The Wilmington morning star., 1945-08-28
Big TAIL GUNNER
HAS HARD LIFE n
HE'S L0NC-LECCEnI
BY BONNIE Wu.Fv

Il YOU ike people.
After interviewing counties, =.
tail gunners (they usuaIlv Us BS
good story curiosity overc. nave
and I have just completsd -,'e m.
in the tail gunner's CONN.,, I'D.
of a Bog. p'''ment
The pilots, It. Col. lava,
Guthrie Of LaGrande, Orr r''' ", ";
1t. Max H. Braselton Of a A. and
Ca, were a bit skeptical ' hst0''
the take-off but the flight .ng Gr,oS'
Capt Leo H. Booth Of San S1s .s
tonic, Tex, was enthusiast, yi,' An n
has short legs. N''''' lie
For the sake OF all The IT,,
people in the world who are e', r1,
tan gunners, I will give br ~;
description of the compartmsn ullei
IS located in the very end nj ,,' u
B-2s's huge tail. 1t is a little g1. r's
enclosed room maybe two 't az,
wide. The glass is very tb ics'
There's barely room for . s,,rn ,a.
and a japanese bullet, too. insis.
that sardine salon. A-''0'
The gunner enters by cravvr,
on his stomach all the dark n.s
through the long tail. Reaching % IL,
end, ne wriggles erect and nnn s
out sort of canvas shelf. with
an uncomfortable wooden bac,
How the tail gunners that hsn.
been flying in all these Bps a,
all those raids over Japan evs,
stood that canvas seat beat, NJ.
It's on the order of those canv.,
jumper swings built for babia,
with whom I now deeply svm'
pathize) only it has a bar scros,
the front to hold it in place, ors
hangs ones legs over the bar
Within the first 20 minutes Of NV
flight, circulation had given IN
ana ooln my legs Slept soundly all
the way.
In front OF the gunner's csnv,,
seat is a shelf on which his DIN
is mounted. (Jhey didn't put il in
for me, fearing, no doubt, ia
shoot myself)
What bothered me most was III.
extreme heat. Never in all my life
had / perspired so profusely as in
that little glass-enclosed hot box.
Water ran off my face and
the shelf in front OF me. | was
splashed onto my arms and onto
sure I'd suffocate right there, I'm.
heard by the crew, away up in
enines-and how those babies do
front, over the roar of the B.2s's
roar!
around marked, oxygen, oxygen
control, oxygen container and lct
I saw lots of little sadgets
of that sort Of thing, but, not be-
ing mechanically minded, l decd.
ed I'd better not touch anything.
Only all along I had the disturb.
ing feeling that maybe I really
was supposed to be using that oxy'
gen. fortunately, wasn't.)
Pretty soon the big plane wris.
gled its wing flaps and started
waddling down the runway. |
waved to the ground crewmen
only my glass windows by that
time were so steamed up, nobody
could see in. Cor out, for that mat
teri l spent the next few minutes
wiping off windows with my hand
kerchief. Next thing l knew We
were taking off. Taking of is put
ting it mildly. We were roaring,
rushing, tearing down that black
top runway at a faster speed than
I've imagined. From my seat in
the tail, the black asphalt runway
looked like a waving ribbon.
The tail gunners seat doesn't
ride smoothly at all, but after
series of bumps Il held on with
both hands to the only thing !
could find-a piece Of torn up
holstery) we took off. Guam dis
appeared below me like sinking
island. Pretty soon it was out Of
sight and, in a flash, We were
over another island Rota, Japa'
nese-held and by-passed in the
march to Tokyo. I had a wonder
full view of the island, with its
huge seaside caves, its feeble al
tempts at gardening, its utter lack
of any signs of life. (ThanN good'
ness. From that exposed posi- on
! in the tail, I felt like a duck IN
a shooting gallery)
With a swoop and a SWISH We
landed, at another island roaring
down the runways at anything oo'
a snail's pace. I apprehenslVeF
| tested my slumbering legs to see
if they'd hold me up and 'hen
wrigeled, backwards, through me
long tail, down the ladder ana O''
op4o tho Ground
To all tail gunners, if had my
way, I'd present two Coneresslos
al Medals of Honor-one for ed'1
leg.