Invader March 2013 vol 31 No. 1

Vol. 31 No. 1

March 2013

The Devil's Own

Grim Reapers!

The Magazine of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association OUR HERITAGE - 13th Aero Squadron, 14 June 1917

http://www.13thbombsquadron.org • http://www.13thbombsquadron.net

March 2013

W elcome

President’s Corner

In the last Invader I mentioned the advantages at the Sierra Grand of free transportation from the hotel to and from the airport and downtown casinos, free parking, plus bowling in the hotel, special golf opportunities, a variety of dining venues, and much I am delighted to tell you more in a first-class hotel for only $79 a night. We we have hit the mother lode! will definitely enjoy our stay here. (See the “Invitation You may think I am talking Pages” in this issue to sign up.) about the September 2013 Reno Reunion – but I’m not Speaking of golf, we will have enough players for a – yet. This bonanza is in the round, which could be on Tuesday September 17th Bob Butterfield person of Don Henderson, which is a free day during the reunion. If you would a long-time Association member and wonderful like to play, please let me or Jerry Dorwart know and graphic artist whose work you have seen in many we will sign you up. previous issues of the Invader. Don has agreed to become our new Editor, replacing Bud Compton who cont. on page 3 has retired after contributing three-and-one-half years of fine editorship. We thank Bud for his many efforts in producing an excellent military magazine! to the first issue of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association's INVADER for 2013!

You will remember, among others works, the fiveplane B-57 drawing Don Henderson produced with the help of members, Bob Galbreath and John DeCillo. Don also produced the masterful 37-plane collage of all 13th aircraft (from 1917 to Present Day) that was presented to the squadron at the Whiteman AFB ceremony in 2005, when the 13th became a B-2 squadron. Be sure and read Don’s first column in this issue and take a few minutes to support him by sending in a story or two he can print in future issues.

We are honored to have his talents and dedication for all members to enjoy.

The INVADER is the official newsletter of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association, a Non-profit organization. The INVADER is published three times yearly for the benefit of the Association members. Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Association or of the Department of the Air Force. *Members of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association must maintain contact with the Association or “after two years of not communicating with the association, a member will no longer receive the INVADER or the Directory”.

Editor: Don Henderson 254 Freeport Road New Kensington, PA 15068-5421 Tel: (412) 417-6667 e-mail: Don.Henderson.57@gmail.com

The other bonanza is in Reno where you can see some of the mother lode silver in the downtown casinos when you travel to Nevada for our September 16thThe INVADER masthead displays the principal combat aircraft 20th reunion at the Sierra Grand Hotel and Casino. of the 13th Squadron since its initial activation in 1917.

This will be our first fall reunion since we changed to ©13th Bomb Squadron Association 2013 spring in 2010. The conflicts for some with graduations and weddings, and without a lower price benefit made Our cover photo features Princeton graduate and sports legend, Hobey Baker, one of the original pilots with the the move back to the fall a preferred season.

13th Aero Squadron in WWI. See the story on page 10.

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March 2013 “President’s Corner” cont. from page 2

tunnels and caves with food supplies in case of attack.

The strike destroyed 97-percent of the town, but very few fatalities occurred because nearly all the people were in the shelters which protected them against the napalm and white phosphorus weapons that were dropped.

In the last Invader, Chrly Hinton wrote about disposing of 13th memorabilia that is in his possession. Before any action is taken to send these items elsewhere, Chrly is going to make a list which can be forwarded to the squadron at Whiteman to see what provisions they have for displaying them. In addition to the Air Force Museum, other smaller military museums may be considered for “on-loan” displays.

In the 1990s, Howard exchanged letters and photos with the Mayor of Akuné which provided him with much of this information. Howard was the mission I spoke with Walt Schlagel, Reaper-1951 on his commander that day, while the 13th Squadron was 88th birthday in December. His wife, Gloria, told lead by Major Donald McClellan. me he has had hospice now for two months and is Thanks Howard for sharing that historic mission with pretty much house bound. Walt said when they were the Association. traveling, he and Gloria had wonderful times at the 13th reunions and loved the camaraderie. He said he My last words for this column are about a very exciting was still in touch with a few Reapers and asked me "Maybe He Can Come" Special Guest who has been to send his best wishes to all his Association friends. invited to our reunion at Reno. He has expressed an interest in attending; however, we may not know if In the July 2012 Invader, we announced that Harry he can come until the last minute. You do not want to D. (Van) Van Wye, an electrician in the 13th Bomb miss the chance to speak with this Amazing Airman.

Squadron 1954-55 had passed away on April 2011.

Keep your fingers crossed he will be able to attend.

Upon seeing this in our In Memoriam section, his good friend and squadron mate Gerald L. (Gary) Roberts Just as the Invader was being sent to the publisher, we telephoned the family to extend his condolences. received word that Chrly Hinton fell on January 22nd Upon talking with Van’s daughter Sue Adams, Gary and was rushed to the emergency room at the local learned that Van had not died, but that death had hospital. He had torn his external oblique muscle occurred to his wife of nearly 59 years, Ruth, who badly on his side and was in a lot of pain. Five days had suffered through a long illness. Van said he after returning home he developed pneumonia. He wanted to tell his friends that he was in good health returned to the hospital where it was determined that and enjoys reliving his squadron days with them. the epiglottis and nasophanyx in his throat were not working. I spoke with his wife, Lois, on February 4th, God Bless you, Van. and she said he had eaten that day for the first time; Our Secretary, Tighe Carvey, received a note from she said he had not had a stroke and was starting to member Harold L. Naslund, a pilot in 1944-45 feel better. He is expected to go home in two-three regarding the last mission the 3rd Bomb Group flew days to begin his recovery. I'm sure Chrly would like in World War II. It was a three-squadron, 27-plane, to hear some get-well wishes from his old friends.

A-20 mission, on August 12, 1945, against the Japanese town of Akuné on the southwest coast of Reaper Pride.

Kyushu. Howard said the town had not been hit before Bob Butterfield but that they had an early warning system in place and 3

March 2013

Officers of the Association President

1st Vice President/ Association Historian

Secretary

Robert (Bob) Butterfield 7912 Madison Plantation Way Fredericksburg, VA 22407 rl.butterfield@hotmail.com

Charles W. Hinton 585 Teakwood Ave. Satellite Beach, FL 32937 chinton@cfl.rr.com

2nd Vice President

Edward (Tighe) Carvey 6980 Olympic View Ct. Silverdale, WA 98383 tcarvey@wavecable.com

Member at Large WWII

Edward D. Connor Jr. 1217 Earnestine St. McLean, VA 22101-2646 ravenfive5@verizon.net

Member at Large GWAT

Colonel Karl J. Shawhan 4014 Buccaneer Blvd.

Plattsmouth, NE 68048 shawhan9@gmail.com

Treasurer

Member at Large Korea

Member at Large Vietnam

James R.(Bob) Parks 3219 Tavern Oaks St. San Antonio, TX, 78247 bob-parks@satx.rr.com

Association Locator Data Manager

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Gerald E. (Jerry) Dorwart 1849 Ramsgate Ct. Ft. Collins, CO 80524 gedorwart@comcast.net

Roger Bauman 5664 S. Basalt Ave. Boise, ID 83716-9007 rbauman@cableone.net

Roy (Bud) Compton 2021 158th Street NW Marysville, WA 98271 budcomp13@frontier.com

Norris Olson 3620 Belmont Rd. Grand Forks, ND 58201 norriso1@gra.midco.net

March 2013

Letters to Editor Dear Editor,

Dear Robert L. Butterfield,

The 13th Tactical Bomb Squadron (Ubon RTAFB, Thailnd, 1970-1972) held a reunion from 12 October to 15 October 2012 at the Ramada Plaza Beach Resort in Fort Walton Beach (FWB), Florida. As many of you know, the 13th at Ubon was in every respect a unique unit with a unique mission.No other aircraft had ever My husband was laid to rest in his red jacket, with been equipped with such a variety of systems that his red hat and medals along side of him. He had a when combined together could deliver awesome, and military funeral. in some cases spectacular results. And these systems, I still have my red & white 13th Bomb Squadron as maintained, flown and tested by 13th ground and aircrew personnel during combat operations in South Grim Reapers Scarf!

East Asia, are predecessors to those employed today in Sincerely, our modern combat aircraft. Those who served with the 13th during that time can be justifiably proud to have Mary Jo Gruenwald been a part of that special moment in combat aviation history!

Dear Editor, The Ramada Plaza proved to be exceptional; with I really enjoyed the stories in issue Vol. 30 #3! a private "Oasis" converted into the 13th "hootch" I’m inspired to share some stories of my own. I was where snacks & libations were served and stories told. a Weapons Mechanic at Phan Rang 1967-68. We From the Bar Czar's financial reports, it appears that had decent barracks, not far from the Airmans Club attendees were pleased. The hosts also provided visits and the Tape Recording Center and a trailer with a to the USAF Armament Museum and the Museum of few washing machines. For recreation, we would Naval Aviation, both were enjoyable and educational. have ‘outdoor’ movies as the theater wasn’t built yet. These museums are two of the most interesting aviation We also had horseshoes out behind our hut on the facilities in the U.S. militaty museum inventory. If you flightline. We would take occassional trips down to haven't had a chance to visit them, you may want to put FWB on your vacation calendar. Of course, the the ‘Aussies’ to a part and a pint or 2 in their club. attendees also had a chance to visit the sugar white I was the Crew Chief on a 4 man Bomb Crew. We beaches and some great restaurants, both in FWB handled mosly 500 Pounders, Napalm and rarely and Destin, Florida. By adding a bit of golf and some loaded Fragmentation Bombs, though these may have shopping to a fun-filled Saturday capped off by a been loaded a Clark AFB, it’s been a few years now. superb banquet, the hosts were able to keep their guests entertained and out of trouble!

I enjoyed working with guns, as it would be just 2 of us going out to clean, check over the 50’s and lift the Throughout the weekend the members talked about ammo cans by hand. I was on the ground and Mike the future of stand-alone reunions for the "Ubonites".

Compton would be up top on the wing as he was too From those conversations a consensus arose that this short to lift the ammo up. If 20mm Cannons were event was the last stand-alone, and that it is time for used then our 4 man crew would upload the ammo us from Ubon to join the larger 13th Bomb Squadron Association reunions. So expect to see more of us in using using the MJ-1.

Reno and future association events!

Rick Floding, With Warm Regards & Reaper Pride, Weapons Mechanic, Phan Rang 1967-68 C.J. "Charlie" Brown Pilot, B-57G, 13th TBS, 1969-70

Thank you for your sympathy letter. I and our family really appreciate it. We have a lot of good memories of all the reunions we have attended. And we have made it to all 50 States through them! Gliff was really sick this past year.

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March 2013

Letters to Editor Dear Editor,

Some E-mails I got from Marie Stovall:

I knew Lt Col Walter S. King, (13th bomb Squadron Commander October 1950 - February 1951, KIA).

Lt Col King was a highly decorated and well liked officer. The only parachute harness large enough for him was an old B-9 Parachute, I fitted Lt Col King with the old out-dated B-9. Lt Col King told me he had been a parachute rigger in the old days. Back then you had to jump with a parachute you packed yourself!

I am Marie Stovall and my grandfather was William Howard Stovall, an ace from WWI. I see that you research the different images of Oscar and we still have his original canvas in his home, framed of course. I have a picture of it if you would like it for your collection.

I am also in possession of over 200 letters from WWI from Hank and his brother in law M.E. Carter about their time in France. I am working on publishing a book of those letters

In my time, we put a parachute on a dummy, took it Cheers! up in a plane and kicked it out, if it blossomed fully Marie in 10 seconds, you passed! In my class, we started out with 30 men at the end of our training, only four of us Such a quick response! I have several photos of Hank finished the class! when he was with the 13th Aero Squadron, along I finally told the CO that I was going to condemn with several of his brother in law, M.E. from his time those out-dated chutes and they would not be able to at Issoudun and Paris. M.E. Hank, Guion Armstrong fly! The very next day a 6x6 pulled up with 50 brand and several others from Memphis were instuctors new parachutes! prior to leaving for a squadron.

In the world of parachute riggers, if someone survived I have to tell you this Oscar is in the back hall of his a jump with a parachute you packed, it was customary home and when I was a little girl I had to walk past to send them a bottle of whiskey! We had a gunner it at night to get to my room and that thing scared the who survived an emergency jump, he told me the hell out of me! It is from his time as Squadron Leader chute rocked one time and he was on the ground! He for the 13th after his good friend Guion Armstrong sent me a bottle of whiskey! Surviving a jump entitles was killed. you to be a member of the Caterpillar Club!

The manuscript is pushing 100 pages single spaced We had a young pilot in the squadron who wore a hat and I am beginning to look for funding to publish that ran down the back of his neck and he wore a 45 it. I am really hoping that I can find a way to have strapped to his leg with a tie down. I warned him one a documentary made, the information from these time that if he ever bailed out with that pistol strapped letters is facinating. to his leg like that, it would take his leg off!

Cheers!

When landing one time, he came in high and turned Marie the B-26 up on one wing, then fire-balled it down the runway burning up the brakes trying to get it stopped!

William Dawson, 13th Bomb Squadron Personal Equipment Specialist 1950-52, Japan & Korea.

The Oscar from 1st Lt Hank Stovall's Spad #15

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March 2013

EARLY AMERICAN AVIATION HISTORY

By Denham S. Scott

How many of you know that in 1910, mighty Martin Marietta got its start in an abandoned California church? That's where Glenn L. Martin with his amazing mother Minta Martin and their mechanic, Roy Beal constructed a fragile biplane that Glenn taught himself to fly.

It has often been told how Douglas Aircraft started operations in 1920 in a barbershop's backroom on L.A.'s Pico Boulevard .

Interestingly, the barbershop is still operating.

The Lockheed Company built the first of their famous Vega aircraft in 1927 inside a building currently used by Victory Cleaners at 1040 Sycamore in Hollywood .

In 1922, Claude Ryan, a 24 year old military reserve pilot, was getting his hair cut in San Diego, when the barber mentioned that the 'town's aviator' was in jail for smuggling Chinese illegal’s up from Mexico. Claude found out that if he replaced the pilot 'sitting in the pokey,' that he would be able to lease the town's airfield for $50 a month - BUT he also needed to agree to fly North and East - BUT not South!

Glenn L. Martin

airplanes and eventually the Boeing Company we know today.

A former small shipyard nicknamed 'Red Barn' became Boeing Aircraft's first home. Soon, a couple of airplanes were being built inside, each of them having a remarkable resemblance to Glenn Martin's airplanes .. that, interestingly, had its own remarkable resemblance to Glenn Curtiss' airplanes.

Northrop's original location was an obscure Southern California hotel. It was available because the police had raided the hotel and found that its steady residents were money-minded gals entertaining transitory male hotel guests.

A few years later, when the Great Depression intervened and Boeing couldn't sell enough airplanes to pay his bills, he diversified into custom built speed boats and furniture for his wealthy friends.

Glenn Martin built his first airplane in a vacant church, before he moved to a vacant apricot cannery in Santa Ana . He was a showman and he traveled the county fair and air meet circuit as an exhibitionist aviator. From his exhibition proceeds, Glenn was able to pay his factory workers and purchase the necessary wood, linen and wire. His mother, Minta, and two men ran the factory while Glenn risked his neck and gadded about the country. One of his workers was 22-year old Donald Douglas [who WAS the entire engineering department]. A Santa Monica youngster named Larry Bell [later founded Bell Aircraft which today is Bell Helicopter Textron] ran the shop.

After WWI, a bunch of sharpies from Wall Street gained control of the Wright Brothers Co. in Dayton and the Martin Company in L.A. and 'stuck them' together as the Wright-Martin Company.

Wright-Martin began building an obsolete biplane design with a foreign Hispano-Suiza engine. Angered because he had been out maneuvered with a bad idea, Martin walked out .. taking Larry Bell and other key employees with him.

From the deep wallet of a wealthy baseball mogul, Martin was able to establish a new factory. Then his good luck continued, when the future aviation legend Donald Douglas, was persuaded

by Glenn to join his team. The Martin MB-1 quickly emerged from the team's efforts and became the Martin Bomber.

Another part of Glenn Martin's business was a flying school with several planes based at Griffith Park, and a seaplane operation on the edge of Watts where his instructors taught a rich young man named Bill Boeing to fly. Later, Boeing bought one of Glenn Martin's seaplanes and had it shipped back to his home in Seattle . At this same time, Bill Boeing hired away Glenn's personal mechanic. Later, after Boeing's seaplane crashed in Puget Sound , he placed an order to Martin for replacement parts.

Although too late to enter WWI, the Martin Bomber showed its superiority when Billy Mitchell used it to sink several captured German battleships and cruisers to prove it's worth. Mitchell was later court martialed for his effort.

Still chafing from having his best mechanic 'swiped,' [a trick he later often used himself] Martin decided to take his sweet time and allowed Bill Boeing to 'stew' for a while. Bill Boeing wasn't known to be a patient man, so he began fabricating his own aircraft parts, an activity that morphed into constructing entire

In Cleveland , a young fellow called 'Dutch' Kindelberger joined Martin as an engineer. Later, as the leader of North American Aviation, Dutch became justifiably well-known.

Flashing back to 1920, Donald Douglas had saved $60,000,

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cont. on page 8

March 2013

and high performance. Soon Amelia Earhart and others flew the Vega and broke many of aviation's world records.

I had the distinct pleasure of spending time with Ed Heinemann who later designed the AD, A3D and A4D. He told me how my Dad would fly out to Palmdale with an experimental aircraft they were both working on. They would take it for a few hops and come up with some fixes. After having airframe changes fabricated in a nearby machine shop, they would hop it again to see if they had gotten the desired results. If it worked out, Mr. Heinemann would incorporate the changes on the aircraft's assembly line. No money swapped hands!

In May 1927, Lindbergh flew to Paris and triggered a bedlam where everyone was trying to fly everywhere. Before the first Lockheed Vega was built, William Randolph Hearst had already paid for it and had it entered in an air race from the California Coast to Honolulu . In June 1927, my brother, Gordon, left Douglas Aircraft to become Jack Northrop's assistant at Lockheed. While there, he managed to get himself hired as the navigator on Hearst's Vega. The race was a disaster and ten lives were lost. The Vega and my brother vanished. A black cloud hung heavily over the little shop. However, Hubert Wilkins, later to become Sir Hubert Wilkins, took Vega #2 and made a successful polar flight from Alaska to Norway. A string of successful flights after that placed Lockheed in aviation's forefront..

Martin MB-1. Although too late to enter WWI, the Martin Bomber showed its superiority when Billy Mitchell used it to sink several captured German battleships and cruisers to prove it's worth.

returned to L.A. and rented a barbershop's rear room and loft space in a carpenter's shop nearby. There he constructed a classic passenger airplane called the Douglas Cloudster.

A couple of years later, Claude Ryan bought the Cloudster and used it to make daily flights between San Diego and Los Angeles.

This gave Ryan the distinction of being the first owner/operator of Douglas transports. Claude Ryan later custom built Charles Lindbergh's 'ride' to fame in the flying fuel tank christened: The Spirit of St. Louis .

I went to work for Lockheed as it 26th employee, shortly after the disaster, and I worked on the Vega. It was made almost entirely of wood and I quickly became a half-assed carpenter.

In 1922, Donald Douglas won a contract from the Navy to build several torpedo carrying aircraft. While driving through Santa Monica 's wilderness, Douglas noticed an abandoned, barn-like movie studio. He stopped his roadster and prowled around. That abandoned studio became Douglas Aircraft's first real factory.

With the $120,000 contract in his hand, Donald Douglas could afford to hire one or two more engineers. My brother, Gordon Scott, had been schooled in the little known science of aviation at England 's Fairey Aviation, so he hired Gordon.

At this time, General Motors had acquired North American, consisting of Fokker Aircraft, Pitcairn Aviation [later Eastern Airlines] and Sperry Gyroscope, and hired Dutch Kindelberger away from Douglas to run it. Dutch moved the entire operation to L.A. where Dutch and his engineers came up with the P-51 Mustang.

My first association with the early aviation pioneers occurred when I paid my brother a visit at his new work place. Gordon was outside on a ladder washing windows. He was the youngest engineer. Windows were dirty and Douglas Aircraft Company had no money to pay janitors.

Interestingly, just a handful of young men played roles affecting the lives of all Americans ..... as it initiated the Southern California metamorphosis, from a semi-desert with orange groves and celluloid, into a dynamic complex, supporting millions.

Gordon introduced me to a towhead guy called Jack Northrop, and another chap named Jerry Vultee. Jack Northrop had moved over from Lockheed Aircraft. And all of them worked together on the Douglas Aircraft's world cruiser designs. While working in his home after work and on weekends, Jack designed a wonderfully advanced streamlined airplane. When Allan Loughead [Lockheed] found a wealthy investor willing to finance Northrop's new airplane, he linked up with Allan and together, they leased a Hollywood workshop where they constructed the Lockheed Vega. It turned out to be sensational with its clean lines

Although this technological explosion had startling humble beginnings, taking root as acorns in - a barber shop's back room - a vacant church - and an abandoned cannery - but came to fruition as mighty oaks.

Source: Denham S. Scott, North American Aviation Retirees' Bulletin

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March 2013

FRACTURED MEMORIES OF AN OLD 13TH TAIL GUNNER Here are some of my memories and bits of history as I remember it, dating back to when I was a high school dropout and I enlisted.

The Air Force, of course. Yes we had a draft, but I wanted to join the Air Force. It sure beat working on the assembly line at a candy factory.

and cracked my skull giving me a slight case of amnesia, which of course grounded me. After a short hospital stay, I was assigned to paperwork in an office. With good fortune, I was able to get the commanding officer to put me back on flight status. I missed the flight to Korea which meant, taking a slow boat called the "Benjamin Franklin" troop carrier to Japan. What seemed like a month later, I arrived in Japan and was immediately shipped out on a C-47 Gooney Bird, for an extremely bumpy ride to K-8, Korea.

I was the only one not throwing up as we got off the plane and were greeted by sirens and horns and bells. We thought that this was our welcoming committee, we found out they were foaming the runway. An Australian pilot and his Mark 4 Meteor had lost all electrical power, he could not eject, lower his gear, or get rid of his napalm, bombs and rockets. Our base was the only one with a two runway pattern and if you missed, you went for a swim.We were surrounded by the sea, rice paddies, and a reservoir. The Aussie did a spectacular maneuver, rolling the plane over enough to break off one wing and slide down the runway on his side. We were surprised and glad there was no fire. Later we found out that Australian pilots were paid by the minute, unlike us, who were paid by the hour. We just needed four hours a month to collect flight pay. With all the delay of

Boeing RB-50

After we put the RB 50’s into mothballs in Tucson, Arizona’s Boneyard, we were basically out of a job. The base commander decided to throw us into the Air Police with full training. We were assigned to guarding an empty runway. An occasional cow would stop by to keep us company. So did Curtis LeMay, who made a surprise inspection and gave our security people a heart attack.

He faked a smoking C-47 for an emergency landing to see if we were awake, he came in with cigar and all. After all this was an A-Bomb loading center, even if we had no planes.

Some of the guys got lucky and went into Air Refueling. The rest of us had to go through training that made basic training in boot camp look easy. We learned all kinds of weapons such as the Grease Gun, 12 gauge shotgun, Bolo, handguns and rifles, including the M1, and some I did not recognize. We even did the barb wire thing. We trained early in the morning and stood guard at night. Is it any wonder we volunteered to go to Korea?

Mark 4 Meteor, photo by John Harris.

getting there, I was 12 hours down. I was volunteering to get as much flying time as possible in the short period that I had to do so. Having no idea what my job was I asked an instructor and his answer was simple "0JT", in other words on job training.

There were 13 of us, remember General Curtis LeMay that Number. We all got together and wrote a letter to Gen. LeMay who was the high mucky muck boss of SAC. To say the least we got our butts in a sling for bucking the Chain of Command and the base commander decided to give us a choice, volunteer for assignment to Korea or be on permanent guard duty for the rest of our lives. We agreed, of course, Korea sounded better than guard duty. He gave us two weeks to get our stuff in order and go on leave for two weeks. As we traveled back to the base in California, we stopped in St. Louis to go swimming. That’s where I picked up otitus media, a serious ear infection. Upon arriving in California, I reported to medical where I lost consciousness, fell

It didn’t take me long to find out what all the buttons and switches and things were for. The only problem I had was that each flight was maybe 30 minutes long. I spent quite a bit of time volunteering for rides. I never flew with the same pilot twice. It was just the way the dice rolled. I must say the pilots thought that they were Mustang fighter pilots the way they flew that 26.

In defense of the Invader, I will say that the plane felt like it was a Mustang and could do all sorts of little tricks. Off the record some pilots would shut their engines off to see how far they could glide, or play chicken, or Russian roulette if you must.

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cont. on page 14

March 2013

of 1917. Once in France, Hobey showed his aptitude as a flyer, a fighter, as well as being a natural leader. Promoted to lieutenant in March 1918, Baker was soon sent to the front in April and assigned to the 103rd Aero Squadron, formed from former members of the Lafayette Escadrille and Lafayette Flying Corps in January 1918. On May 21st, he helped bring down an enemy plane for the first time in his career, but due to a complicated system of confirming kills, he was not given credit for it. In a letter home describing the battle, Baker said it was the "biggest thrill I ever had in my life", and compared it to euphoria after a big game.Throughout the spring of 1918, Baker continued to fly combat missions over the front. He also continued his relationship with Mimi Scott, who had enlisted as a nurse and worked at a hospital in Paris.

After his first confirmed kill on May 21, 1918, the French government awarded him the Croix de Guerre.

Hobey Baker

During the summer of 1918, Baker was transferred to the 13th Aero Squadron Hobart Amory Hare Baker, better known as "Hobey" was after Captain Charles J. born in Bala Cynwyd (pron.: KIN-wuud), Pennsylvania, Biddle, requested that a suburb of Philadelphia. He attended St. Paul's School in he join the squadron Concord, New Hampshire, graduating in 1909. In 1910, as a flight commander. he enrolled in Princeton University. During his time Though reluctant to leave at Princeton, he was elected to the Ivy Club, while also the 103rd, Baker felt that playing baseball, football and hockey. Because Princeton's Biddle would not have athletic rules limited athletes to participation in only two requested him without varsity sports, Baker gave up baseball, concentrating on The original 13th Aero Squadron football and hockey. By the time he graduated, he had led Oscar designed by Lt Earl Richards. confidence in his abilities.

On July 20, the 13th Aero Princeton to a national championship in football in 1911 and two national championships in hockey in 1912 and Squadron recorded its first confirmed victory during 1914. F. Scott Fitzgerald so idolized Baker that he included a flight led by Baker when he and two other 13th pilots him as a character in his 1920 novel 'This Side of Paradise'. shot down a German plane. In August, Baker was given command of his own squadron; the 141st Aero Squadron, Soon after his graduation from Princeton, Baker was composed of 26 pilots and 180 enlisted men stationed offered a job at J.P. Morgan. Through a friend, Percy R. Toul. Delays in the arrival of planes and equipment Payne III, Baker was introduced to Jeanne Marie "Mimi" meant that Baker's squadron was unable to participate Scott, a socialite, whom he began dating. Although offered in the final major offensives of the war. In September, a professional contract to play hockey for the Montreal Baker became engaged to Scott. He asked Pyne to sell a Canadians, Baker turned them down. He didn't think athletes bond to pay for an engagement ring, and the newspapers should be paid. He did continue to play ametaur hockey in the United States carried headlines that announced and traveled with an all-star team from Philadelphia. He the engagement. played his last hockey game in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at Early in October, Baker was promoted to the rank of captain. the Duquesne Gardens on March 24th, 1917.

The planes and equipment arrived for his squadron soon Hobey Baker was the restless type who thrived on action, after. Baker had the planes painted in Princeton's black and flying became the ultimate action for him. He joined orange and adopted a tiger for the squadron insignia. He General Leonard Wood’s Civil Aviation Corps and began recorded two more confirmed victories on October 28 and training on Governor’s Island in Manhattan. He was November 5, the last of his career among the first Americans to ship off for Europe in August 10

cont. on page 11

March 2013

The original members of the 13th Aero Squadron. Hobey Baker is fourth from the left.

Around the time of the armistice, Baker's engagement with wreckage by his men, but died in an ambulance. His orders Mimi Scott broke off. She then began a relationship with to return home were found in his jacket pocket. an American diplomat in Paris, Philander Cable, who she Though newspapers reported that Baker had died as a later married. result of engine failure, unsubstantiated rumors began to Missing his fiancee and the excitement of the war, Hobey circulate that his death was not accidental. Those who felt directionless. He dreaded going back to work in an knew him were aware of his reluctance to return to civilian office and considered himself a sportsman rather than a life and his sadness over the loss of Mimi. He could have businessman. Though he was scheduled to return to the returned home and played professional sports, and earned United States, Baker far more money than from a job in finance. A career in requested, and was business held no appeal. During a weekend vacation with refused an extension of a fellow Princeton graduate, Baker revealed that he felt his time in France. his life was over, and he would never again experience the thrills of football or hockey. Only Hobey Baker knows On December 21, 1918, what happened that fateful day.

Baker received orders to return home. Reluctant Hobey Baker was buried in a small military cemetery near to leave France, he Toul, but in 1921, his mother had his remains moved to the wanted to take a final family plot in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, flight at his squadron's Pennsylvania. airfield in Toul. Rather In his memory, the top US Collegiate Ice Hockey Player than take his own plane, each year is awarded the Hobey Baker Memorial Trophy. he elected to take a Jeanne Marie "Mimi" Scott recently repaired SPAD instead, that was in need of a test flight. The other pilots saw this as a bad omen and tried to persuade him against it.

In heavy rain, Baker took off and began to level off at 600 feet. A 1/4 mile into the flight, the engine failed. The SPAD was generally easy to crash-land if necessary, something Baker had done before at the cost of a few broken ribs.

A few hundred yards from the airfield, his plane crashed nose first into the ground. He was quickly freed from the

Hobey Baker's crashed SPAD, Toul, France, December 1918.

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March 2013

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Š13th Bomb Squadron Association, all rights reserved.

March 2013 One of our pilots enjoyed watching the native fisherman jumping off their sampan’s, and one day he collected a mast U bolt in one of the engines oil coolers. Once again we learned that a plane

B-26C 'Sylvia' SN 43-22342, built in Tulsa. Photo courtesy of Fred Richter.

could land on one engine quite well. To say the least, the ground mechanics were not very happy that day.

On another flight, one of our pilots took us into Mount Fuji, that’s right, directly into the crater! We waved at the weather station guys from NATO as we passed. Another time we decided to find out how good Tokyo radar was as we flew along the beach kicking sand up into my gun sight. They did see us by getting out of their little radar shacks and shaking their fists at us for some reason.

Several of our flights involved returning the planes to Japan for refitting, repairs, or overhauls. On one of these flights the GCA controller brought us in downwind, and the pilot could not get the plane to settle down on the runway and at the last minute decided to try and go around. Too late, the plane hit the tarmac, barely missing the end of the runway for a 500-foot drop into the sea. Applying brakes, shoe leather, and prayers, we managed a motorcycle turn at the end of the runway heading back to the hangars, we got a call on the radio asking us to please stop. The fire trucks were having a hard time catching up to us, and our landing gear was blazing away. Let’s just say, we had a weenie roast and fortunately we had some marshmallows. A couple of days later we were given another plane for the return trip.

They gave us a milk run plane. Yes the bomb bay had a huge tank of fresh grade A milk. My uncle had often talked about milk runs, from the days when he was a tail gunner on a B-17 over Germany.

His idea of a milk run was to drop their bomb load and get home in one piece. He bailed out once, spent some time in a prison camp and later escaped. During training on a B-26 Martin Marauder he crash landed on the runway and they had to cut him out of the plane. He flew many missions without a scratch till he got home and was hit by a taxicab, causing serious back injury and surgery.

During one of our flights as a practice bomb run, we dropped what we thought were 10 practice bombs, scored well, and went home.

When we landed at the base we were informed that we still had a live bomb in the bomb bay. It was the powder charge which had pulled out and was hanging by a wire release next to my back.

The gunner only had a canvas zippered entrance to the bomb bay, 14

and it was right by my back. Had it gone off, it could’ve ruined my whole day!

Another exciting flight of mine, as I climbed in to the gunner’s compartment, my parachute chest pack caught on something, probably the door edge, and just as we were taking off, it popped open. I thought what else could possibly go wrong. I stuffed the chute as tightly as I could. Remember I was also wearing a life vest, electric heated suit and sidearm and followed through with the takeoff. An hour later, one engine started leaking oil like crazy.

The pilot feathered it down, which is fine. Once airborne the B-26 was a fabulous flyer even on one engine. We were over water when the other engine started misfiring. That’s when I began to worry. Pilot called back to the crew, namely me, and asked how I felt about ditching, or bailing out, to which I promptly called back frantically and said, “Make it back to the base! Make it back to the base!” He had no idea why I was panicking. We made it back and landed. They had to practically cut me out as I was wound up like a caterpillar in a cocoon. I don’t think I’ll ever live that day down. I spent the next week at parachute packing school. During my tour, one of my jobs was driving the crews out to the runway, as I was certified as a truck driver and had access to the weapons carrier, and sometimes even the 211 XM, this is the Cadillac diesel 2 ½ ton truck. You needed a ladder just to get into the cab.

It had an automatic transmission that probably could be used to climb up the walls of the Empire State Building. One of the trucks I drove was an old Dodge 12 speed manual transmission. It took 15 minutes just to get it up to 15 miles an hour, because it had a governor. When our unit got transferred back to Japan’s Johnson Air Force Base, I checked out a weapon’s carrier, and did some drag racing with it. I blew the drive shaft, but luckily it was a fourwheel-drive. I managed to drive it back into the motor pool. This little act came back to haunt me later. That story to follow.

One day I was called into the commanding officer’s office, asking myself "Now what did I do?" He stated, “I understand that you are a demolitions expert”. I was worried he was going to chew me out about the weapons carrier. I laughed and told him, “Yes. For two weeks.” After that I trained as a turret system mechanic, and later went to gunnery school. It turned out he was feeling out ideas about neutralizing the bomb dumps we’d left behind in Korea at K-8. Under the rules of withdrawal from Korea, our job was to get rid of the bomb dumps without blowing them up. Jokingly I suggested since we had three groups of the B-26’s, it would make a great training exercise to drop the bombs on the practice coral reef called Hayange Rock offshore. To make a long story short, the 9th, the 11th, and 13th Bomb Squadrons were sent back to K-8, and we spent over a month neutralizing the bombs by dropping them on the reef. This time the fishermen were very happy, as we would miss the little island quite often and they were able to scoop up the fish shocked by the explosions. Speaking of explosions, some of the bombs would go off prematurely, and many of our planes came back looking like Swiss cheese. It was around this time that I lost my first set of uniforms. The base was unsecured and we fell victim to quite a bit of thievery from the locals. The good news, I was issued a replacement set of uniforms. I made one bit of a mistake concerning my winter coat. cont. on page 15

March 2013 As mentioned earlier, we were reassigned to Johnson Air Base about 30 miles from Tokyo. They were short of living quarters for the enlisted men, so to accommodate us, they removed the security fence and we lived in a stockade compound. Later our squadrons were redirected to Okinawa, for a bit of outdoor training for one month. We set up tents and makeshift showers and it felt just like being at a Boy Scout Camporee. We did bomb practice runs and other short practice landings. I was reassigned to travel back to Johnson Air Base on a C-124 troop carrier, and felt rather funny walking on board packing a parachute, helmet and my trusty Colt 45. I got a lot of dirty looks. I guess they wondered what I knew that they didn’t. Johnson Air Base was set up as an Olympic showcase, and had all the luxuries you could ever ask for, including great food and hobby shops. I was sure I had died and gone to heaven, as it even had a model airplane hobby store and an AMA model airplane club. Also, to my delight, it had a fantastic darkroom setup, which I’ll mention later on. The model airplane club was very active and we competed against other bases. Thus I ended up in the Philippines at competition meets. Our club won many trophies and we were published in the base newspaper on the front page. This was in the very early stages of radio controlled models flying with rudder only controls. I competed mostly in U-control acrobatics stunt airplanes, taking first place. I did win two other trophies for free flight and speed design models Getting back to the darkroom shop, I was an avid photographer and did all my own darkroom work and developed my own film.

I took many pictures when we were flying, and once I got a shot of a Tu-4 Soviet aircraft or something like it. This was a Russian bomber probably on recon in the area. Of course, I had shot this several months before, and had just gotten around to developing the film. I also got some great shots flying into Mount Fujiyama and waving at the weather guys stationed there. I had an old 8mm camera with which I took many movies of our model airplanes and downtown Tokyo. At the Ginza market, I had purchased a Russian built knock off of a Leica camera and managed to locate a for-real Leica lens. I also had a spy camera, which I always carried on me. Being an avid model airplane builder and priding myself with being able to identify any plane made, I used the cameras to get more detail of various planes. We had a British aircraft carrier located offshore in Korea, and when their planes flew in I was able to see firsthand some of their designs. The “Wyvern” airplane was a carrier-based counter rotating turboprop fighter plane, and of course there were the Mark 3 and Mark 4 Meteors that the Australians flew.

About my old winter 4 hole coat and that story, Kenneth P. and I were returning to Chicago between assignments, in a 1927 Oakland, a forerunner of Pontiac that we had purchased for $100. We also had a 1947 Hudson with a burned-out engine. The Oakland was to tow the Hudson back to the base for repairs. But the Oakland was so much fun we left the Hudson behind. This car had been stored on blocks and was pristine, all we had to do was buy extra tires. We loaded our gear including our rifles (Ken and I used to go off base and hunt for jack rabbits in Colorado).

We were also roller skaters and the car was a great car for picking up girls to go to the roller rink. Traveling through Oklahoma, we

spied some pheasant along the road. Ken insisted that we get out and shoot some. Let me note that Ken at times could not hit the broad side of a red barn, but I said, "What the heck?" As luck would have it, he did get one pheasant which he wanted to take home. Also, as dumb luck would have it, the game warden had seen us. He was sitting on his porch rocking chair across a road watching us. We were on the road a short distance, when we saw flashing lights signaling us to pull over to the side of the road. I asked Kenneth P. if the shotgun was loaded, he said it was and I quickly told him to empty it. The brakes on the Oakland where not the greatest, so I had to gear down when all of a sudden there were two noises which I thought was the engine backfiring. We

AMA model airplane club, Johnson AFB, 1953-54. That's me on the far right.

were pulled into the local town and were charged with shooting out of season, shooting within 50 feet of the highway, not having a hunting license, hunting out of season, and carrying loaded weapons. Waking up the judge early in the morning we were charged with all of the above. Thank God he did not ask for a driver’s license or car registration as I had neither. In fact, I never got a legal driver's license until I was 21, after I left the Air Force to get a job as a truck driver for Marshall Fields during Christmas season. Fortunately, we were both in uniform and after a little bit of my Irish gift of gab we convinced the judge that it was legal for military personnel to get away with most of the charges. It still cost us $47.50, which at this point was about all the money we had. Needless to say we “got out of Dodge” as quickly as possible, up to this time my partner in crime had not said much.

Finally I asked him what was up, and his reply was, “I’ll buy you a new one.” "New what?" I asked. It seems he had his finger on the trigger and in all the excitement, fired off, two shots creating holes in my coat! It was then that I noticed the two holes in the the roof of the car! At this point I got rid of the coat and was able to fake uniform inspections for the next two years. Further down the road, the Oakland gave up the ghost and we were able to push it into a junkyard. We now had enough money from selling the Oakland for scrap metal to put our gear on a train and start hitchhiking to Chicago. We arrived safely and I was told later by Ken that there was an article in the local paper talking about two Chicago hoods 15

cont. on page 16

March 2013 that had ravaged the countryside in Kansas. I’m still not sure how true this was.

I had no driver’s license but I was able to get Z- Frank’s car dealership to give me a new Chevy car to transfer to California for the return trip. I contacted some of my buddies and we shared the ride to our new base. I was pulled over by a Colorado State Trooper at gunpoint. There seems to have been a bank robbery in Texas and the car described coincidentally had the same license plate number and color as the one I was driving! Again, Lady Luck smiled. Fortunately I was in uniform and I carried all my documents which saved my butt again. Another time, the fickle finger of fate played with me as the 1939 Lincoln I was driving gave up the ghost in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Back to hitchhiking again! An elderly couple picked me up in their brandnew Packard and got me as far as the California border. After two more thumbs up I made it to the base barely in time. After checking in and getting my assignments and further training at the motor pool and the shotgun range, orientation, and chewing out by the commanding officer about owing money to a General Camera store in Chicago, I settled in.

One of the first things I did when I got off the base was to purchase wheels. This is when I bought a used 1951 Triumph motorcycle, like the bike that Marlon Brando rode in the Wild Ones movie.

I enjoyed many rides to San Luis Obispo, Fresno, and the surrounding areas in the Joaquin Valley. Much later I found out that there was a winery nearby called the MacManus Wineries, how’s that for a small world?

One of my crewmen was a real Indian who owned a 1951 Indian motorcycle. One other crewman, who was basically my immediate boss and Staff Sgt., was into racing cars on a dirt track. These were usually older Fords or two-door cars that were rigged for racing with crash bars, harnesses and helmets. He was also into hot air balloons. I learned an awful lot about dirt track racing and managed to get hands-on training on building the race cars. In this area of California, you can go skiing in the morning and sunbathing in the desert in just a few hours. When we were reassigned overseas I had to put the motorcycle in storage. As I was being discharged I contacted the dealer who had my bike

and he agreed to get it in shape for my trip home to Chicago.

He did get a bit carried away and proceeded to soup up the bike with bigger pistons, carburetors, cams and tuned headers which basically used up what little money I had. In order to make it home I had to pawn several of my cameras. Before leaving for Chicago, I traveled around long enough to get the engine broken in and took it to the Fresno dragstrip and managed to win a trophy in the quarter-mile. This was one fast bike. These are the things you do when you’re young dumb, and stupid. The trip home on Route 66 had its moments. Got caught in a tornado, stopped in Denver, Colorado to say hello to some old friends and tried to beat the weather for Thanksgiving dinner.

Getting back to Castle Air Base, which was a high-security SAC base designed to upload and download A-bombs on B-50’s during the Cold War, the only war we ever won. Our assigned flights were roughly from 10 to 13 hours with air refueling. Traveling to Alaska and to South America waiting for someone to hit the red button, and head up to the USSR. It would have been a oneway trip of course, thank God it never happened. I flew regular and standby flights usually three times a week at all hours.

Occasionally our crew would be assigned for standby. This was after they overhauled a plane, we would test fly for roughly 20 minutes to make sure everything worked as it should. These shake down flights involved a very small crew, and as a gunner my job was to observe flaps and landing gear from the back of the plane from the side gunners’ position.

Two of these flights were unforgettable. One involved taking the plane up to a base further south for vacuuming, cleaning and purging fuel tanks. It was unbelievable how much dust and dirt accumulated and sometimes the gas tanks had to be cleaned. This particular plane had one wing tank that was full and could not be transferred, causing the plane to list to one side from the extra weight. It took both the pilot and copilot to handle the controls.

Fortunately, it was a very short flight to a nearby base. Another very educational flight for me, I got a call from the pilot stating that he had no hydraulics working for him and would I check it out.

Crawling to the back of the plane I found a broken line spewing oil all over the place. I informed the pilot and went back to the rear bomb bay to see if I could top off the hydraulic tanks. We had backups for everything. If the landing gear didn’t go down we cranked it down, if it didn’t come up we cranked it up, we did the same with the flaps. So of course they had an extra drum of hydraulic fluid. It was useless. It poured out as fast as I poured it in. It turned out one of the rudder tail booster lines had snapped, meaning we had no brakes, flaps or landing gear. Fortunately, I was not alone and my partner and I proceeded to lower the landing gear by hand as well as the flaps, using the manual gear handles.

When we accomplished this feat the pilot called back warning us to strap in with our backs against the bulkheads. He slowed the plane down as far as feasible, catching the very edge of the beginning runway. We did have a 10,000 foot runway, but at this point it looked awfully small. I thought for sure we were going to plow into the farmer’s fruit trees. Among the many safety features, besides explosive bolts on the engines, it had reversible pitch on propellers and when they were activated we were slammed hard

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cont. on page 17

March 2013 in our seatbelts. We could not completely stop, so the pilot kind of aimed off to the side in the mud and brought us to an abrupt stop.

Imagine 55 gallons of hydraulic fluid spraying all over the rear of the plane and in the gunner’s compartment. The tail gunner’s compartment, which made you feel like you are in a submarine, is sealed off from the rest of the plane and is its own pressurized cabin. Guess where a hydraulic line broke. You got it. I’m glad I was not flying that position that day. On a regular flight, we did rotate positions, except for the CFC (Central Fire Control - he is the Boss), and I really enjoyed flying the tail position.

Once flying over San Francisco, we encountered an air stream and, at over 300 miles an hour, remained stationary over San Francisco for an hour enjoying the lights from 30,000 feet. There was reported in the paper later on, some talk about a possible green meteorite landing on one of the buildings. Luckily no one was injured.

In each of the planes we had a shaft dispenser (aluminum foil packs), which are used to disrupt radar. Each plane is equipped with a small porta-potty that no one wants to clean. And yes, we were allowed to smoke on board the plane. I found a cigar helped keep me awake. Food on the plane consisted of a bag lunch and K rations probably left over from the 40’s, or at least they tasted that way. We saved the can openers that came with K rations as they came in very handy. Amazingly, the cheese and crackers were still quite good.

Here are some bits of information concerning the B-50 for its many record breaking achievements: It was the first plane to fly around the world without landing, and first to use air refueling. It was the first bomber to be flown by a U.S. President (Eisenhower), first production aircraft to be designed from the start as a nuclear arms carrier, and the first aircraft to drop five live atomic bombs, in Nevada in 1951. Generally, it had a crew of 8 to 9 members, and was the fastest piston engine heavy bomber ever built (385 mph)!

Some models were equipped to do air refueling and later the KC 97, which was the passenger version, was used as a refueling ship using the boom method. When new, it had a ceiling of 36,000 feet, but we were redlined at 33,000 feet due to the age of the aircraft. The plane we flew had one bomb bay designated as a fuel tank and 2 drop tanks on the wings. The gun turrets were computer operated using a camera-like sighting control. It had 12 50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns with armor piercing incendiary shells, and four remotely controlled turrets and tail guns. Technically speaking, it had seven engines with four Pratt & Whitney’s 4360-28 cylinder radial air cooled supercharged engines on the wing. We had one four-cylinder generating engine, and two jet space heaters to keep us warm. Add a wingspan of 141’ 3”. Without refueling we had a range of almost 3,000 to 4,000 miles, depending on the load.

I was sent to Denver, Colorado to Lowry Air Force Base for demolition training. As mentioned earlier I transferred out to Computer Turret Systems Mechanic Gunner. After training, we were sent to Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas for combat crew training. This is where we were introduced to a training flight crew which included a pilot, copilot, navigator, bombardier and radioman, and the four of us enlisted gunners.

The officers could live off base, but during training we had to stick together on base for all of the training. This included skeet and trapshooting, small arms, Range and parachute training. We also spent two weeks on survival training, which actually was a lot of fun if you’re a Boy Scout, learning how to trap small animals for food, what not to eat, one hundred and one ways to use your parachute, and survive in all kinds of weather. Of course if you were a Boy Scout, you had already learned all about that during winter campouts. We even had a short course in knife handling and safety. Part of the training involved jumping off a high diving board in full gear feet first, trying to inflate a life raft and the "Mae West", simulating a parachute drop over water. Another parachute test involved having the whole crew drag you over a gravel road in the harness, teaching us how to spill a runaway chute. I believe we lost more men during training than we did in actual full-time duty. Sad to say, I lost several friends. During one of the training flights, the gunners were told to bailout. Unfortunately, one of the gunners pulled his chute open in the bomb bay on his way out. The second gunner had no choice but to use his knife and cut through the other’s parachute. The plane crashed with still two on board.

I also lost a good friend, strangely enough, on guard duty. This had to do with the improper use of a firearm accident. Moving on, part of our training involved interrogation techniques, using the methods that the North Koreans were using at that time.

The time eventually came when I had to make a decision whether or not to re-enlist. I really wanted to stay in Japan, but due to the fact that my MOS was no longer available, the only choice given me was to return to the States for training in another field. Here is the place that a counselor would’ve come in handy who knew what they were doing. I had basically three choices, go home and serve four years reserve, go back to school in the States to demolition school, or let them pick whatever MOS they wanted to give me. I did have one attractive offer, to go to school at IBM in New York. But having worked on computers, the ones with vacuum tubes, cogs and gears, they were so finicky they would drive you nuts. I also know that I would have to learn a lot of math which I hated at the time. I was also unaware of the future with microchips. The computers I worked on were the size of footlockers, weighing about 130 pounds. Four years later, they were down to the size of a cigar box, and later down to the size of a watch, doing the same job faster and better. I opted out and went home. I really thought I had no skills that would get me a job. As an afterthought I could easily have become a policeman, a Brinks In 1952, we ferried the planes to their final resting place, the guard or a truck driver. So I went back to school and became an Boneyard in Tucson Arizona. Here we slept overnight under the ASE-Certified Auto Mechanic with General Motors, and later on, wings in our sleeping bags, and then were transported back to our an Auto Shop teacher in a Chicago High School. PS: I still fly RC base in a C-47 goony bird. I was now out of a job and because of (radio control) model airplanes. my top secret security clearance, they put me in the air police. At Russell V. McMANUS, Aerial Combat Gunner, Call sign “MAC” Gunner this point the B-47 and B-52 jet bombers were taking our place.

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March 2013 13th BOMB SQUADRON ACTIVITY REGISTRATION FORM Listed below are all registration, tour, and meal costs for the reunion. Please enter how many people will be participating in each event and total the amount. Send that amount payable to ARMED FORCES REUNIONS, INC. in the form of check or money order. Your cancelled check will serve as your confirmation. Returned checks will be charged a $20 fee. You may also register online and pay by credit card at www.afr-reg.com/13bs2013 (3%convenience fee applied to cc charge). All registration forms and payments must be received by mail on or before August 16, 2013. After that date, reservations will be accepted on a space available basis. We suggest you make a copy of this form before mailing. Please do not staple or tape your payment to this form.

Armed Forces Reunions, Inc. 322 Madison Mews Norfolk, VA 23510 ATTN: 13th BOMB SQDN

OFFICE USE ONLY Check # _________ Date Received _________ Inputted _________ Nametag Completed _____

CUT-OFF DATE IS 8/16/13 TOURS WEDNESDAY – CARSON CITY / VIRGINIA CITY THURSDAY – LADIES’ TOUR TO WILBUR D. MAY CENTER REGISTRATION PACKAGE COST IS $_205 Includes Monday Buffet Dinner, Tuesday “Red Shirt Night – Dinner at the National Automobile Museum, Thursday Banquet, Friday Breakfast, and Registration Fee. Please select your Thursday Banquet entrée below Grilled Sirloin Steak Grilled Salmon Total amount due to Armed Forces Reunions, Inc.

Price per

# of people

Total

$ 42 $ 32

$ $

$ 205/pkg $ 205/pkg

$ $ $

PLEASE PRINT NAME AS YOU WANT IT TO APPEAR ON YOUR NAMETAG: FIRST _____________________________________ LAST ___________________________________

st

1 REUNION? YES NO 

SPOUSE NAME (IF ATTENDING)_____________________________________________ VET’S EMAIL___________________________ GUEST NAMES__________________________________________________________________________________________________ STREET ADDRESS_______________________________________________________________________________________________ CITY, ST, ZIP_____________________________________________________________PH. NUMBER (______)_______-____________ DISABILITY/DIETARY RESTRICTIONS__________________________________________________________________________________________________ (Sleeping room requirements must be conveyed by attendee directly with hotel) MUST YOU BE LIFTED HYDRAULICALLY ONTO THE BUS WHILE SEATED IN YOUR WHEELCHAIR IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN BUS TRIPS?  YES  NO (PLEASE NOTE THAT WE CANNOT GUARANTEE AVAILABILITY).

EMERGENCY CONTACT________________________________________ PH. NUMBER (_____)_____-________ For refunds and cancellations please refer to our policies outlined at the bottom of the reunion program. CANCELLATIONS WILL ONLY BE TAKEN MONDAY-FRIDAY 9:00am-5:00pm EASTERN TIME (excluding holidays). Call (757) 625-6401 to cancel reunion activities and obtain a cancellation code. Refunds processed 4-6 weeks after reunion.

Register online and pay by credit card at www.afr-reg.com/13bs2013

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March 2013 GRAND SIERRA RESORT – RENO, NV The Grand Sierra Resort is located at 2500 East 2nd Street, Reno, NV 89595. The hotel is approximately 1.5 miles away from the Reno Tahoe International Airport (RNO). Please call the hotel directly for accurate driving directions.

The hotel is set in a 145-acre resort setting and offers the largest casino in Northern Nevada. The Grand Sierra Resort provides an outdoor pool and a health club that includes fitness equipment, a sauna, steam rooms, and a whirlpool tub. For the recreation enthusiast, the hotel also features an Arcade with 9000 sq ft Laser Tag, Bowling Alley, Ultimate Rush, 2 Movie Theaters, Driving Range, Go Karts, and Miniature Golf. Each guest room includes free wireless internet access or wired internet (for a fee), iron with ironing board, and hairdryer. The hotel rooms on floors 4-27 are all non-smoking rooms. The hotel offers handicapped accessible and smoking rooms, which are based on availability. Please request these special accommodations when making your reservation. Parking is complimentary to all hotel guests. Check-in is at 3:00pm and check-out is at 11:00am. There are 17 restaurants, lounges, and cafés ready to serves guests: 2nd Street Express, Cantina, Elements Buffet, Café Sierra, Charlie Palmer Steak, Briscola, Rim, Crystal Lounge, Escalator Bar, Mustangs, WET, Johnny Rockets, Port of Subs, The Reserve, Round Table Pizza, Starbucks, and The Beach at Grand Sierra Resort. 24 hour room service is also available.

The Grand Sierra offers a courtesy shuttle to and from the Reno/Tahoe International Airport. Departing from the hotel, the shuttle leaves the hotel on the hour and half hour, daily between 5:00am and 11:30pm. Departing from the airport, the shuttle leaves from the exit located at the far end of baggage claim every 15 and 45 minutes past the hour daily between 5:15am and 11:45pm. The shuttle is able to carry approximately fifteen passengers. You may want to consider other transportation services, as space is limited on courtesy services.

The Grand Sierra Resort has parking space available for guests with RV’s. For full hook-ups The RV Park at Grand Sierra Resort offers great rates with laundry facilities, shower/restroom facilities, and access to the hotel’s facilities.

Check-in is at 1:00pm and check-out is at 11:00am. Please contact the office at (775)-789-2147 or (800)-258-7366 for more information and reservations.

Should you need to rent a wheelchair for the reunion, ScootAround rents both manual and power wheel chairs by the day and week. Please call their toll free number at (888) 441-7575 for details.

Vendors, Schedules, and Prices are subject to change.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CUT HERE AND MAIL TO THE HOTEL -----------------------------------------------------------------------

13th BOMB SQUADRON ASSOCIATION REUNION – HOTEL RESERVATION FORM REUNION DATES: SEPTEMBER 16-20, 2013

NAME __________________________________________________ SHARING ROOM W/ __________________ ADDRESS_____________________________________________________________ ZIP___________________ TEL. NUMBER (_________) ___________________________ EMAIL ___________________________________ ARRIVAL DATE__________________ APPROX. TIME __________________ DEP. DATE __________________ ______# OF ROOMS NEEDED ______# OF PEOPLE IN ROOM _____HANDICAP ACCESS ______SMOKING ______NON-SMOKING ______KING BED ______2 DOUBLE BEDS In the event room type requested is not available, nearest room type will be assigned.

RATE: $79 + tax (currently 13%) Single/Double. $20/night for extra person(s) in room.

CUT-OFF DATE: 08/16/13. Reservations received after this date will be processed on space & rate availability.

CANCELLATION POLICY: Deposit is refundable if reservation is cancelled 2 days prior to your arrival day.

Adjustments to departure date after check-in, resulting in a shortened length of stay, will result in a $50 fee unless departure due to illness or family emergency.

All reservations must be guaranteed by credit card or first night's deposit including tax, enclosed. ______AMEX ______DINERS ______VISA ______MASTER CARD ______DISCOVER CREDIT CARD NUMBER_______________________________________________ EXP. DATE_______________ SIGNATURE (regardless of payment method) _______________________________________________________

MAIL TO: GRAND SIERRA RESORT * 2500 EAST 2ND STREET * RENO, NV 89595 Or Call (800) 501-2651 (775) 789-2000 and request room for “AFRI13” room block

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March 2013

13th BOMB SQUADRON SEPTEMBER 16-20, 2013 GRAND SIERRA RESORT – RENO, NV Monday, September 16 Hospitality Room Open 2:00pm - 5:00pm Reunion Registration open 5:30pm Cash Bar Buffet Dinner 6:00pm Buffet Dinner 8:00pm - 10:00pm Board Meeting

4:00pm 6:00pm -

9:00am -

Tuesday, September 17 Hospitality Room Open Free day to explore Reno, on your own 5:30pm Reunion Registration continues 9:15pm “RED SHIRT NIGHT” – DINNER AT THE NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM (description follows) Wednesday, September 18 Hospitality Room Open 3:00pm CARSON CITY / VIRGINIA CITY (description follows) Dinner and evening on your own

Thursday, September 19 Hospitality Room Open 9:00am - 11:00am Business Meeting 9:00am - 11:30am LADIES’ TOUR –WILBUR D. MAY CENTER (description follows) 6:00pm Cash Bar 7:00pm Banquet is served.

8:00am -

Friday, September 20 9:30am Farewell Breakfast

Register online and pay by credit card at www.afr-reg.com/13bs2013 CANCELLATION AND REFUND POLICY FOR ARMED FORCES REUNIONS, INC.

For attendees canceling reunion activities prior to the cut-off date, Armed Forces Reunions, Inc. (AFR) shall process a full refund less the non-refundable AFR registration fee ($10 per person). Attendees canceling reunion activities after the cut-off date will be refunded to the fullest extent that AFR’s vendor commitments and guarantees will allow, less the non-refundable AFR registration fee. Cancellations will only be taken Monday through Friday from 9:00am until 5:00pm Eastern Standard Time, excluding holidays. Please call (757) 625-6401 to cancel reunion activities and obtain a cancellation code. Refunds processed 4-6 weeks after reunion. Canceling your hotel reservation does not cancel your reunion activities.

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March 2013

TOUR DESCRIPTIONS DINNER AT THE NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM Tuesday, September 17 Spend the evening at the National Automobile Museum, a tribute to Bill Harrah. Discover a century of automobiles: more than 220 antique, vintage, classic, special interest and one-of-a-kind wonders. The cars of the stars, as well as the exhibits in the Changing Exhibits Gallery will dazzle you. After touring the museum, join your group for an Italian Buffet dinner including Caesar Salad, Lasagna, Tortellini, vegetables, bread, desserts, and beverages. The bus will make two trips to transport everyone to and from the museum. This trip requires a minimum of eighty people.

6:00pm board bus, 9:15pm back at the hotel Cost included in your reunion package CARSON CITY / VIRGINIA CITY Wednesday, September 18 Begin a tour of Carson City, Nevada’s state capital, and Virginia City, a thriving ghost town. In Carson City, drive by some of its historic homes and buildings, before stopping at the Nevada State Museum. Virginia City is the gaudiest, headiest boomtown of the Old West and where Mark Twain cut his literary teeth.

Miraculously, the town looks much the same as it did in the 1860’s, from the wobbly saloons built on stilts to the well-trodden boardwalks of the main street. Visit old mansions, quaint shops, churches, and museums.

Lunch is on your own at one of several local restaurants.

9:00am board bus, 3:00pm back at hotel $42/Person includes bus, guide, and admission. Lunch on your own.

WILBUR D. MAY CENTER Thursday, September 19 Enjoy the morning at Rancho San Rafael Park, home of the Wilbur D. May Center. The center serves as a legacy to this long-time resident of Reno. Born in 1898, Wilbur May was the third son of David May, founder of the May Department Stores. He was well loved by many because of his generosity to the community, especially its children. In the Botanical Garden, take a stroll along the pathway that winds past a garden that’s a favorite perch of native songbirds. The Wilbur D. May Museum is a ranch-style building designed to resemble his residence. Each room showcases a part of his life, from a composer to a pilot, to a big game hunter, and more. The museum gallery is a treasure of priceless antiques and collectibles from the 1920’s and 30’s. .

9:00am board bus, 11:30am back at hotel $32/Person includes bus, guide, and admission.

Drive and Guide gratuities are not included in the tour prices.

Please plan to be at the bus boarding area at least five minutes prior to the scheduled time.

All trips require a minimum of thirty five people, unless otherwise stated.

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March 2013

Deaths Not Previously Reported As of March 2013

Freddie A. Wright January 31, 2013 Crew Chief 1967-68

John B. Gardner, Jr September 9, 2008 Engineer/ Gunner 1951-52

Mitchell D. Bryant September 15, 2012 1937-40

Silas R. Molyneaux October 27, 2012 Pilot 1948-50

Wayne D. Casper January 22, 2005 Gunner 1954

Roland F. Fluck June 18, 2011 Navigator 1966-67

Lawrence S. Rokusek December 8, 2011 Radio Mechanic 1953-54

Raymond O. McIntire November 1, 2003 Armament 1953

Billy C. McIver October 21, 2008 Crew Chief 1949-52

Forest M. Riddell February 5, 2012 Pilot 1952-53

Gilbert A. Masden October 9, 2003 1944

Paul L. Cable September 14, 2004 Crew Chief 1949-50

Joseph A. Masiero November 17, 2012 1st Sergeant 1940

Donald H. Kuehn September 9, 2012 Engineer 1952-53

Ronald J. Swientek January 30, 2006 Gunner 1955

Bobby G. McCleery April 20, 2012 Radio Mechanic 1954

Kenneth G. Haertling December 2, 2012 Pilot 1952-53

Robert W. Walli February 19, 2004 1955

William De Angelis January 15, 2009 Radio Mech 1947-49

Kenneth D. Hickman December 20, 2012 Gunner 1951-52

James L. Houghton August 8, 2003 Aircraft Mechanic 1942-44

Harold E. Headlee January 1, 2013 Navigator 1953

Clifford L. Gruenwald December 17, 2012 Radio Mechanic 1952-53

Rest In Peace 22

A Wing and a Prayer We're coming in on a wing and a prayer We're coming in on a wing and a prayer Tho' there's one motor gone we will still carry on We're coming in on a wing and a prayer What a show, what a fight Yes we really hit our target for tonight How we sing as we fly through the air Look below there's a field over there With a full crew abroad and our trust in the Lord We're coming in on a wing and a prayer.

March 2013

The Hot SeaT Editor’s Comments

I have to say that I was really a little surprised to get the e-mail and phone call from Bob Butterfield asking if I’d be interested in editing the INVADER. As many of you know, I’m no stranger to the 13th or the INVADER. Over the years I’ve done photo retouching and illustrations as well as the Masthead for the INVADER. However, I never expected to be asked to edit the INVADER! This is a real honor for me. I know that I have some big shoes to fill! I also know there are going to be some growing pains. I’ll do my best to maintain the high standards set by Chrly, Bill & Bud!

Don Henderson, Editor For those of you who don’t know me personally, I'm a graphic designer and illustrator from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I live in New Kensington, (the "Aluminum City", home of ALCOA) with my wife Pam, my son Shane, daughter Brigid and a big old stealth gray Weimaraner named Cleo. The number 13 has been very significant in my life. My son Shane was born on the 13th of June. Some people have a fear of the number 13, but it has always been a good number to me.

I've worked the past 35 years doing commercial art, advertising, graphic design and illustration for companies like Westinghouse, PPG, Kerotest, Koppers, Schindler, and most recently I was a Senior Graphic Designer for Brand Design & Packaging at H.J. Heinz Company at the Heinz 57 Center or as I liked to call it, the "Ketchup Kountry Klub". I worked there as a contracted employee. Since Heinz didn't renew my contract, my son Shane and I have been working on setting up our own graphic design business, Henderson Graphic Design & Illustration. www.HendersonGDI.com The 13th Bomb Squadron, the Devil's Own Grim Reapers, Oscar and all of you have been an important part of my life since Charlie Hinton first wrote me an e-mail '13' years ago, asking if I could do a digital rendering of a WWI Oscar! From the start, I was taken by the history and traditions of the 13th Bomb Squadron, I have been doing artwork for the 13th ever since. Back in 2001, I was made an honorary member of the Association at the Nashville Reunion. I not only do artwork for the Association, but I also have done artwork for the active squadrons at both Dyess and Whiteman. Everything from Friday patches, Military Challenge Coins, Ceiling Tiles, Nose Art, graphics for the main landing gear of the 13th Bomb Squadron's B-2's, Deployment Patches, certificates, COC programs... Literally anything that was asked of me. I've even done some work for the 393d at Whitemman as well as the Missouri and Indiana ANG and for Reapers who have moved on to other units and departments. I do design work for the B-57 Bummers Association, as well as for Dan Vargas of Operation Finally Home, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that builds mortgage-free, cutom-built homes for wounded Veterans.

As most of you know, I'm a civilian. I never served in the military, but I have tried to serve my country in other ways. I come from a military family, so I've always had great respect for Veterans. My grandfather, Floyd Noble Henderson Sr., was a combat wounded Veteran of WWI serving with the 80th Infantry Division. My uncle, Hink Henderson, was a Waist Gunner on a B-17 called the 'Wild Hare' with the 748th Bomb Squadron, 457th Bomb Group out of Glatton. My uncle, Tommy Henderson, lied about his age and joined the Navy at age 16. He served in the Navy and Army in WWII. My dad was an Army Ordnance Specialist in Korea with the 8th Army's 58th Ordnance Co., and my uncle Patrick "Buzz" Ging was with the 92nd Armored Field Artillery in Korea and received the Purple Heart.

All my life, I've had an interest in art and photography. I attended the famed Tam O'Shanter Art Classes at Carnegie Institute, where I was taught drawing and painting. After high school, I enrolled at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for graphic design andphotography. I have been working in graphic design ever since. I'm a member of the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators. I'm a camera collector as well as one of the founding members and current president of the New Kensington Camera Club.

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13th Bomb Squadron Association Bob Parks 3219 Tavern Oaks St. San Antonio, TX 78247-3080 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

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