The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1945-05-31

feet.
Cold turkey and a straggleri
While I fumbled with my mike
button to my radio to call Holloway
and Baumler for help, realized the
futility of it. I don't believe my
dry throat would have made a sound
anyway. ! just acted-and thank
the Lord, my refiexes let me do
something. turned directly towards
the ships with my nose down, and
pulled up firing. I know now that if
had turned away from them they
would have shot me down in their
cross-fire. As it was, I surprised
them and went underneath them
very fast and into the sun. Thus,
when they looked around, I had the
sun in my favor, and from that time
on | was using it. But as I pulled
up firing, I held the trigger down
and "froze." heard the cannon of
the Zero-I felt the recoil of my six
guns-I felt things hit "Old Extermi-
nator" and then I saw a cloud of
black smoke in front of my nose. I
shut my eyes involuntarily and dove
again.
Something hit my ship with the
same sound you get when you sud-
denly fly into heavy rain. I opened
my eyes and everything was dark.
smelled the smoke and cordite
and gasoline and thought was on
fire. Just then / realized was
still firing. / reached up, grabbed
the handle, rolled the canopy open
-and saw light. I rolled it shut
again and realized that the black
ness had been caused mostly by oil
on my windshield. The speed of my
dive had blown most Of that off
now, and though I couldn't see very
well, could make out the horizon.
With a long sigh OF relief I lev
eled the speeding ship over the rice
paddles, and as they say in the slang
of fighter stations, "I took off like a
scalded dog" / S-ed and skidded
but tried not to lose speed. Looking
back, saw the smoke and oil that
] had gone through. and down un-
der the place where / had been I
saw fire and a plume of smoke
one Jap that wouldn't fly again.
think | was halfway home before I
fully realized that had shot it down
and hadn't run into it.
For twenty miles I SKINNED over
the paddles, thinking" to fool the en-
emy who might be pursuing, skid
ding to make him miss, and watch
ing my boost read seventy inches of
mercury. The engine heated up and
the coolant light came on to warn
me, before eased the throttle back
a little. I called Ajax Baumler on
the radio and told him I was hit
had been intercepted, my engine
was heating up and / didn't know
what all was the matter with the
ship. but I was on course for home
and going like a bat out of hell.
Ajax stood by to take my position
If worse things should develop and I
should have to land.
But the coolant light finally flick
cred and went off, the engine cooled
off when I got little of the boost
off and stopped abusing it. And /
.breathed again. feeling that I'd been
holding one breath for fifteen min
utes. All was clear behind me, and
/ gradually climbed to ten thousand
and went back home to Hengyang.
All the boys came out to see me.
Of course Elias was missing and
they'd keen worried lest / was a
goner too. There were cannon holes
in my wings ard tail; one had gone
just across the back of the canopy.
There were smaller holes in the
fuselage from the cockpit back to
the tail; there was oil from the spin
ner of the prop to the tail. Oil from
your own ship can hardly get on the
very tip of the nose of your ship.
and this was proof that it was Jap
oil.
As we looked the plane over. got
more and more settled down from
my narrow escape. But then / real
lied that my ship, which / had now
flown in combat from April until
September End, was badly damaged.
"Old Exterminator" was shot to
pieces.
We had tea in the alert shack and
sent the other mission out to dive
bomb Nanchang and strafe the
trains from Kukiang to the North to-
wards Hankow. Also we got the
Chinese net looking for Elias, and
reported that ! had shot down one
Zero near Kukiang.
/ was sitting there with a cup of
very sorry Chinese tea, diligently
making out my combat report, when
somebody started a motorcycle
about FIVE feet from me. With the
first explosion / thought of the can
non back there an hour or two be-
fore. dropped my battered teacup,
jumped clear over the table, and fell
into the operations map trying to
get out of the way. / tried to yell
and rave at the poor Chinese mes
senger-boy who had started the mo-
tor, but might as well have been
talking to the moon. He saw my
face, heard the fast, strange tongue,
and just blandly smiled. When he
held up his thumb. pointed at the
sky, and said "Ding-hao." I got my
poise back sufficiently to smile and
call back to him-''Ding-hao."
In the meantime, down at Kwei-
lin, Mai. Ed Rector, as co of the
Squadron, and Maj. Bruce Holloway
as operations officer, were keeping
the skies cleared of Japs and were
escorting the little force of bomb
ers under Colonel Haynes who had
now been made a Briga.iier Gen.
eral. We were all happy over this
promotion. not only because it was
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