The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-03-09

the bombardlerS. Every time that
Jap strafer comes over, we bang
away at him-I can't say. we do
any damage, and all we had to show
for it afterward was a damn dirty
pistol to clean, but it gives us some
satisfaction.
Meanwhile from all over the field
you can hear two sound sequences
first the high rattle of the Jap .25.
caliber wing guns as the tracers
feel for the target, then the slower
pounding of the cannon as they drive
the main punch home-that I've de-
scribed before. The other sequence
was more heartbreaking. You'd
hear rising, kissing p-p-pf-f-f-o-O-
FFF! which means a tracer has
gone sizzling into the gas tank OF
one of our dear old Fortresses-.fol-
lowed quickly by great roar (ev-
erything letting loose at once), which
means that the burning gasoline has
exploded her bombs.
''But the Jap pilot with the yellow
scarf who is working on the For
tress in the revetment next us is
now really getting down to business,
coming in lower and closer each
time. AS we spot him coming tear
ing in for the attack we yell out our
orders and grovel on our faces as
his wing guns rattle and his can
non thump, followed by the ear
splitting roar of his motors as he
swishes past over our heads-we
popping futilely at the racing shad-
ow with our ASS.
"On the eighth pass his tracers
found their target-there was the
kissing roar of gasoline, and from
every one of the many bullet holes
in the fuselage there billowed black
smoke, enveloping her completely.
But he made the great mistake of
coming back just once again-maybe
only to see what he had done. But
for whatever reason, at this point
the antiaircraft opened up on him
through hole in the smoke. He
seemed to Jump a little in the air,
and at the end of the run he didn't
chandelle as he usually did, but kept
on going and-'Look!' somebody
said. "A puff of smoke!' Sure enough
it was-only maybe he was only
clearing his engine-but three Sec
onds later it was a definite black
trail behind him.
"We held our breath as he wob-
bled and wavered off like wounded
bird, and when he rolled over on one
wing down behind the horizon, nev-
er to rise again, we let out cheer
that shook more dirt down the walls
of our ditch. Because up to then it
had been all their Saturday.
'This seemed to signal the end of
the attack, for now the Nakajimas
and Zeros rose from the field like
crows from a well-picked carcass
and, falling into formation, disap-
peared around Mount Arayat in the
direction of their carrier, which lay
somewhere out of sight off Luzon
down under the horizon.
'Now we climbed out of the ditch
and started back toward Operations
to report. But first we had to walk
around the wreckage of the poor old
Fortress. We walked wide not only
because of the shimmering heat, but
because it was a shameful thing
we could hardly bear to watch,
which no one will understand who
doesn't love those big, beautiful B.
IT'S as we did. There she was in
her death agony-the plates had well
tered quickly, leaving only her nak-
ed skeleton shimmering in the heat,
and licked by oily flame. It made
you sick and you wanted to look the
other way.
''The rest of the field was Uttered
with charred skeletons of planes.
You'll remember the 10Th Bombard-
ment Group had comprised thirty
five proud Flying Fortresses. A doz-
en- of them had been down at Del
Monte Field in the southern island
of Mindanao and so escaped this
attack. Colin Kelly, who had come
up from Australia, was flying one
of them. But of all the rest which
had been here on Clark Field, only
five could be called airplanes any
more Even these five were badly
damaged, and none of them could
fly. But by pooling the five wrecks,
replacing wing here, tail there,
and taking two undamaged engines
from a third, the Colonel hoped we
could salvage in all, of the two doz-
en- which stood on the field that
morning, three planes which might
get into the air-when the runway
was cleared.
''As for the boys who hadn't come
back from the hills yet, the Colonel
wasn't in the least worried. It's like
any good hunting dog he explained.
The first time you put steel across
him, of course he's scared. But aft
er that-well, those fellows that ran
away today will make as good SOL
diers as they come
''It was now late in the day, and
he told me there was nothing I
could do, and it would be all right
to leave the target area until morn
ing-in fact we'd better, because the
Japs would probably be back to-
night.
Lieutenant Elmer Brown hap
pened to be standing there with me,
so we decided to go out together,
and I left my bike, because it
wouldn't be fair to Brownie. Brown
lie, who always has had a comforta-
BILE amount of money, said he'd call
a taxi. But / knew nothing would
come of that. The servants and al
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