The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1945-05-10

Pilots of the China Air Task Force
on the alert at Hengyang.
planes down below circling. There
were larger formations reported
around. Just then I heard my
fight leader say: There are three
stragglers-let's attack EN-" So we
dove into them like mad. AS shot
into the Zero on the right of the for
nation saw that we were in the
midst of twenty-four other Zeros, all
shooting at us. I got mad and shot
at every plane that / could get my
sights on. I think I shot one down
but I was so busy I didn't see it
crash"
This was signed DALLAS CLING
ER-2nd Lieutenant-Almost Unem-
ployed."
What Ginger had really done was
the greatest piece of daredevil fly
ing that any of us had ever seen.
Instead of diving away from the
twenty-seven ship circus as the 9TH
ers had done, he had stayed and
fought the old-fashioned "dog-fght"
until the Japs just about took him to
pieces from sheer weight of num-
bers. When they struggled home
they must have been the most sur
prised bunch OF pilots in all japan,
for this crazy American with his
heavy P-40 had done everything In
or out Of the book. He fought right
side up and upside down, from %, 900
feet down to less than one thousand.
AS many Japs as could fill the air
behind Ginger would get there and
try to hang on while they shot; but
Ginger wouldn't fight fair and stay
there. In the end, he came right
over the field, diving from the en-
emy until he had outdistanced them
enough to turn: then he'd pull UP
into an "Immelmann" and come
back shooting at them head-on.
He was last seen after the un-
equal fight skimming out across the
rice paddles, making just about 500
miles an hour, with some ten to
twelve Zeros following. For some
reason they seemed reluctant. az
though they didn't know whether to
run after Ginger or leave him alone.
He came in for lunch with his ship
badly shot up by their cannon. But
he had shot one of them down and
had got another probable.
Down Lingling way on another
morning, Ginger went into an attack
with his engine acting up. After the
first contact with the enemy, he was
forced to land, followed by two en-
emy strafers. As Ginger maneu-
vered the failing fighter into safe
landing, the two Zeros came down
shooting at his rolling P-4O.
Dallas from Wyoming got out on
the wing to Jump onto the ground,
with his ship still rolling. Just then
one of the Jap bullets went right
through his seat-pack chute, passing
exactly between Clinger's pants and
where he sat on the parachute. He
got so mad he jumped back in the
cockpit and shot at two Zeros as
they passed over his nose. After all,
air-cooled guns are made to shoot
while the ship is going two or three
hundred miles an hour-but Lieuten-
ant Ginger said he got in a pretty
good burst from his grounded fight
er before the six Fifties froze.
1t goes to show that fighter pilot
has got to be the most offensive
minded man in all the world.
think he's got to know he's better
than any other pilot he'll ever meet
in the air, and such man was this
one.
Johnny Alison had helped to train
Ginger in the tactics of fighter pi-
lots. In fact, Johnny used to fly with
every man in his flight on his wing,
at one time or another. In one
training flight such as this he took
Ginger up and they practiced at
tacking one another-"d "dog-fghting,
the "pea-shooter" pilots say. Up
there at nearly 10000 feet they came
at one another head-on, time after
time, until the moment when, as
Johnny told me later, he was sure
Ginger was going to run into him.
Alison, who usually forced others to
give way, had to dive under Clin-
gers P-40. They circled and tried
again, and again Ginger kept right
on coming, until, as the ships drew
together at well over six hundred
miles an hour relative speed, once
more Johnny had to dodge, and the
Wild Man from Wyoming went on
over his head.
They landed then, and by the time
Johnny had climbed out of his ship
he had Gained down. Ginger came
nonchalaatly over. Just in passing
Alison said, THAT was pretty good
flying, Ginger; you fly formation
well and you look around okay. But
you want to watch those head-on
runs-you nearly hit me up there.
Did you know that?"
Ginger shifted the weight of his
body back to both feet. With his
chin out, he answered: Yes, Sir,
Major-I tried to. You see, you've
been flying longer than | have and
| know I'm not as good a pilot as
you are. But, Sir, knew I'd come
closer to you than you would to me.
You can find the remains Of
good many Japs in China, or some
where down in the China Sea, who
know that Ginger meant just what
he said. He'd keep coming at them
head-on and shoot them out Of the
sky before they got TO him.
(Chapter XIX continued next week i