by two Zeros. I was the upper gunner and couldn't reach the first zero, which must have hit one of our engines because the re- mainder of the formation moved ahead of us.
 'Taen another hit my turret, knocking the sight of my gun, but I kept on firing. The next thing I knew we had made a crash landing so smoothly that I hardly could tell when we hit the water.
 However, four Zeros soon ap- peared and started strafing us. The lieutenant told us to separate. I already had taken of my clothes so I could swim easier, and inflated my life preserver and spent as long time as possible under water.
 Pretty soon the Japs apparently had exhausted their ammunition. They left and we headed toward shore. However, the zeros came back and started shooting at the rest of the crew who were on raft. They didn't bother me because I stayed under water most of the time.
 Moved Of Again
 "They left again, and at dark I planned to make for shore, but the boat started towards pne so I moved out farther. After staying in the water from early Saturday after noon until Monday noon, reached shore from a direction which ap- peared to be safe and managed to get some cocoanut milk. I had tried to quench my thirst in the water by catching rain water in my open mouth, but the waves were too high.
 T could hardly walk. My body was badly burned from the com bination of salt water and bright sunlight, and for a couple of days it was hard for me to see. "But two days after landing on the beach, I met Lieutenant Shear. CTS crew. We made our way through the jungle together, and, aside from 8 little malaria, I'm ready to fly again"
 Murphy said he owed his life to being an expert swimmer and he explained that he had used his life preserver little while he was in the water, because 1t not only held him back, but also made it easy for the Japanese to spot him.
 Ehearer Crashed May 26
 Shearer crash landed in the sea on May 26. His bomber was dam aged during e raid on Lac and his bombardier was fatally injured by attacking zeros, but they were able to get one of the Japanese planes.
 we kept losing height until I saw we couldn't get over the mountains and finally set the damned thing down." Shearer said. We loaded the rubber dingy with g little junk from the ship and started padding for shore.
 'AThe a zero with its wheels down circIed us a while and hit 1t on without firing. Then another came down so close that we could dis- tinctly see the big boy who filled the cockpit. He must have weighed 200 pounds and I don't think he was 6 Jap.
 "The planes alternated in keep- ing an eye on us. One pilot fired, . few shot. but well in front of us. think they had planned to send oEt g boat later and take Us pris- oners and were trying to keep us from reaching shore"
 'aThey kept up their flights until darkness, when we slipped ashore. We slept on the beach and early next morning started with the wounded Australian sergeant for friendly territory. We hiked for days before reaching civilization"