The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1945-03-02

SACC tuIn-tllo jap WdS AA6Ab 3Aa
front Of my guns and I was already
shooting. I held the trigger down
and saw the tracers hit the big wing,
the fuselage, and saw the glass
stream from the canopy. / just
squeezed the trigger and ''froze" as
the bomber seemed to come back
towards me.
AS ! drew up to less than hum
dred yards the big red spots on the
wing grew wider and wider apart,
and I saw pieces come from the
left engine. I nearly rammed the
enemy-I still don't see how
missed the radio antenna pole be-
hind the glass canopy; could see
the guns waving to and fro, and
they shot at me.
But the bomber was going down.
! didn't pull up as went past him
this time, but dove steeply. When ]
came out of the dive I looked back
for the Zeros but they were not to
be seen. Above and behind me, the
bomber was spinning slowly in
flames, the black smoke making a
spiral above the clouds saw it
go into the clouds as I mushed
through in my pullout. came out
below the clouds, which were broken
in few places now, but couldn't
see the Jap ships. I made one half
circle and didn't know where I was.
Finally remembering my fuel sup
ply, I breathlessly glanced at the
gauges, and they were all bouncing
around on-EMPTY! I turned and
headed West with my throttle re-
tarded and the prop set back for
cruising. Now I called Sasser, hav-
ing forgotten to call him at the mo-
ment of contact with the enemy. !
told him about the interrogation,
that I knew I had shot down the
bomber and had gotten some bursts
on the fighters. Sasser told me that
there was a flight on the way from
Hengyang, led by Gil Bright.
My altitude was ten thousand now
and held it while just about GID
ed with power to the West, where
should see the Hengyang-Kweilin
railroad. AS I finished my report
over the radio, Sasser in Kweilin
told me So, and Richardson at
Hengyang said So also. But Miller
at Lingling told me l sounded very
close to his station, and gave me the
report SIS. These mean, in radio
technical language, that my volume
was louder in Lingling than at either
of the other two stations.
Just then Miller must have re-
ceived a report from a town that
heard my engine, for he said,
you're Northeast of the field" I
turned a little South and saw the
welcome red clay of Lingling. I
started feeling happy then-Pd been
in the air on a cross-country for
nearly four hours, and knew that
I'd shot down at least one plane.
I couldn't buzz the field though, for
any minute I expected the engine
to cough and the prop to start
"windmilling'-out of gas. I put
the wheels down and landed without
even looking to see which way the
wind was on the runway. I got the
ship parked without the engines dy-
ing, but the mechanics said they
couldn't see any fuel in the tanks.
Rather excitedly I told my story.
We counted the holes in my ship
and then went over to count those in
one of the fighters that had been in
another battle that morning. Just
then Miller came dashing up in
jeep to say that my air engage
ment had been reported over Lei
yang, sixty miles to the East, and
that confirmation had already come
in on my bomber. It had crashed
and burned eight miles from the
town. That noon I was so excited
that I couldn't eat my lunch-I just
sat there and relived the battle.
The sergeant came in to tell me
there were seventeen holes in my
ship, and two of them were from the
cannon of the Zeros-they were all
back near the tail; so maybe George
Paxton had been right, and maybe
the little rats couldn't even shoot.
Well, we were to find out during the
next ten days, very wildly.
I flew on to Hengyang that after
noon, and with Lieutenant Cluck in
a jeep we drove to Leiyang. We had
information that some of the crew
or passengers had jumped from the
bomber that morning and had been
captured, and we needed the prison
ers for information. With Chinese
guides we climbed on foot over the
rice paddles built on the hills, to-
wards the scene of the crashed
plane. Even before we'd covered
the ten or more miles that we had
to walk, I saw evidence of the air
plane. It seemed as if every coolie
that came towards us was carrying
piece of the Jap plane. Near the
wreck saw pieces of aluminium on
the houses covering holes in the
roofs, and saw some of the clothes
from the Jap airmen. These we ex-
amined, and found anotebook, map,
and pistol. Later the soldiers at
the wreck gave us, chute and
some other things.