The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1942-06-12
Eyewitness
(COntinued form Page N

CONFINED form Page ID
with smoke and flames every
where.
/ sight on the ship and think:
what terrible mess" IL new
er occurs TO me that there is any
body aboard the carrier. In fact
would be extremely surprised
If anyone suggested there were
people on board. 1t is just a tar
get l have the nsation of
sitting way off in one corner of
the sky and watching myself
and the other planes twisting
and maneuvering down near the
surface of the water. In my
minds eye / see the whole scene
as from a great distance.
Meanwhile | release my fish
and pull out. My plane jumps
a little ahead as it is freed of
the weight g the torpedo. My
No. 2 plane releases, then scars
out over the stern. We bank
sharply and watch for the ex-
plOsionS.
They come almost simultane-
ously - square hits ar1idships.
The torpedoeS throw up spouts
of water like a fountain. The
water reaches its maximum
height in a column then seems
to spill over little. A puff of
smoke comes up from the center
of the water column. The splash
es are different than near misses
with bombs, where the water
Spatters in huge, wide splaSheS
with heavy smoke and explod-
ing gas shooting high into the
air.
PRESS ATTACK HOME
My other planes push home
the attack. AS we PULL away
the carri-- already is beginning
t sett' even though it is still
turning. II completes three turns
before stopping dead and go
ing under.
There is no feeling of exulta-
ton. There is no emotional re-
action except relief. / think that
this one, at least, is no longer a
danger. It's planes can not attack
our own carrier. | don't think of
Pearl Harbor or the Japanese or
anything except that this inn
personal enemy has been killed
and can not kill us.
Our job is done now, so we
rendezvous and head for home.
| count the planes. All there.
Everything okay.
We have won the first round
but the enemy is still near. We
learn how near at dusk, when
six Japanese fighters mistake our
carrier for one of their and come
in to land. We open on them and
chase them away.
We know then that we've been
spotted and that there'll be more
action tomorrow. 1t will be
even more than today - def
initely and finally fight for our
lives.
Next morning our scouts re-
port three enemy carriers and
large force of other warships
considerable distance away, the
enemy having changed course
during the night. Our command
ers decide to attack despite the
distance and again we take off.
The weather is much dirtier
than yesterday and when we find
the enemy he is lying under a
thick black cloud apparently at
tempting to hide. His tactics are
partially successful because our
bOmbers and our torpedo planes
become separated and some of
my own squadron is split. Japa-
ncse ships are in now familiar
formation with the carrier be-
hind and between two cruisers
end several other smaller ships
to which we pay no attention.
KEEP GOING
Going in we fly over one Cruis-
er but he fails to fire at us, APP
parently believing we are mem
berS Of his own force. We duck
into a cloud and come out Just
astCrn the carrier. 1t spots us
and swings into a sharp right
turning, opening with all its
guns. The Ack Ack bounces us
around a bit but doesn't stop us.
Neither do two fighters which
get on our tails.
Over aways l see two fighters,
one a Messerschmidtt and the
other zero, attacking single
plane Of our squadron, chasing
II right down TO the surface. But
our pilot keeps going until he
mancuvers into position and
releases his torpedo in a quarter
ing shot.
The carrier looms up. It's
planes are gone and we know
they are over attacking our home
carrier. Okay. That means we've
cot to hit him. We've got to hope
we get him and pray his planes
don't get us. If they do we won't
have any place TO go home to.
The carrier shows signs of
having been hit a few minutes
before by our bombers. But it is
not smoking much. This ship is