Editor's note: These are the pages from Glen's
diaries exactly as he wrote them at the time. He has attached
comments to add to or explain the entry.
Wally, Pappert, Coumbe & Godson. 14
Jap planes splashed by these four Corsair pilots.
...........................
The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
!...........................
10 MARCH 1945 Went aboard the USS Essex. (
CV9 ) this is to be our home on forthcoming cruise - Mog Mog Island
our home
. . .
Mog Mog
Mog Mog Island was the
location for Navy R&R for fleet personnel when they
came in from a combat zone. The beer came in olive drab
colored cans and not very cold. However, for those of us
who hadn't tasted any adult beverage in many days, it was
GREAT!
............................
11 MARCH 1945
2015 While at
the movie a suicide dive bomber went
past the flight deck and
crashed into
the USS
Randolph (CV-15) - GQ (General Quarters)
secured at
2110.
14 MARCH 1945
CAG(Commander
Air Group) received memo from COMAIRPAC commending Air Group 83
on
good work in Hawaiian area.
We had a group exercise and really fouled
up the works.
That's life!
18 MARCH 1945.
Made strike against Kyushu. Lost three pilots, Stevens, Garner
and Sigman. (Steve was my division Leader) I shot down two Jap
planes... could only claim
one . . . the other a
probable. Was attacked
by about
25 Hamps over Tomi Taki... Scared! Pappert and Coumbe each flamed
a Zeke plus one
probable for Pappert. Made
two landings aboard Essex
in F4U.
Enemy territory
First Time Out!
On 18 March, 1945,I was
launched from the USS ESSEX (CV-9) in a Corsair F4U along
with eleven others. Lt. J. J. Stevens led our division of
four planes and I was his wingman. The number three slot
was filled by LtJg Ed Pappert with Vern Coumbe on his wing.
Our mission was
to bomb and strafe
two Airfields on the island of Kyushu, Japan and return
to the ship. We were the second group to hit Kyushu
and figured the Japs were probably
USS Essex CV9
stirred up and waiting for us.
We climbed out and leveled off at ten thousand feet.
As we approached the beach, I remember suddenly realizing
the land we were looking at was Enemy territory and
the hairs on the back of my neck raised right up. There
was a broken layer of clouds
Coursair on Deck
beneath
us. Just as we crossed the shoreline I saw two
planes below heading in the opposite direction.
Upon looking closer I identified them as Jap
Torpedo Bombers.
Since we were on radio silence,
I could only wave my hands and signal to Steve, our
Leader. I motioned to the left and he nodded OK. We
made a diving turn and as I leveled off, one of the
Jap planes was squarely in my sights. A squeeze of the
trigger and the six fifty-caliber guns literally tore
the plane apart. It burst in to flames and headed down.
As the other one saw what was happening, he dove for
the water at full throttle and took off like a rabbit.
Steve hadn't fired a shot or made a sign as we turned
back and rejoined the formation. I thought about that
for awhile and then the thought came to me that
"My God,
I have shot down a US Navy TBM." But then I said
to myself, "I saw meat balls on those planes
so they had to be Japs." This was our very first
combat flight and we all were wound pretty tight.
I also later realized that leaving the
Coumbe, Pappert, Pat,(the
Skipper) and Wally. Division One
formation was a violation of
the "Fighter Code" to never leave the group.
I don't remember the names of our two target airfields,
but when we arrived at the first one, there were no
airborne aircraft in sight. We proceeded to bomb and
strafe parked planes, hangars, and runways with no resistance
except antiaircraft gunfire from the ground. Then we
headed for another airfield and gave it the same treatment
with the same results. By then we were pretty cocky,
seeing as how this business was so easy and fun too.
We even opened up on the radio (big mistake)! Our leader
said, "What the hell, lets hit another one on the
way back," (another mistake)! Tomitaka Airfield
wasn't too far off course so we decided to work it over
too. What we didn't know was that 20 Zeros (Hamps &
Zekes), were sitting up at twenty thousand feet waiting
for us. "Hamp
Zeke (Zero A6M5)
and Zeke" were
the US official nicknames for the Japanese A6M3 Type
32 Fighter Plane. "Zero" was the unofficial
nickname. We made our approach to the airfield down
a little valley and
got rid of all hanging ordnance
on the first run — there was no second run! As
we pulled up the air was suddenly full of meat balls
(Japs), and a wild dogfight ensued. We were caught
off guard and at low altitude.
Our standard fighter tactics
wouldn't work and it quickly evolved into a wild melee
of tail chases — a Zero chasing a Corsair with
another Corsair chasing the Zero etc. While our Leader
(Steve), was shooting one, I was busily knocking another
one off his tail. As I flamed that
one, someone hollered
that one was on my tail. Sure enough I saw tracers
whizzing by on both sides, so I pulled up into a full-power,
straight up, climb until she stalled out and went
Zeke (Zero A6M5)
into a spin. It was a given
that one does not intentionally spin a Bent Wing (Corsair),
but to me it felt really good until I recovered right
back in the middle of the dog fight. That's when I
saw Steve's plane smoking and heading out to sea in
a shallow dive. I followed to keep the Zeros off his
back until he ditched and got out of the plane. I`m
not sure how many we got, but Pappert and Coumbe each
flamed a Zeke and Pappert also got a probable.
We lost three pilots that day,
Stevens, Garner and Sigman. Steve was in the water
and swimming around very slowly. Three of us circled
him at low altitude with flaps down and each of us
threw him a spare life raft, which we all carried.
The other two planes finally left but I was reluctant
to leave my Flight Leader and kept circling to see
if he got one of the rafts, however he didn't even
try to get one. I then managed to remove the life
raft from my seat parachute and while flying very
low and slow, pulled the inflation toggle and threw
the raft some distance upwind from him. It drifted
right by him but he didn't attempt to get it. We had
been
USS Salmon
briefed
on the location of the Standby Rescue Submarine so I
looked it up on the map and noticed that this one's
code name was "Pal Joey."
Approaching the location, I saw it on the surface
with a big American Flag flying and some of the Crew
on deck. I couldn't make radio contact, so in accordance
with prescribed procedures, I lowered the landing
gear and flew over in the direction of Lieutenant
Stevens. They understood, gave a big wave and headed
out on that course — still on the surface! I
was impressed by their bravery doing that when so
close to enemy shores.
By this time it was getting
late so I plotted a course to the ship and headed
home. They were waiting for me so they could get me
aboard and head out of the wind. As I hit the deck,
the Bull Horn squawked for me to report to the Bridge
and explain what I had been doing. That was my first
combat flight and my "Baptism of Fire,"
so to speak. Next day we
did it all over again on another
mission
and, in addition, saw USS Franklin, CV-13, burning
in the water on our way home. This was to be our steady
diet for the next five
07-Arrested landing
months.
The Air Group, (CVG-83), flew 9,982 sorties
from USS ESSEX for 39,500 hours in the air. We destroyed
228 Jap planes in the air, with 121 probables and
107 on the ground. We also participated in the sinking
or damaging of 265,000 tons of combat vessels, (including
the Battleship Yamato), and 77,000 tons of merchant
shipping. If we appeared to take death lightly it
was because it was necessary to keep from going crazy.
When seeing our shipmates being killed day after day,
we tried to build up an immunity to it, sort of a
defensive shell. 35 pilots and 13 aircrewmen were
lost before we would return to the US of A and go
ashore at the Naval Air Station, Seattle, Washington,
on 14 September 1945. "To make the world safe
for Democracy."
LTJG Glen (Wally)
Wallace.
In 1990, I received the following
note from Henry Sakaida, a Japanese Author who sent
me a story about the Kamikaze entitled: "THUNDER
GODS, The Kamikaze tell their story." Written
by Hatsuho Naito, translated by Mayumi Ichikawa and
forwarded by James Michener.
.............
Capt. Wallace -
The Japanese side of your
air raid! If the information here is accurate,
then it appears that you downed UMENO. It also
appears that UMENO and possibly TANIMIZU attacked
Lt. J.J. STEVENS, with Umeno causing Stevens
to smoke and Tanimizu then chasing him out to
sea.
HENRY SAKAIDA
.............
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The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
............................ 19 MARCH
1945
Second day of strikes on Kyushu. We damaged a Carrier and Battleship
in Kure harbor. I was flying wing on Ham Reidy when he shot down
a Mert. Pappert, Coulmbe and I now have a new Division Leader.
Ship was under attack all day. One Kamakize nicked #2 Elevator
guard rail. Danny Gray made water landing.. We lost three Bombers
and one Torpedo crew. The Wasp, Enterprize, Langley, Intrepid
and Franklin hit. The Franklin has been burning all day.
19
March 1945 — a close look at
The USS Franklin
On the way back from our
strike on Kyushu, we saw the Franklin burning with great
clouds of
smoke billowing up.
Being curious, we eased over to get a good look and
were greeted with a furious
hail of antiaircraft fire.
The Franklin crew was under great stress and didn't
take time to identify approaching aircraft. We got the
message and got back on course for the Essex and home.
Editor's Note:
The picture shows the Franklin after being hit by
a Japanese divebomber on March 19, 1945. There were
835 killed and 265 wounded. After a heroic effort
by her captain and crew, she made it to Ulithy on
he own power on March 25. She was the most heavily
damaged warship in the history of the US Navy ever
to make it back to port under her own power. For more
on the epic struggle and this magnificent ship, see
the USS
Franklin Home Page.
............................
20 MARCH 1945
Flew CAP again today...Chased Bogies all afternoon. Saw our AA
shoot down one Mert and one F6F. The Enterprise was hit again.
21 MARCH 1945
Flew CAP. Bogies all over - mostly Bettys and Merts,, Murt got
a Mert! 42 Bettys, 12 Zekes and 5 Merts shot down by CAP. 281
planes destroyed past 4 days.
22 MARCH 1945
Jettisoned "Tilly.
22 March
1945 — drop it over the side . . .
We lost Tilly
Tilly was the name we
gave to a huge motorized crane which could pick up an airplane
from the deck and move it or drop it over the side, if necessary.
It got hit so many times by plane crashes on deck that it
was unusable. We regretfully pushed it over the side.
...........................
The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
............................
23 MARCH 1945
Fighter sweeps on Okinawa... Weather very bad -- solid from 200
to 12000 feet
Notes
Notes:
CAP = combat air patrol
Bogies = enemy aircraft
Betty = Jap bomber
Murt = asquadron pilot
Mert = Jap fighter
When the weather closed in and ceiling
200 feet, we would let down very low and watch for ships
masts, circle, and take a heading to the Essex. Real hairy
flying with so many planes in the
air.
CV = carrier
BB = battleship
CL = cruiser
DD (or can) = destroyer.
............................
24 MARCH 1945
Fighter sweep... Fired rockets and strafed Yontan Field and nearby
town... AA pretty bad..
25 MARCH 1945
Ship refueled... got two letters.
26 MARCH 1945
Strike against Okinawa. Bombed and strafed submarine pens, barracks
and warehouses... Two subs sunk. (1000 pound bombs)
27 MARCH 1945
Flew TCAP, (Target Combat Air Patrol), over Kerme Shima... Strafed
boats... Marcinkoski Made water landing and was picked up by an
OS2U. (Float seaplane).
28 MARCH 1945
Strike on Minami Daito Jima... Dropped 1000# bomb on AA position.
Five planes damaged and lost on flight deck this morning. One
plane, two pilots overboard. One Marine killed. Refueled...got
6 letters.
..........................
No comments
...........................
The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
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29 MARCH 1945
Searched for the Jap fleet around Kyushu - didn`t find it. Kenny
King flamed by Zeros. Jap plane made run on ship while I was strapped
in plane on flight deck...Bomb near miss on USS Cabot. Ham Reidy
shot down a Zeke. We got four Marine Replacement Pilots. Coumbe
and I got checked out on 20 MM deck guns... (while on standby
duty)
30 MARCH 1945
Strikes on Okinawa. Bombed and strafed more sub pens and PT boats.
Gil and Harris on a 325 mile search jumped 5 Japs. shot down two
of them. I ran out of targets so dropped my belly tank and strafed
that.
31 MARCH 1945
On standby all day... Didn`t fly... The Skipper is ailing hardly
ever flys anymore. Pappert, Coumbe and I may get a new Division
Leader. TT Coleman and Maki each flamed a Jap today... Greek strafed
a horse. We lost one Bomber Pilot and two crewmen. (Two planes)
..........................
No comments
............................ 1 APRIL 1945 (Love Day)
Strike on Okinawa in support of invading troops.Bombed,
fired rockets & strafed. Lahey went down in flames from AA.
Torpedo Skipper made a water landing & was picked up by a
can. A Jap pilot in an Oscar landed on Yonton Airfield & the
Marines shot him when he got out of the plane.
1 April 1945
— Valentines Day . . .
Our Own Valentine
"Love Day"
was the code name for the troops to land on Okinawa. Like
D Day for the landings on the beaches in Europe. AA = antiaircraft
fire.
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The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
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2 APRIL 1945
No strike today - refueled - No mail - Rough Sea! Two typhoons
in area.
3 APRIL 1945
Strike day. The air group shot down 17 planes - Gunner Way went
in the drink. I manned a 20 mm during condition one.
4 APRIL 1945
Strike on Okinawa. Two direct rocket hits on barracks - strafed
gun emplacement & boat houses.
5 APRIL 1945
No strikes - refueled & re-armed - NO mail. According to latest
rumor Pappert, Coumbe & I may have a new division leader,
Gunner Way. Also we are going back to the F6F squad. along with
Ham Reidy's division. Cmdr. Southerland welcomed us back so it
may not be all scuttlebutt.
6 APRIL 1945
Strike on Kikai Jima - chased Japs all over. I helped shoot one
down! The air group. Flamed 6 planes today. Lost one Bomber &
one F6F ( Berube ) Several DD's were hit by Japs. (DD = Destroyer (also called Can which was a nick name because
they were as thin skinned as a tin can)
..........................
No comments
............................
7 APRIL 1945
We finally found the Jap Fleet - at least part of it. Sunk a Yamato
BB- 2 CL - 4 DD's. I flew 5 1/2 hours in an F6F on one hop. The
air group shot down 10 planes. Ship under attack by Japs all day.
The Hancock hit by a Kamikaze ( 30 killed. ) We lost all four
of the Marine Replacement Pilots. One Bomber lost. Pappert, Coumbe
& I flew with El Groupo. Had a ring-side seat for the whole
show. We got direct hits in the Pacific Ocean with 1000 lb Bombs!
7 April
1945 — Ring side view . . .
Sink the Yamato
Our Air Group Commander,
(CDR Utter), was coordinator for the attack. We flew
on his wing at about 3000 feet while he called the
shots. First calling in the F6F and F4U fighters to
strafe, then the dive bombers and the torpedo planes.
I saw one TBM drop his fish and it headed straight
for the Yamato, but a Jap can got in its way. Blew
the Jap destroyer completely in half. All the ships
were firing, and the Yamato tried to hit us with those
big 18-inch guns. We could look right down the barrels,
and when they fired, it looked like red-hot molten
metal coming out of the muzzles. They couldn't get
enough elevation to hit us but it was an awesome sight.
The Japanese battleship Yamato
under attack by U.S. Navy planes in the East China
Sea on April 7, 1945. She sank after being hit by
10 torpedos and five bombs. (National Archives)
Editor's
note: Yamato and her sister ship, Musashi were the
biggest battleships ever built (the third hull,
Shinano, was converted to an aircraft carrier while
still under construction but was sunk on her maiden
cruise.*) The battleships displaced 72,000
tons with 18.1-inch guns. By comparison, Germany's
Bismark displaced 45,000 tons. Britain's King George
class came in at 35,000 tons with 14-inch guns.
The US Navy's North Carolina and Washington were
35,000 tonners with 16-inch guns. Even the mighty
USS Missouri (Iowa Class) weighed in at 58,000 tons
with 16-inch guns. There were four of these dreadnoughts:
Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, and Wisconsin.
*See World War
II, November 2001
"First and Last Cruise of Shinano"
After all the planes had made
their runs and left for home, we were the only four
left in the area. Some of the ships were on their
sides and some were sinking, so our leader had a bright
idea: "Lets go in and get a hit on the Yamato
before we leave," he said. We were all for it,
so we headed in for the final blow, but since we were
the only targets in sight, every ship opened up on
us, even those on their sides.
It was a solid curtain of gunfire
and almost certain curtains for us. Then our leader
had another brilliant idea, "Lets do a 180 and
get the hell out of here" — which we were
most happy to do. We dropped our bombs and headed
for the Ship. We landed aboard on fumes because we
had been lugging those 1000 pounders for most of the
hop.
...........................
The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
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8 APRIL 1945
Flew Target Combat Patrol over Okinawa. One attack made on ship
by Jap plane - he missed. It seems that Pappert, Coumbe and I
are flying for the F6F's & F4U's to. This old ---- has got
to come to a focus. Three of the four Marines were picked up!
Have
you ever flown a F6F before?
Hellcats &
Corsairs
Since we three
were qualified in both the Hellcat and Corsair, they
didn't hesitate to assign us to fly either
F6F Hellcat folding wings
plane
as needed. This was a real challenge as the two planes
had different flying characteristics. I remember the
first time I was assigned to fly the F6F after flying
the F4U exclusively since coming
aboard. One very dark morning I climbed into the cockpit
of a Hellcat that was sitting on the catapult, using
a flashlight. I started looking the instrument and controls
over. The plane handler climbed up on the wing and asked
if everything was OK. I said I thought so but would
he please point out the bomb arming switch. He looked
startled and asked if I had ever flown the plane before.
Got it all settled and was catapulted off into the wild
black yonder.
............................
9 APRIL 1945
No flying today. Re-fueled & took on ammo & new planes.
Got 22 letters ( Feb18 to March 3) Joe knaus ran ran out of gas
& went into the drink - 4 ½ hours without a belly tank
is too much! Reidy's & our division are going to adopt a new
insignia - "The Free Lancers" because we are flying
for both squadrons.
9 April
1945 — We never knew what we would be flying
The Purple Shaft
Actually, we called
it the Purple Shaft because we never knew what we
would be flying from day to day. Carrier operations
are not a good place to
Wave off!!
screw around like
that. Strange as it may seem, the Corsair landed easier
and "pulled less wire" due to the big flaps,
which slowed it down more than the Hellcat.
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The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
............................
10 APRIL 1945
Strike on Minami Daito Jima. Bombed and strafed AA positions -
weather closed in this PM Danny Gray is lost and has no radio.
He must be almost out of gas now. (2000)
10 April
1945 — sound gradually faded . . .
Alone at Night
This is a sad story.
Danny Gray was a cheerful little guy whom everyone liked.
We could hear him flying overhead in the soup but couldn't
help him. He had no radio and had plotted his return to
the ships position but had no way of knowing when he was
over it. We stood on the flight deck and listened to the
sound of his engine as it gradually faded and he disappeared
into the dark — to finally exhaust his fuel and land
in the sea at night.
............................
11 APRIL 1945
Danny has not been found. Hank Graham, our exec. was flamed by
Jap today?? The ship was under attack most of the day. Two planes
dived on us. One near miss. It shook up up considerable. Ships
A.A. splashed 9 Kamikazes. Don't see how we can take 4 months
of this and come out alive
11 April
1945 — Jap suicide planes just kept coming
Trying Times
These were trying times.
Nobody could relax, and the ship's crew had to stay at General
Quarters (highest state of alert) around the clock. All
ship's hatches were kept closed and food was sometimes eaten
on station.
We Pilots felt a sense of relief when we were flying, even
though that was also rather stressful. I remember seeing
one man suddenly lose it and start beating his head against
a steel gun mount. There was no relief in sight and Jap
suicide planes just kept coming day and night.
...........................
The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
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12 APRIL 1945
Flew combat patrol over Okinawa - bogies all around but we didn't
get any. The air group ( F6F's & F4U's ) shot down 13 today.
Pappert, Coumbe & I are definitely in the F6F sqd. now. At
least until the ship gets in more F4U's.–
13 APRIL 1945
Flew target cap at Okinawa-searched for downed pilot.I found part
of life raft. Coumbe found and exploded a Jap mine.
we saw a
body floating . . .
Okinawa
We were making one or
two combat flights over Okinawa every day, and once we saw
a body floating near the beach. Knowing the Japs were waiting
for a salvage attempt, it was deemed inadvisable to try
to recover the body. So, day after day, we would see the
body as we flew from the ship to targets on land. Finally,
it had disappeared completely. Never did find out who it
was.
............................
14 APRIL 1945
Re-fueled - got two letters & a card from my boy. Flew combat
air patrol over ship. Tallyhoed one weather balloon.
15 APRIL 1945
Flew T-cap over Okinawa - no bogies - just routine- Ham Reidy
was in a sweep over kyshu - shot down 2 planes. Clem Wear got
one too. Tomorrow we have the same thing! To hell with that place.
16 APRIL 1945
Started on sweep over Kyushu - got as far as Amamia O Shima (
about ½ way ) when the Skipper's plane went bad. We fired
rockets & strafed that island & I escorted him back. Pappert
& Coube went on & Pap helped shoot down a Zeke. We lost
Bouldin, Wear and Tommy Ward. Wear and Ward went into the water
& a rescue mission is out now. Bouldin is a P.W. Reidy saw
him on the ground beside his plane with some Jap kids around him.
I could only get three guns to fire & Ham only one! Our fleet
was under attack all day - 8 ships hit - 2 DD's sunk. The Intrepid
was hit. One two engined plane was splashed just now ( 1900 )
Tommy Ward was picked up but Wear couldn't be found. Maybe a sub
got him.
17 APRIL 1945
Flew Cap - Fleet under attack most of the day - Our AA splashed
three KK"s diving on ships. Rescue mission picked up Clem
Wear, up by Kyushu & a night fighter who was shot down last
night. Two Intrepid pilots shot down a B-25 The Intrepid is going
home.
................................ No comments
...........................
The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
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18 APRIL 1945
Re-fueled today - got two letters- One of our bombers spun in
during landing - pilot not recovered - tomorrow big day at Okinawa.
Ace, ( Lt.Rach ) was killed on take- off this morning. Today we
have been in combat one month & have lost 9 pilots in the
F4U sqd alone - 17%
suffered
more casualties
Corsair Squadron
The Corsair squadron
lost more pilots because most of them came from nonfighter
squadrons.
Deck launch in rough seas.
They had not been trained sufficiently
in fighter tactics before going into combat and consequently
suffered more casualties.
............................
19 APRIL 1945
Flew two hops today. The first one was a strike on southern part
of Okinawa in support of the big push by ground troops. Bombed
& strafed the town of Iwa. We blew it all to hell and set
the place on fire... The second hop was a CAP over the BB's shelling
the Island. Expecting a big KK attack tomorrow. Clem & Ward
are back.
20 APRIL 1945
Strike on Southern Okinawa. Bombed, strafed & fired rockets
in the town of Inasomi. Mistook a lot of corngrinders for gun
employments. Kincaid just made 2500th landing aboard the Essex.
This air group has made over 3000 landings in past 30 days.
21 APRIL 1945
Flew "T-Cap" over ringleader base at Okinawa. The big
Jap attack we expected didn't materialize today - probably tomorrow.
22 APRIL 1945
Flew 5 hours air support hop... Fired rockets & strafed,
( 2000 rounds ) trenches, caves, gun employments and enemy tanks
near town of Kazamito. 5 Jap planes shot down near task force
this afternoon. Last transmission of on Jap pilot just before
being shot down was "Banzi." Tomorrow is re-fueling
day - looking for lots of mail.
23 APRIL 1945
Re-fueled and re-armed today. Pappert, Coume and I went aboard
a DD ( via Breeches Buoy ) for transportation to the USS Bougainville.
Picked up 3 F4U's... Got 14 letters.
24 APRIL 1945
Didn't fly today! Bad weather - 0 - 0- . The first time we have
failed to aviate because of weather since we started flying out
of here.
25 APRIL 1945
Bad weather today but we flew just the same. Target CAP over Cognac
Base North of Ie Shima- ceiling 300 ft. Visibility ½ mile.
26APRIL 1945
Bad weather again- got in some instrument flying- bombed &
strafed trenches & caves on South Okinawa. Set three houses
on fire - looks rugged over there- saw mid-air collision between
two bombers.Pilot& Crewmen bailed out & were rescued
28 APRIL 1945
Flew CAP over Fleet- Lots of Bogies hit Okinawa. The BG
( Battle Group ) shot down 29 - we had a night attack- total shot
down - 32.
29 APRIL 1945
Under attack during afternoon- The F6F's got 3. Lost one pilot.
Heard garbled word on the German surrender. One of our hospital
ships was bombed 167 killed, wounded & missing.
30 APRIL 1945
Flew CAP oat 25000 feet over base- Routine- no Bogies, no attack.
Scuttlebutt has it we are going back to Ulitni the 14th.
1 MAY 1945
Re-fueled today - No mail.
2 MAY 1945
Flew CAP- routine, some friendly planes strafed our own troops
on Okinawa - Killed 7 Wounded 17. Bad weather!
3 MAY 1945
Didn't fly - weather very bad- most hops canceled- only CAPS flying.
Our room looks like a work shop. Everybody making watch bands
etc.
4 MAY 1945
Good weather - the air group shot down 38 Japs today - lost Gibby
from our squadron. One DD sunk & a couple damaged by KK's.
207 Japs downed by us since March 18. ( 46 days) TF58 has downed
over 1000 planes since April 1. ( 34 days )
5 MAY 1945
Flew air support on South Okinawa, fired rockets, bombed &
strafed trenches, artillery guns & AA Positions. They are
shooting at us more than usual lately - 5 hr hop!
6 MAY 1945
Re-fueled - got 4 letters - rumor that we won't go back to Ulithi
until end of the month.
7 MAY 1945
Shipping strike at Amimi - Dropped 1000 pounder & strafed
ships in harbor. Dropped incendiaries on town at Kikai. Quite
a bit of AA up there & bad weather don't help. Corsair cracked
up on deck- pilot hurt.
8 MAY 1945
Bad weather - nobody flew today- sea getting rough. Heard war
is over in Europe - doesn't seem to mean much out here - bet everyone
back home is getting pie-eyed. Rumor had it we will go to Loyete
the last of this month for re-provision.
9 MAY 1945
Crapped out again today- We have been making gadgets in our room.
Lost two very good friends today - Smitty was shot down by AA
over Amami. Jimmy Tuckel was killed last nite when taking off
from the Enterprise which is cruising right behind us. 0300- The
Skipper just left- Everyone ( Pap, Coumbe & I ) D.A.!!
10 MAY 1945
Refueled... got 4 letters.
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The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
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11 MAY 1945
Flew Close Air Support for Marine troops on Okinawa. My plane
shot up by ground fire.
The whole
countryside was flat!
My Plane Was Hit!
My plane was hit by AA
while I was firing rockets and strafing trenches and barracks.
Artillery and battleships were laying down a barrage. The
whole countryside was flat! We were under attack. We splashed
a couple of Japs and other squadrons got more. Bunker Hill
was hit by two kamikazes and was badly damaged.
............................
12 May 1945
Flew air support over Okinawa. Had engine failure over front lines.
Made dead-stick landing at Youtan Field.
13 MAY 1945
Slept on the ground and ate K rations. Had a bombing raid by Japs.
Checked on getting my plane fixed. Saw all the boys from the Bunker
Hill. They were going back to the states.
14 MAY 1945
Went up in the hills of North Okinawa. Saw lots of Natives and
burned out stuff. I also checked out some caves. Heard later they
were Jap soldiers in the caves. Jap planes raided us about dark.
Our AA got one but a suicide plane hit a battleship in the harbor.
Found a cot in a Marine tent to sleep on. Dust very bad.
15 MAY 1945
Went up to the front lines. Saw lots of dead Marines and Japs...
The stink was awful. Bulldozers were covering up the Japs. Had
another bombing raid about 0200. Spent most of the night in a
foxhole.
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The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
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16 MAY 1945
It rained all night. No raid by Japs. Saw actual white woman (nurse).
Mud knee deep. Saw two planes from the Essex come in. Jumped in
a plane and joined up with them. Flew back to the ship. Found
out the Enterprise had a bad hit by a Kamikaze and is going home...
so is our Skipper.
I almost
became a dead Junior Officer
On Okinawa
I wore my flight suit
all the time on the ground. It got quite smelly, but so
did the Marines, so no one noticed. I left word with the
tower to get in touch with me if they saw any Essex planes
come in, then I went sightseeing . I found a cave full of
drums of Jap gasoline. I rushed back and proudly reported
it to the Marines in our tent. They scoffed and explained
that it was of such low octane it wouldn't burn in our Jeeps.
However, they did show me how to cook with it by filling
a can with rocks, pouring the Jap gas in and lighting it.
I also found one cave with stacks of ammo boxes. I brought
a case back and again the Marines were ahead of me. The
cases were full of cone shaped, brass nose fuses for Jap
AA guns. I was shown how to unscrew them and burn out the
black powder so they could be used as paperweights. I brought
some back to ship.
I was a very junior officer. On my first experience with
a night bombing raid by Japs I almost became a dead junior
officer. The night sky was ablaze with searchlights, tracer
fire, and bomb explosions. To me it was an exciting fireworks
display, and I stood and gawked until one of the Marines
helped me into a foxhole with his big boondocker boots.
The white woman referred to before was a Navy Nurse on
a plane there to evacuate the wounded. She was a blonde
and wearing a skin tight nylon Navy flight suit. Everything
came to a halt while she was there and for some reason many,
many Marines found a reason to be in the vicinity.
After I had joined up with the two Essex planes, it was
discovered that I could not raise them on the radio because
I didn't know what frequency they were using or the identification
call of the day for the ship. So, I just tucked in close
and flew wing on them till we arrived in the vicinity of
the ship and got the usual burst of AA fire from them. This
was not uncommon because everybody on board was so stressed
out and trigger-happy they would shoot first and ask questions
later. I landed aboard the very clean ship with very clean
aircraft in my very muddy plane and dirty flight suit. It
sure stood out too.
............................
17 MAY 1945
Flew patrol over Amami-dropped firebombs, strafed and fired rockets
on boats and AA guns. Set a plane on fire on the ground. AA getting
much worse up there.
Those are
paravanes you dummy . . .
New Division Leader
After the Skipper left,
we (Pappert, Coumbe, and I) had no division leader. Ole
Ed Pappert stepped up and said, "follow me boys, I
am the new division leader." This was great because
we had been flying together all along and knew each others'
flight characteristics very well. It also made us a three-plane
division, unless someone was assigned to the #4 "Tail
end Charlie" position. Once we were flying CAP over
the fleet when someone started yelling that there were two
midget submarines following one of the ships. Ed came up
on the radio and said, "Those are paravanes you dummy."
Sure enough they were — small tapered tanks with fins,
which were towed by a minesweeper to explode floating mines.
...........................
The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
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18 MAY 1945
Flew 0500 CAP at 25,000 feet. Made strike on Amami. We lost two
torpedo planes. My good friend Boatright was flying one of them.
Rest of month will be same-o-same-o according to flight schedule..
19 MAY 1945
No fly - refueled- got lots of letters.
20 MAY 1945
Flew target CAP over Okinawa - no Bogies- Bad weather - Ens. Jones
spun in- they buried him at 1830 this evening- he was a F4U pilot.
21 MAY 1945
Had the duty! Bad weather- Rough day! The Japs attacked the ships
around Okinawa with 35 planes & several submarines. 25 planes
were shot down & some of the subs sunk. Some of our ships
were damaged but I don't know if any were sunk. Two Jap DE's &
one transport were sunk. Guess we go to Leyte for 10 days on the
27th.
22 MAY 1945
No fly - bad weather.
23 MAY 1945
No fly- refueled- No mail. Japs spotted us & we broke off
from tankers at noon. Sent strike to Kikai in bad weather- tomorrow
we go Jap hunting.
24 MAY 1945
50 Plane sweep on Kyshu ( Japan ) Fired rockets & strafed
planes on ground at Ashuri Airfield - Two airborn Zekes splashed
- two Pelican planes went down - pilot of one recovered. Got AA
blast under my tail and cracked my back again AA pretty thick.
25 MAY 1945
Flew CAP in the worst weather I have ever flown in (4 hrs ) Ceiling
) - to 200 ft. Visibility 0 to 1/4 mile- the Japs attacked Okinawa
again - about 40 planes.
26 MAY 1945
No FLY - bad weather - big Jap attack on Okinawa today - we aren't
going to Leyte tomorrow. Jap planes landed at Yonton & the
crews got out & destroyed some planes before the Marines killed
them.
27 MAY 1945
Refueled - got Lots'a mail.
28 MAY 1945
Flew pre-dawn CAP in bad weather. Heard three Japs splashed &
someone got shot up by a "Tony" ( Jap Plane) The Task
Force has been changed from 58 to 38 with Mc Kane & Halsey
in charge instead of Mitscher & Spruance. I hear they're rough
boys. We may go to Leyte soon.
29 MAY 1945
NO fly - we are on the way to Leyte. After 79 days at sea they
finally decided to let us have 10 whole days off - anchored off
the lovely island of Leyte. We all got Cholera shots & feel
like hell. Saw our first movie in three months - it was a stinker.
30 MAY 1945
No fly - standby - ships gunners target practice on drones. Lay
on flight deck & got sun burned. I hear Leyte has four "O"
Clubs!
31 MAY 1945
No fly- tomorrow nobody fly. SCHEDULED FLIGHT OPERATIONS TOMORROW
X,. NONE = = = = BIG DAY OFF X ( quoting from the tickertape)
1 JUNE 1945
Philippine Islands
We dropped the hook at 0927 this morning. I missed winning the
Anchor Pool by 4 minutes. Didn't go ashore today - will make it
tomorrow - beer (cold) found out we have steamed over 33,000 miles
since March 14 ( 21/2 months). Coumbe & I have been fishing
from the port-hole - didn't catch anything - also have flown over
25,000 hrs.
2 JUNE 1945
Went ashore - Tacloban Beach & "O" Club - drank
beer all afternoon & went swimming- saw a lot of guys I knew
- received 5 packages.
3-4 JUNE 1945
Repeated above treatment
5 JUNE 1945
Same
6 JUNE 1945
Ditto
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The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
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7 JUNE 1945
A P- 38 crashed into the Randolph - anchored a couple hundred
yards from us. I heard the Hornet & Bennington were beat up
off Kyushu - Stateside job- ( Halsey trying to make the headlines
again by going through typhoon)
we
have done crazy stuff too . . .
P-38
The P-38 was flown
by an Army Air Force Pilot who wanted to show the
Navy how to really fly. He did put on a good show
but lost control at low
P-38R
altitude in a tight turn and
spun in, hitting the flight deck of the Randolph. He
wiped out many planes parked on deck and killed himself
in the process. We all felt sorry for him because we
have done crazy stuff like that many times.
............................
8 JUNE 1945
Nothing new- Still loading ammo. Went to Macarata & drank
beer. Bought some beads from natives.
9-10 JUNE 1945
More beer
11 JUNE 1945
Submarine alarm. The Bennington pulled in today. She is in sad
shape.
13 JUNE 1945
More beer- went to town of Tacloban & looked the place over
then to San Antonio - caught a boat to the New Mexico & mooched
a ride back to our ship. The whole US Fleet is here now- 8 big
carriers and lots of little ones. ( Cruisers, Cans and Subs )
14-15-16-17 JUNE 1945
Still loafing around & drinking beer. Saw lots of friends.
Expect to shove off about the 28th. Rumor has it to be an 18 day
cruise but plenty rough. Maybe Tokyo
18 JUNE 1945
Air Groups 9-12-17-82 are going back to Uncle Sugar. Also the
Hornet. We are now Senior.
19 JUNE 1945
We are all set for another cruise - shoving off in the morning.
20 JUNE to 3 JULY 1945
In hospital
4 JULY 1945
Headed for Tokyo! The Ticonderoga went to P.H.( Pearl Harbor)
We lost two pilots ( crashed )
9 JULY 1945
Tomorrow we hit Tokyo - looks like bad weather.
10 JULY 1945
We bombed airfields around Tokyo - no one saw a single airborne
aircraft - we lost no pilots- 210 sorties- Good weather - three
Japs splashed around task force - latest scuttlebutt, we go home
the 19th
14 JULY 1945
Struck Northern Honshu & Hokkaido - sunk 7 ferry boats &
other ships - no bogies over target- one Betty splashed over TF.
The battleships & cruisers shelled towns along the beach all
afternoon. Wonder what the Japs think about that! Weather is cold
& wet - we lost no pilots!
(TF = Task Force )
15 JULY 1945
Same targets - 8 planes hit by AA. All pilots OK.
16 JULY 1945
Re-fueled - tomorrow we hit Tokyo again - going after a Battleship.
18 JULY 1945
Still working on Tokyo - weather bad. Dave Horton was killed and
one bomber when in.
20 JULY 1945
I'll never believe scuttlebutt again - we sure as hell didn''t
go home on the 19th.
22 JULY 1945
The ungarbled word - we go home Aug. 28th - seven more strike
days-
24 JULY 1945
Strikes again on Kure Harbor- Northern Kyushu & Southern Honshu.
Bombed cruiser. (natori class ) & carrier - airfield &
shipping. Coumbe made a water landing after dark in very bad rain
squall. Some landed on other ships - Jeeter shot down a "Mert"
today. No pilots lost!
25 JULY 1945
More of the same - Reidy & Comstock shot down a Zeke each.
We lost one bomber pilot & one F6 F ( Weisner )
28 JULY 1945
Sam Brocato, Huey Batten & W.L. Clark shot down a plane each.
Brings our total to 226. We bombed & rocketed cruiser &
cans in Kure Harbor - also a hospital ship by mistake. Got rocket
hits on carrier at Oita. The 300,000th landing was made on the
Essex. Lost no pilots.
30 JULY 1945
Hit Tokyo again -
1 AUGUST 1945 1945
We were supposed to hit Korea (310 miles) tomorrow but it was
called off due to typhoons. The ships had AA practice and one
of the DDs was hit with a 5 incher!
................................ No comments
...........................
The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
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4 AUGUST 1945
My birthday -- spent it between Tokyo and Iwo Jima.. The Korea
deal was on again and is now off again.. Everything SNAFU.
his cousin
had become an ace in
THE AIR FORCE!
Pappert was a relatively
serious type of guy. Once, while we were reading our mail,
he calmly announced that his cousin had become an ace with
five planes shot down. Coumbe and I were quite impressed
and asked if he was flying in the Navy or Army. Pappert
said he was flying for neither, but rather, THE GERMAN AIR
FORCE! Now since Ed was of German descent, we never doubted
him and ask what kind of planes he bagged. "Russians,"
he said, which seemed logical. Some time later (much later),
he told us that he was just joking and that it wasn't true
at all.
............................
7 AUGUST 1945
Heard of Atomic bomb being dropped on the Japs.
8 AUGUST 1945
Strikes on Japan canceled due to weather. Damn that scuttlebutt...
We didn`t go home as planned again
it could
happen to us
Inventory Duty
During a lull in flying,
the Skipper would designate some of us for inventory duty.
This meant cleaning out the locker and inventorying the
personal effects of our buddies who did not come back. It
was a sad duty but we didn't mind doing it because we knew
it could happen to us at any time.
...........................
The Original Diary text is in this column
The modern text to by Captain Wallace to explain
each entry This Column
............................
9 AUGUST 1945
Strikes on Japan.. Coumbe was shot down by AA.. Bucky Harris was
killed when a 1000 pound bomb exploded on his plane in mid air.
One bomber went straight in... no survivors. Huey Batten in an
F6F and two torpedo planes ditched and pilots were picked up by
a DD. Ship was under attack all day by suicide planes.. Several
shot down.. One DD hit. Same air plan for tomorrow as today...
no relief in sight.
10 AUGUST 1945
More strikes - Coumbe was picked up but Clem Wear spun in and
was killed trying to throw him a raft. We hear the Japs want to
quit.
................................ No comments
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11 AUGUST 1945
No strikes.. Typhoon in area... Coumbe is back aboard.
13 AUGUST 1945
Strikes on Tokyo - 10 or 12 Japs splashed around the Fleet. Three
barrier crashes on deck.
nicely
suntanned, hale, and hearty
Rescued!
On 9 August, 1945,
Lt (jg) Vern Coumbe dove his F4U for a 500-pound bomb
drop on a freighter in the Ominato Naval Base. Upon
pulling up, his plane was hit by AA fire in the oil
cooler, and the engine froze up at once. He ditched
the plane five miles south of the Jap base. He climbed
into his raft and awaited developments. After squadron
planes departed, he fought to hold his position against
a strong west wind thinking that a rescue mission
might arrive that afternoon. None did. During the
night he napped for about 45 minutes. At 0300, when
it was getting light, he found that he had drifted
to about one mile off the shore of Nakanosawa. He
saw a beach and a wooded area. He paddled furiously
to the beach, where he took his raft into the woods
and settled down for the night. Before settling down,
he buried his ring in the sand.
He said he didn't
want the Japs to get it if he was captured. At 0600,
he was half asleep when he heard planes approaching.
They were F4Us from the Essex led by Lt. Tripp. Coumbe
ran down to the beach, fired signal
Wally, John, Jack & Benny
after a friendly dog fight in Hellcats.
pistol, and waved his white
scarf. Ensign Jones spotted him and reported his position
back to the ship and to the CAP over the Task Group.
Coumbe climbed into his raft and paddled out against
a strong wind and held a position 300 yards off shore
for three hours. When he became too tired he went
back ashore.
About noon, Lt Reidy arrived
with three F4Us and one F6F from Essex, and two OS2U
float planes from the USS North Carolina. Lt (jg)
Wear flying an F4U was in the process of dropping
a raft when he made a very steep turn and crashed
in the sea about 400 feet off shore. He didn't survive.
Coumbe started swimming out into the bay (he`s a good
swimmer) toward the rescue plane. An OS2U piloted
by Lt. Jacobs landed and tossed out a line. When Coumbe
was within 25 feet of the plane, the pilot put one
foot out on the wing and the other foot on the seat.
The plane lunged in the surf and his foot kicked the
throttle open causing the plane to go
OS2U Kingfisher
scooting
off, knocking him overboard. By this time, artillery
had opened up from the Jap base, two shells landing
within 50 yards of the
two men. The scooting plane
nicely drew away Naval base gunfire so the second
OS2U piloted by Lt (jg) Oliver, could land and pick
up the two pilots. The runaway plane was strafed by
Lt. Reidy and left sinking.
The rescue plane arrived at
the USS North Carolina at 1615 and, Coumbe arrived
aboard Essex next the morning — nicely suntanned,
hale, and hearty.
