The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-03-02

under orders But T was getting
jumpy myself. / remember fussing
like an old woman at the boy with
the spray gun. wanted to be able
to get out of there quick wherever
they ordered us-anywhere was bet
ter than here.
"Then quick came another order
early chow for us pilots and our
navigators at eleven o'clock. So
told Tex that Eddie Oliver (my nav
igator) and / were going to shoot on
up to the mess hall, eat fast, and
quick and find out what plans they
had lined up for US. Meanwhile
Tex was to oversee the unloading
OF the bombs and the replacing of
them with cameras in the bomb
bays.
"The Filipino walters were al
ways slow, but today it seemed as
though we would never get our food.
And while we ate l kept thinking,
Suppose they do hit us-what will
they look like?'
I'D never seen japanese plane
except those slides of them they
throw on the screen in plane-recog-
milton courses at school.
II left the mess. hall and ran into
Tex, looking for me. He had every
thing under control with Old SO,
the crew was standing by, and were
thprp apy moro orderc7
''I told him not yet, I was going
over to the operations tent and
would be back with them in very
few minutes. Good old Tex, stand
ing there, apparently casual and yet
really alert as fox terrier, getting
every word / said. A fne-looking
kid, twenty-five years old, he was
for me those extra eyes, ears, and
hands that every co-pilot should be-
II was worrying about what would
happen if while was in that opera
tions tent, scout planes might report
Jap bomber formation headed
down toward us from Formosa. ]
trusted our fighter pilots at Iba, but
you never could tell-a few bomb
ers might slip through to Clark.
$50 / said to Tex: Now look, boy
here's the dope. Make no mistake,
don't want any slip-ups. Up tc
now it's been all play-acting anc
Boy Scout stuff, but this war has
really begun. If we get word ir
Operations that we're about to be hii
off the field from where she is, with
out the usual runway procedure. Sc
watch for me to come pedaling to
ward you on my bike from opera
tions tent. If I drop my arm as yol
see me come over the top of the run
way crest, that means I want the
motors started by the time / ge1
there"
sOkay, Frank he said quietly
No saluting or heel swapping -
there's not room for much of that ir
the Air Force. Then he assured
me that the men had all been sem
to chow, the engines warmed anc
checked. Now he turned, and went
on back to Old SO.
"The operations tent was crowded
with about forty pilots and naviga
tors waiting for briefng to begin
AS we waited, / snapped on my ra
dio and we all listened to Manila
This time Don Bell was really pack
ing it across in his excited deliv
cry. Yet we didn't know that the
precious minutes had all slipped
away and only seconds were left
We didn't know that General Brere
ton had got permission from Gen
eral Macarthur for us to take of
on our Photographic expedition ovel
Formosa, to see if just possibly the
japanese might be making prepara
tions to attack us. We didn't real
ize that General Brereton had al
ready rushed to the telephone, ano
was even at this instant clicking the
receiver, trying to get through tt
US with this order.
''Now Don Bell was saying thai
bombs really were dropping or
Clark Field-he was broadcastins
from the top of one of Manila's tall
est buildings, and from there he
could see big plumes of smoke ris
ing from Clark Field.
1--WE all smiled at this. We didn',
know that he, from Manila, couIo
see around the little hill over in the
direction of Iba Field, and that these
plumes of smoke were from burning
P-40's there. The japanese were
already tearing our American fight
er force to pieces. But we smiled
and were listening for whatever
crazy thing Don Bell would say
next-General Brereton still trying
to get through to us on the phone
when private, standing just out
side the flap of our operations tent
said, in an awe-struck, admirine
voice:
"'Oh, geel Look at the pretty Ma.
wy formation
''It froze me. ! could hear a
drone. I think it froze all of US
The next second. Lieutenant Lee
Coats who was standin- nearest the