Laurel outlook., 1944-03-08
Harmon Tells
OfFierce Fight
Former Football Star Shot
Down Two Zeros, Then
Lost Own Plane.

WASHINGTON.-It took Tomm.
Harmon, former football star, jus
a few minutes to shoot down TIVE
Zeros and then lose his plane ant
half his pants, but 80 days to ge
back to his base from the Chinese
lake into which he parachuted.
Telling about the experience at
press conference, Harmon, now ar
air force lieutenant and a P-38 fight
er pilot, went into detail about the
air battle over the Kiukiang docks
and warehouses last October.
But about his escape, he wouldn't
say a word-not even to identify the
lake.
st would just mean reprisals by
the Japanese, and maybe put a rope
around some other pilots neck" he
declared.
"The mission began" said Harmon,
with four P-38's going out to dive
bomb the target, and four more fly
ing top cover. Capt. Lowden Enslen
of Springfield, Mo-, squadron COM
mander, led the attack.
81 was flying tail-end Charlie for
the top cover men," Harmon relat-
ed. "We were just about at the rem
devious point with the dive bomb
ers when (Captain) Bob Schultz (of
Sandusky, Ohio, leading the top
cover, suddenly called out: Six
Zeros at three o'clock!'
Looked All Around.
"Well, the moment anybody calls
out, you automatically look all
around. I started looking, and when
I cooked up my left wing, I saw
six more, so l called six Zeros at
nine o'clock
"The dive-bombers were just
starting their run when the Zeros
hit. 1t was one beautiful trap-they
had been tipped off before we came
in.
Schultz and his wing man, and
my lead man, went into the six
Zeros ahead. l turned into the six
behind me. We estimated there
were something more than 20 Zeros
in the sky. The dive-bombers got
jumped, and they got four of us.
"When 1 turned back into those
Zeros, 1 busted right in between two
of their three-plane formations. The
three or my right turned off to their
left, and the first and second planes
of the other formation turned off to
their right, but their No. 3 man
turned left and came directly into
my sights. l cut loose with some
tracer, and tore off the cockpit. Then
I cut loose with the cannon, and the
thing exploded.
81 was in a dive, and didn't know
the dive bombers had gone On their
run, so l turned back into the fight.
[ saw a Zero up ahead, came up
beneath him, tore off a chunk of his
eft wing near the fuselage, closed
to about so yards, and let every
hing go, and he went up like a
Heard Something Ring.
"Then 1 started looking around
again, and didn't e anything but
heard something ring on my ar
nor plate. That was the first shell.
The second hit under my seat, and
he third between my legs. 1t start
d a gasoline fire in the cockpit,
Knocked my feet off the controls,
nd blew my pants off above the
nees.
II had turned the ship over, and
aw where this guy had been work
1g me over from underneath. I
ried to smother the flames with my
ands, but it was no good, so I
,osened my safety belt and jetti-
.ned the cockpit cover.
81 was going at such a speed that
pulled me right out of the plane.
didn't know the altitude, SO l
.ened my chute Immediately. That s
'asn't good. l was at about 5000 i
let, and two Zeros started circling s
lie. Why they never turned into me {
nd let 60 I'll never know, unless it '
as because when I saw them cir s
ing, I folded over and played dead.
"After l landed in the lake, they I
over three or four times, and e
ach time they did, I'd duck under 9
y chute. Finally they went on C
ack to their airport" a