Evening star., 1944-06-16

get run with, Hey. chief, let's get
out of here. Somebody's liable to
get hurt'
Boys Do Magnificent job"
And the boy who was asked in
the midst of the excitement over
the same interphone, Hey, Al, are
you a cloud-hopper yet?'
And AIS reply: Well, not that
I know Of
'All this was going on while the
the deadly business of bombing the
Jap target was being prosecuted.
The bombardier was at his sights,
the navigator was working to set
the course right and the two pilots
we're waving and lodging. They
did a magnificent job. And for
some it was their first combat mis-
sion. But the 10th Bomber Com
mand, because of the value in dol
lars of its ships and the value in
tactics of its operations, specializes
in good crews.
I'VE only stayed for about 10 min
uteS over that outer defense, but it
seemed 10 times that long. We en-
tered the bomb-run as the Japs
themselves lit up the target and
the searchlights still played on the
planes. There were no half-meas-
ureS in that combat last night. We
had to kill and destroy or be killed
and destroyed.
The bombs went down toward
their. great targets, smashing into
the heart of the japanese steel in
dustry. And then it was that one
of the crew members gave me a kick
and said, Gosh, isn't it pretty down
there?'
Not Interested in Scenery.
We'll, loaded down with a para
chute and Mae West life-preserver
and a flax suit and helmet to pro-
tect me from flying fragments,
was not especially interested in the
scenery, but more in those sharp
flashes being poured at us-whole-
sale, not retail.
When the bombs had dropped on
the target, seconds that had seemed
hours before then became days in
proportion of length. The ship
pointed her nose upwards. But still
the searchlights held on. There
were some remarks made in the
cabin of that plane last night that
expressed exactly the idea of the
moment. But that moment is past.
Still the lights famed, and yet we
could not avoid them We climbed a
bit, dropped bit, and all this time
cold steel was splattering against
the outside of the cabin. And then
suddenly, as if nothing at all had
happened, the pilot leaned back and
said: We're very we'll out of that
And as he spoke, the lights died
away. The plane had picked up
speed and we roared away into the
darkness, toward the West, toward
China and toward safety.
Crew Sings After Attack.
For few moments there was
silence over the intercom, and then,
almost without signal at all. there
were II husky voices raised in that
familiar song of the Air Forces.
You may have heard it sung, as I
have, by marching cadets, by young
officers just commissioned, but never
in such situation could you hear it
sung with the vitality and spirit of
the rightful aggressor, with the Joy
OF having been in the very shadow
of those who don't come back, but
did, somehow. 1t was not triumph
ant, it was not victorious, it was just
young American lad who was sing
ing because he had fought battle
and won, because he had dared his
life and come through.
"A quick switch to the interphone.
Hey, Joe. See that fire?
Yeah. sure, III bet that's one
you started
We were just about there,
weren't we?'
Nav, you're seeing things; we
was way over there
! 30. x, wise guy
And then the bantering stopped.
| After the long flight back to base.
there was the usual questioning of
/ the crew memberS-what they'd