MC000a-Labels

Change 1943-1954

From College to Service

After 1 ½ yrs Mechanical Engineering and Coast Artillery ROTC my room mate Bob Nelson & I decided to become a couple of hot rock pilots. We passed the mental at Ft Riley then Bob passed physical but I flunked, I was color blind. Bob became a B-29 Navigator. I volunteered for the draft as Dad was head of the draft board – if I couldn’t’ enter flying cadets I wanted it to look like Dad had drafted me. After end of first semester Sophomore year I rode the bus to Denver and was sworn into the Army Air Corps in Ft Logan CO and shipped to FL for Basic training.

From Basic to Airplane Mechanic School

Boulevard Manor Hotel, our quarters KC MO, Municipal Train Station first visit with Mom & Dad

P-12 P-26 P-38 P-39

Airplane Mechanic School and Instructor Lincoln NB

P-40 P-47 Spitfire ME-109

I completed Airplane Mechanic school and was 1 of 700 held over as Potential Engineering Cadet Instructor

Pre-Technical Engineering Cadets North Carolina and Texas

Half of Cadet Formation Seymour Johnson Field NC

After 4 months with 25% wash out rate we advanced to Yale University

Engineering Cadets Yale University

Glenn Millers led the AAC Band stationed at Yale. Weekly parades on Lower Green down town New Haven CN

Kendal 1^st , Neudorpher 2^nd , Brown, Landau (Adjutant) 3^rd in command

After 6 month and another 25% wash out rate – we graduated as 2^nd Lts

Dodge City KS to Marietta FL to Santa Anna CA to Pecos TX

Purchased 1945 en-route to first Eng Officer assignment

B-26 Production Line Training Dodge KS to UC-78 Production Line Maintenance Pecos TX

Volunteered for Over Seas Service

Kern UT to Ft Lewis WA to Hawaii to Guam

After processing at Kearn UT and collecting at Ft Lewis WA we departed Seattle for Hawaii. After overnight stay we proceeded to Eniweitak Atoll then on to Guam disembarking over the side and trucked to 20^th AF Hdq

View of harbor area, a composite of multiple 35 mm photos

20^th AF Hdq near Harmon Fld 20^th AF Hdq Tumon Bay

315 Wing far left 314 Wing North Field Patti Point 600 ft cliff at end of runway

Arriving as a replacement for one killed in test hop, a month later was made Eng Officer of 28^th Sqd 19^th Bomb Group when my boss was moved up to head Group. I was 21 yrs old and had never seen a B-29 before. These 200 ground crew personnel taught me while I tried to help them sustain maximum effort missions.

Landing on North Field (314 Wing) 19^th BG at far end

Turn off right runway to 28^th Sqd 19^th Bomb Group

28^th Sqd Area

B-29 engine worked on same principle as Model-T, packaging 2200 HP was a bit more complex than 30 HP

Primary failure mode: Burned off exhaust valves

Relative size

10 ton Bomb load

6700 gal of 100 octane gas cued up on taxi strip, turn to take off end of run way

Saipan, Tinnian & Guam were taken late 1944. Airfields for 73, 313, 58, 314 & 315 wings followed. By Aug 1945 1000 B-29s could drop 10 ton each every three days on any target. Japanese did not have a surrender mode. The shock of A-Bomb permitted the Emperor to overrule the military. The A-bomb save Japan’s self destruction and American lives. Roommate Bob Nelson was shot down in Mar 1945 taken prisoner then beheaded after the first A-Bomb. Cousin Vincent was shot down the last day of the war. I returned without a scratch – so compiled history of the 19^th bomb group as tribute to them.

Accidents Happen

All but the 19^th BG was closed down, being a recent replacement I remained and was assigned to set up a Production Line Maintenance system planes were fixed people moved.