Invader March 2014 vol 32 No. 1

Vol. 32 No. 1

March 2014

The Devil's Own

Grim Reapers!

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

The Korean War Mystery of Thomas C. Lafferty Story on page 16

March 2014

President’s Corner

Some of us may still see

and Bob sent him the application and some 13th information. Here is Bill’s response: "Thank you for the CD's and magazines. They were awesome. I feel like the missing piece of my past was found. I completed the forms and sent in a $35.00 donation. My reservation is booked for RI on October 1st. I will see if I can find pictures of MacDill and Ubon. If I owe you anything for the books and CD's, please let me know."

Yours, Bill May. Thanks Bob Parks for your many efforts to reach Reapers like Bill, who want to rejoin those of us who value our service to our country, and who want to share those experiences and camaraderie again. And, thanks Bill for finding us—we look forward to seeing you at Providence, and to welcoming you to the oldest and finest active duty squadron association in the USAF.

snow in the immediate future, before the spring flowers and April showers dominate the weather reports, but now is the time to think of beautiful fall colors, with leaves changing to reds and golds, and autumn harvests under way. (Note-to-Norris Olson, I recognize there may be fall snow in Grand Forks Bob Butterfield on October 1st, but I know you and Jean will want to be celebrating with us at the 2014 13th Bomb Squadron Association Reunion at The Crowne Plaza Hotel at The Crossings in Providence, Rhode Island.)

The 2014 reunion will be only the second one held in New England. The first was 20 years ago, in 1994, at Burlington, Vermont. This year's gathering will be an opportunity for many members living in the Northeast to drive to the reunion, like MaryAnn and I will do from Virginia. (There will be no charge for parking at the hotel.)

Armed Forces Reunions has a good tour to Newport for us, and a wonderful day trip to Boston, where the original Tea Party made history. Our Red Shirt Night will provide a special challenge for attendees to detect who committed the crime at the Mystery Dinner Theater. So mark down Wednesday through Sunday, October 1-5 on your fall calendars, and send in your reservations today. The invitation and all the information can be found on pages 22-25 in this Invader.

For those of you wanting to plan ahead for 2015, our reunion location will move back to the central part of the country, and be held at the Radisson Hotel in Branson, Missouri, September 16-20, 2015.

It is always encouraging when Board Members receive communications about the Association. We want to hear your thoughts and suggestions on how we are doing and what can be done to make our organization even better.

Especially, we want your letters and stories--ones that Don Henderson can publish in the Invader.

As someone said, Aging is not for sissies. We have lost friends in combat, and have known the sadness of saying goodbye to others we worked closely with in the Air Force. An even tougher farewell, in my opinion, is the parting of friends whom we’ve known for many years—like friends we have made in this Association. In our November 2013 issue, in this column, I mentioned that former President Dave Spotswood was looking forward to joining us at Providence this October, and that former Treasurer Carl Mosher was the paperboy in New York for the driver and winner of the New York to Paris Automobile race in 1907. Then, just before publishing, we had the sad duty to list both of their names in the In Memoriam section. Larry Cunningham was listed there too. He was a fighter pilot who flew Canberras in Vietnam with me, and was the best-ofthe-best in the 13th Bomb Squadron. As a scheduling officer, I knew we would have our finest crew flying against the difficult targets if Larry and his navigator, usually Bill Morse, were identified for the mission. We are so proud of these men, and all Reapers who wore and are wearing our country's uniform.

In conclusion, we are proud to welcome back the men and women of the 13th Bomb Squadron who completed a long and very successful tour at Red Flag, flying realistic B-2 combat training missions from Nellis AFB, NV. Reaper Pride!

One letter our Locator Bob Parks received in January was from William (Bill) May, 1971 Reaper Crew Chief at Ubon Air Base. Bill wanted to join the Association,

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Change of Command Whiteman AFB Friday, June 13, 2014.

Lt Col Jeffrey T. Schreiner, Commander of the 13th Bomb Squadron at Whiteman AFB has invited Association members to attend the change of command ceremony at Whiteman AFB, Friday, June 13, 2014.

detailed identification will be required. The Era board members will tell attendees what information will be required and then the Era reps will be forwarding it to the Point of Contact at Whiteman AFB.

Members who wish to attend should contact their Era representative (WW II, Korean War, Vietnam War, GWOT) and tell them if they plan to go. The deadline for this signing up is May 6,2014.

The base security at Whiteman is tight and

This will be a special opportunity to visit the 13th Bomb Squadron and to honor the active duty members and their outgoing and incoming commanders.

Our cover photo features the Air Force Honor Guard at Arlington National Cemetery.

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Officers of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association Robert L. (Bob) Butterfield 7912 Madison Plantation Way Fredericksburg, VA 22407 rl.butterfield@hotmail.com

President

1st Vice President/

Secretary

Member at Large WWII

Member at Large Vietnam

2nd Vice President

Charles J. (Charlie) Brown 905 Holbrook Circle Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547-6733 charley6272@yahoo.com

Locator Data Manager

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

Treasurer

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

Member at Large Korea

Member at Large GWAT

Robert R. (Bob) Koehne 23332 SE 225th St. Maple Valley, WA 98038 csrrk@comcast.nett

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

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

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

Karl J. (Buck) Shawhan 4014 Buccaneer Blvd.

Plattsmouth, NE 68048 shawhan9@gmail.com

March 2014

Col Paul W. Tibbets IV Nominated for First Star

By Master Sgt. Greg Steele, 93rd Bomb Squadron 11/21/2013 - Barksdale Air Force Base, La

Retired Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets Jr. (left) and his grandson, Brig Gen Paul Tibbets IV, then a captain, fly the last flyable B-29 Superfortress, 'Fifi,' Oct. 2, 1998, in Midland, Texas. (Department of Defense)

Col. Paul Tibbets IV, grandson of the pilot who flew the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb, has been nominated to get his first star, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Thursday.

bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945. The bomber was named after the elder Tibbets’ mother.

Ironically, the bomb was named “Little Boy.” When he qualified to fly the B-52 in January 2013, Tibbets’ bomber was decorated with the same nose art as his grandfather’s B-17 when it took part in the first Flying Fortress mission against Nazi-occupied Europe.

Currently deputy director of operations at Global Strike Command headquarters, Barksdale Air Force Base, La., Tibbets is one of the few Air Force pilots who has flown the three bombers — the B-1, B-2 and B-52. In January 2013, Global Strike Command wrote a story about how he was trained to fly all three bombers.

“My grandfather had a passion for aviation and, most specifically, bombers,” Tibbets said in the 2013 story. ”It is a privilege to follow in the footsteps of my hero and to fly the nose art that my grandfather flew in 1942.

I am honored to play a small part in keeping his legacy alive today.”

“This is not an accomplishment many achieve,” Lt. Col. James Morris, 93rd Bomb Squadron B-52 Formal Training Unit commander, said in the story. “The bomber pilot community is small, and most stay with one bomber platform.”

Col. Paul Tibbets IV, Air Force Global Strike Command deputy director of operations, will become certified to fly the B-52H Stratofortress bomber here Nov. 21, making him one of a select

Tibbets’ grandfather, Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets Jr., piloted the Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic 5

March 2014

number trained to fly all three U.S. Air Force bomber platforms.

He flew the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit bombers during previous assignments.

The General's B-17 Flying Fortress was decorated with the nose art "Red Gremlin." As a tribute to the Tibbets family, the "Red Gremlin II" nose art has been placed on the B-52 that Col. Tibbets will land Thursday to mark his family's legacy.

"Col. Tibbets' heritage is the heritage of the Air Force and the long range strike mission," said Col. Jonathan Ellis, 307th Bomb Wing commander.

"This is an opportunity to honor the legacy of our deterrence mission, past and present."

"My grandfather had a passion for aviation and most specifically, bombers," Col. Tibbets said. "It is a privilege to follow in the footsteps of my hero and to fly the nose art that my grandfather flew in 1942. I am honored to play a small part in keeping his legacy alive today!"

U.S. Air Force Col. Paul Tibbets IV beside a 93rd Bomb Squadron B-52H Stratofortress which wears the nose art resembling what was on the side of a B-17 bomber piloted by his grandfather during World War II, Barksdale Air Force Base, La., Nov. 15, 2013. Tibbets is the grandson of retired Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets Jr..

(U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele/Released)

Col. Tibbets is a command pilot with more than 3,800 flying hours.

Editors note, We just received word that Paul W. Tibbets IV has been promoted to BG! When we first met Paul, he was DO of the 13th Bomb Squadron at Whiteman AFB. He later followed in his grandfathers foots steps to command the 393d Bomb Squadron also at Whiteman, from there, he served as Chief, Nuclear and CBRN Defense Policy Branch, NATO Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, attended NATO Defense College, Rome, Italy, served Vice Commander, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, Southwest Asia, Commander, Air Force Inspection Agency, Kirtland AFB, N.M. He is currently serving as deputy director, operations, Headquarters Air Force Global Strike Command, Barksdale Air Force Base, LA. Congratulations Nuke, Brig Gen Paul W. Tibbets IV!

The "Red Gremlin II" nose art on the side of a 93rd Bomb Squadron B-52H Stratofortress, Nov. 15, 2013, Barksdale Air Force Base, La. The nose art was applied to the side of the B-52 in honor of Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets, Jr., who piloted a B-17 during World War II with the original "Red Gremlin" on its side.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele/Released)

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USAF Flight Surgeon Howard Joondeph Dr. Joondeph and his wife Ann have attended our reunions, and they were present at the 2007 Vietnam Plaque Dedication Ceremony at Wright Patterson AFB (Ohio) Memorial Park for 13th Bomb Squadron veterans. Today, Doc continues to stay in touch with many of those he cared for and with whom he flew missions.

In 1965-68, the 13th Bomb Squadron was rotating to Vietnam every-other sixty days from Clark Air Base in the Philippines. Crews of pilots and navigators were flying missions for two months and then returning to Clark for sixty days of training.

One man who was also making these rotations was not a pilot or navigator, though he did fly these missions.

USAF Flight Surgeon Howard Joondeph’s primary talent was to take the stress and pain out our lives so we could continue to meet daily flying schedules and put our bombs on the targets. If one of us was up tight We are proud to have had Doc Howie serve with us, or overcome with food poisoning, Doc Howie (as he and we raise our glasses on high in salute to him. was known to us) was there to fix the problem. All a Reaper pride! crew member had to do was give the doc a note and, if doc deemed it appropriate, the crew member would find a prescription on his bed to help relieve the problem.

Doc had a subtle demeanor, and he took care of his troops---and those who served with him were grateful for his support.

Doc Howie flew both day and night missions with most of us, and he learned the skills necessary to be effective on missions from the navigator position. He was so effective, that he earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroism along with four Air Medals and a Meritorious Service Medal.

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David T. Spotswood January 24, 1930 - October 25, 2013

Farewell Good Friend Another Reaper has flown to higher altitudes.

Dave Spotswood was found and joined the Association in 1999. At his very first reunion members' meeting he arrived a little late and found a seat beside Bill Ricketts. Bill asked his name and immediately nominated Dave for 2nd VP. Of course he was elected and gradually advanced through the ranks to become president in 2004. From this time until 2010 I was fortunate to serve with him as the 1st VP. Dave worked hard for the growth of the Association. Facing the fact that we were an aging bunch of Reapers he was instrumental in changing the by-laws to include those currently on active duty.

Dave also continued our association with the professional reunion organizer, Reunion Brat, and our 2nd VP Bill Madison to insure that our reunions were the best possible without undo expense for the members.

I respected Dave Spotswood as a leader and a personal friend.

-Brian T. Parker

Lt. Col. David T. Spotswood, USAF

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William Claude Gross March 16, 1930 - March 22, 2014

in 1988 as a General Foreman of the Mechanical Department with CSX Transportation.

After retirement, Bill helped his son, Glenn, run his own business and helped repair and maintain equipment.

Bill was preceded in death by his father, James Claude Gross, Jr.; his mother, Zora William Nace Gross; sister, Danise Gross Tuttle and her husband, Herman. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Mary C. Gross; daughter, Lisa Gross Housley and husband, Ed, of Charlottesville, VA; son, Glenn M. Gross of Newport News, VA; niece, Maxyne Weaver and husband, John, of Pinetops, NC; two great nieces, Natalie W. Peiffer and Janice D. Weaver, both of Pinetops, NC. Bill was always willing to lend a helping hand and serve others. An active member of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association, he served as locater of former members who served with the squadron, as well as Treasurer.

NEWPORT NEWS - William Claude Gross, 84, of Newport News, VA, died at his home on March 22, 2014, surrounded by family following a determined battle against recurrent prostate cancer.

He was an active member of the former Faith Presbyterian Church in Newport News and a member of Warwick Masonic Lodge #336.

Throughout the last six months of his life as he battled the effects of recurrent cancer, he exhibited his true character and displayed what he was made of as he fought back time and time again.

He maintained his dry sense of humor and quick wit to the end. He will be missed terribly but left a lasting impression and legacy.

Born March 16, 1930, in Roanoke, VA, Bill moved to Newport News at the age of eight when his father came to work at the Newport News Shipyard and the C&O Railroad. He graduated from Newport News High School in February 1948. As a young man, Bill worked as a delivery boy for Western Union and Colonial Grocery Store in downtown Newport News.

While in the U.S. Air Force from 1950-1954, he served during the Korean War as a radio mechanic on the Douglas B-26 with the 13th Bomb Squadron of the 5th Air Force.

After returning from Korea, he followed his father and began a career with the C&O Railroad in 1954, serving as electrician apprentice, and then as Electrician and Electrical Foreman. He retired

Bill's models of the missing man formation.

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March 2014

The Mystery of 1st Lt Thomas C. Lafferty

By Charles W. Hinton

B-26B (SN 44-34347,( tail ID - L for Love)

I don’t really know how to tell this story. In the beginning a young pilot, Tom Lafferty, crashed his B-26B (SN 44-34347, tail ID - L for Love) in the Bay at Kunsan Korea with the death of the gunner, but it tends to lend itself to starting at the end and working the story backwards. The theme is a story of people doing difficult and dangerous things, a commander's need for discipline in his outfit and all the interesting things that follow when you rub personalities together in stressful situations. I’ll start this story at the end.

America’s war – yet. Not making the grade as pilot, he became a gunner with the RCAF and flew on with the 405 Squadron. At the end of his tour he was the only survivor of his gunnery class.

He flew two tours with the RCAF when few airmen completed one tour. Then the USA was in the war and he transferred to the American Air Force. They didn’t know what to do with him and loaned him back to the British. He was one of only 3 Americans to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal by King George, unheard of for a gunner.

Arlington National Cemetery is where we bury our heroes and some politicians. From time to time a member of the 13th Bomb Squadron of the Korean War is buried there. Jim Wise and other 13th vets gather to pay last respects. This burial was different.

Normally 13th vets from commuting distance drive to Arlington, but this veteran was our famous gunner and people traveled long distances to be there. My former pilot from the 13th, Jim Braly from Tulsa, Oklahoma and Austin Ayotte from Texas and other 13th Vets were there from a thousand mile away.

In Korea Lucien flew a tour or 55 missions from Pusan AB (K-9) and then, by some means behind the scenes he went to Kunsan AB (K-8) and flew another combat tour, which was against the rules. He was chief of the 13th gunner section and flew with the top commanders as their choice of gunner and on many “black” missions that no one talked about.

Jim Wise, a B-26 gunner of the 13th Bomb Squadron, of Hampton, VA wrote about this part of the story. I talked to Jim about the story and he said it was OK to use what I needed

The ceremony was for Lucien Thomas, our world class aerial gunner. When WWII started in Europe he left the USA and went to Canada to be a pilot with the RAF. The war in Europe wasn’t

Jim Wise was notified of the schedule of Lucien’s burial by email. Jim writes: “But what caught my eye was the second line. Another ex-member of the 13th Bomb Squadron, last name Lafferty, was to be interred on the same day. Lafferty? Could it be that after half a century Tom Lafferty’s remains had been found somewhere up in North Korea, or even in the Soviet Union and brought back for burial? And on the same day I had planned to be there? A quick phone call verified that it was indeed Thomas C. Lafferty, a pilot I flew with during the Korean War.” So how did Lafferty get from the 13th at Kunsan to Arlington?

Well, actually he didn’t. At the formal ceremony at Arlington the comrades walked behind the horse drawn caisson carrying an empty casket.. The family felt that they needed a ceremony for closure and a place to have a stone that showed that once Thomas C. Lafferty trod this earth.

Lucien Thomas

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March 2014 the dirt, debris, gum wrappers, whatever that accumulated since the plane’s manufacture, over the crew and out the hatch. The B-26 was not believed to be a ditchable airplane.

He didn't realize he'd flown back into the water until it started to fill the cockpit. He thought he was in rain showers. He and navigator David Norton escaped the airplane, but the gunner, Clifford O. Sloppy (on his first mission), was heard to be out of the airplane, but they couldn't find him. He was later found drowned. He had suffered a head injury. Lafferty and Norton got into their one-man rafts. One of them had a leaky raft and it folded shut on him, but still provided flotation.

Jim Wise

Lafferty arrived at Kunsan as a First Lieutenant and a relatively young pilot. B-26 pilot John Harris was at Kunsan when Lafferty crashed into the ocean on takeoff. John said that Lafferty’s plane was notorious for flying like it was very heavy. That started the chain of events that led him on the journey that didn’t make it to Arlington. I should better describe the airplane as an A-26B model and not the B-26 known in WWII as the Martin Marauder (“One a day in Tampa Bay” or “The Baltimore whore – no visible means of support”). In 1947 the Marauder went out of the USAF inventory and the A-26 was redesignated as B-26.

John Harris has written about Lafferty’s crash into the bay.

John writes: “One night Lt. Thomas C. Lafferty and crew took off for their trip up north. After takeoff was committed, half the canopy popped open, as they were known to do. Just after liftoff, the other half came open. It was a very dark night. No horizon showed over the water. The airplane was heavily loaded and critical on airspeed. With the canopy open for distraction, Lafferty had his hands full. *Authors note: at speed with the hatches open there is a venturi effect in the cockpit that sucks all

John Harris

A Korean fishing boat picked them up, but continued out to sea towards some islands. They tried to explain that they wanted to go back where all the lights were, to no avail. Lafferty gave up and started to fiddle with his forty-five, figuring it must be a mess with all the salt water and mud. The boat immediately did a turn back to the beach, dropped them off and took off. Later, the islands that the boat was heading for had to be invaded to uproot a sizable bunch of North Korean troops who were holing up there. When Lafferty and Norton walked back into Operations, they smelled of fish and were covered with dye marker from the life vest. They had been gone the right amount of time and no one suspected that they hadn't gone very far. The duty officer, not realizing what had happened, said something like, “It must have been a rough mission.”

Lt. Col. Tom Belser was squadron commander during these days.

Belser was a strong believer in the hard nosed B-26s over the glass nosed planes with their bomb sight. Lafferty had crashed one of his prized hard nosed airplanes in the sea. I arrived at Kunsan just at the end of Belser’s term and never got to know him like the crews of the earlier period. (Note: The aircraft we called “a hard nose” was the B-26B with either 6 or 8 guns in the nose, most with 3 guns in each wing, and at least one pair of 50 caliber machine guns in a turret behind the bomb bay.)

Harris further writes: Lt. Col. Joseph Belser was an impressive man. I think we all had a lot of respect for him. We didn't always agree with his directives, but he had the "command presence" that a good leader required. He also had a good sense of humor. At a squadron Officer's Call, he was berating us for not staying in the target area as long as we were supposed to. Some of us felt that when our ordnance was expended, it was time to come home.

However, just the presence of the airplane in the target area was enough to impede enemy traffic flow. Almost nobody ever brought bombs home. It just wasn't smart. All too often, someone brought 50 cal. ammo back. Col. Belser said, "Someone tell me, why the other two squadron's expended much more ammo than we did last month. He was somewhat agitated, and implying that some of us were not being aggressive enough.

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cont. on page 14

March 2014 was our job. In fact, the destruction of supplies and personnel moving to the front at night was the Third Bomb Wing’s only reason for existence. Most of our replacement aircraft were short of armament, having no guns in the nose and no place for a gunner or his gun turrets. Those aircraft were considered less than worthy of the name Fighting Machine for they had a glass nose for a bombardier and a rack of radar gear where the gunner should be.

“Tom was in trouble. Our squadron commander didn’t get the name Bigfoot by stepping lightly when he was perturbed. Our squadron commander liked to proudly announce at his frequent orientations that he could be very nice if people did as they should, but that if they didn’t, he could kick awfully hard in the appropriate place of the anatomy, and that he had a big foot.

Returning from a staff meeting at Fifth Air Force Headquarters one day, he found a large caricature of himself with clown-like feet painted on the nose of his aircraft. Without a word, he went to his quarters, returning with his camera and a big grin.”

TSgt Clifford O. Sloppy

A weak voice from the back of the room said, "We shoot straighter, sir?" It ruined his pitch, but he went away smiling.

Col. Belser had a policy of assigning the hard nose airplanes to the most dangerous routes. All the hard noses had at least one turret. He also sent the more aggressive pilots on the most dangerous routes. This didn't happen to all pilots and probably all airplanes got shot at on good routes like PURPLE 11. It ran from Sinuiju to Sinanju - that's along the northwest coast from the Yalu river southeastward. In daytime, this was known as "Mig Alley". A railway paralleled a main road all the way. It was a main artery and the North Koreans were very protective of it. Anti-aircraft guns and searchlights seemed to be everywhere there were good targets. Probably they were on trucks and rail cars that moved with the good targets. I don't know how many missions I flew on each route but I remember a lot of detail about Purple 11 and memory is pretty vague on the others. There was probably a reason for that. It was possible to provoke some pretty memorable reactions on Purple 11.

There was a report that one evening there was a change in the bomb load for one of the missions. The aircraft was already bombed up and ready to go and unloading bombs can be as time consuming as loading the plane up fresh.. There was a short time until the new missions takeoff and the bomb loaders, knowing how long it takes to load a plane, told Belser it couldn’t be done.

Well, they had to tell the truth but Belser didn’t like the truth.

He climbed up the side of the aircraft into the cockpit and hit the salvo switch, releasing the load onto the PSP (Pierced Steel Planking) of the flight line. Belser said, “Now reload the damn airplane.” If the story isn’t true it ought to be true.

Lafferty had his own private penance in knowing that T/Sgt Clifford Sloppy’s death was due to his letting the aircraft descend into the water. Lafferty made trips to the gunners quarters to express his sorrow for the accident. Lt Col Belser added to that penance by transferring Lafferty to the front lines as a Forward Air Controller (FAC).

There are two kinds of FACs. One who fly's along the line of contact and directs fire from moderately low levels in a T-6 for the ground forces, or one who looks for and marks ground targets behind the lines and directs Air Force or Navy aircraft to the attack. The USAF lost 97 of its T-6 variants there during the war.

The other kind of FAC lives with the ground troops along the line of contact. You have a jeep and a VHF radio so you can call in airstrikes when your troops are in trouble. You have to be close up if you are directing strikes from the air on a hidden enemy.

Jim Wise made some good observations about Belser’s personality. “Our squadron commander, Lt. Col. Joe Belser, also The story of Lafferty as a FAC is that he broke an ankle running down a hill in an attack from the North Koreans. Anyway, during known as Bigfoot, was tough on any pilot who messed up one of his airplanes, especially one armed with nose guns and turrets. his recovery period he arranged to be transferred to an F-51 unit which was where he wanted to be.

They were ideal for strafing truck convoys and trains, which cont. on page 15 14

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Lt Col Tom Belser, AKA Big Foot.

We know Lafferty did a good job after transferring to the F-51 unit. The USAF published a Flying Safety magazine (probably still does) and each month they selected someone that had done an unusually good job in connection with flying. In the August 1952 issue they featured Lt Thomas C Lafferty of the 18th Fighter/Bomber Group with a “Well Done” panel. It had a heading with Lafferty pictured and four panel sections illustrating what he had done The text beneath each panel reads 1. Flying out fully loaded on a combat mission in Korea when he felt an explosion and experienced complete power loss at about 1000 feet. 2. He notified the flight leader of his trouble, jettisoned his bombs in a safe place and called the tower to clear for downwind landing. .3. Waiting until he had it made” he lowered the gear… the right gear failed to lock…he bounced the left gear along the runway thus locking the right gear in place! 4. It was a fine piece

Jim Wise was probably the last man at K-8 to see Lafferty.

Jim writes: “So, one day a while after the accident, I spotted Lieutenant Lafferty heading toward the flight line carrying a backpack with field equipment. I didn’t have to guess what that meant. Col. Belser had to fill a quota for a forward air controller and Tom was it. Bigfoot didn’t have to worry about Lt. Lafferty cracking up another of his squadron’s aircraft. That was the last time I saw Tom Lafferty.”

Doing dumb things in an airplane has it’s penalties. Dan Nigro was practicing low level flight in the fall of 1952. If you have to do it in combat you need to practice it in the daylight where it is safer, or at least you would be able to see what you are going to hit. He hit the right wing on a telegraph pole alongside the railroad tracks and lost 8' 7" of the right wing, including the aileron and flaps. Dan felt the jolt of the impact and looked over to see his wing tip gone. He knew he was in deep do-do and it was going to be a really bad day. He zoomed to get enough altitude to try a bail out and found the aircraft still under control.

He flew the airplane back to base and used some extra speed on landing and the airplane flew again with its new wing. There was a penalty. The group Commander court-martialed him and transferred him to the “Friendly 8th” squadron where he completed his tour. Dan said, “Nobody that flew with me in the 8th ever complained about my flying.”

Captain Reece Black had a different experience. While on a local training mission he flew under some power lines and cut them with the vertical stabilizer, losing his antennas and leaving a nice notch on the leading edge of the fin. Hat in hand and with a bedraggled look on his face he reported to Squadron Commander. Lt. Col Robert Fortney, told his story, “I really screwed up and I’m sorry”. Lt Col Fortney said, “Did you learn anything?” and “Don’t do it again”. We lost about as many planes in training missions as we did north of the bomb line.

Dan Nigro's damaged plane

of flying mixed with skill, proficiency and good judgment that enabled Lt Lafferty to walk away from his unscratched F-51.

We can go to the Internet and search the KORWALD data reports, crew member status, and find Lafferty’s name in the alphabet listing. On the date of 520131 (January 31, 1952 under the circumstances of loss it says: “Hit by ground fire during strafing run and dove into target.” The page also shows it to be a KIA instead of MIA (killed in action instead of just missing) Most people who disappeared north of the bomb line were called

Reece Blacks's damaged plane

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cont. on page 16

March 2014 MIA, so in this case the USAF was sure of the death. It takes a while for a good story to percolate though all the channels and Lafferty was dead before his story appears in the flying Safety Magazine. He was KIA 5 months after the ditching.

End of story? Not by a damned shot. At the end of the cold war and the dissolution of the Soviet Union there was a bureaucratic thaw between the US and Russia. We learned for example that

Soviet AAA had shot down 13th Ray Wells and crew on May 31, 1952 and a Soviet AAA crew had “watched” the shootdown of another 13th aircraft.

Now here's where story gets complicated and I am writing above my pay grade. The gist of the story is accurate, but there are several versions of each story so some of the details may be questionable. I've done my best to keep it simple There was the story of the Soviets frantic effort to find out the capabilities of the new F-86 fighter and their successful effort to get one intact. You know they couldn’t possible do that – but they did. There are several versions to this story but they all end up with the same result – a sand filled F-86 in Moscow A flight of nine Migs successfully cut one F-86 out of his flight and blocked his attempt to flee south until he ran out of fuel. He crash landed in the sea near a beach and the Soviets had their F-86 they used to reverse engineer an F-86. A major goal was to get an F-86 gunsight but the gunsight had been destroyed by a shell. They also took quite a significant number of F-86 pilots to the Soviet Union to interrogate them about the capabilities and the features of the F-86.

An F-86 pilot parachuting down may fall into many different jurisdictions, all of whom are supposed to turn the pilot over. As in any large endeavor mistakes crop up. The Soviets mistook a Marine in AF clothing for an F-86 pilot as they did a gunner parachuting down from a crashing B-29. There were several lists compiled of missing F-86 pilots and some lists from both China and the Soviet Union. They melded all the lists together and tried to trace the men, whose identities may have been changed through the Soviet Gulags. Eventually they came up with a list of 31 F-86 pilots who had gone to the Soviet Union and disappeared. "The Soviets weren’t part of that war" and they couldn’t be caught with those American prisoners and they “disappeared”.

There on the list of 31 F-86 pilots in the Number 10 position was B-26/F-51 pilot 1/Lt Thomas C. Lafferty.

An eye witness had reported him KIA when his aircraft dove into the target. If this was correct how did The Soviets get Lafferty’s name?

So, we have a mystery. And that is why 1st Lt Thomas C. Lafferty deserves a stone in Arlington National Cemetery.

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CARL J. MOSHER, Major, USAF (ret), 1930 - 2013 A Friend and Squadron Mate

This is how I remember Carl Mosher, relaxed, friendly, and interested in you. OK, he was an active, a life-long tennis player, an extremely capable Navigator/bombardier and officer, and a friend with an always smiling face. We met in 1954, at K-8, Korea and were fellow 13th Bomb Squadron, B-26 Invader, crew members. In late 1954, the 13th relocated to Johnson AB, Japan, and we began a year long series of TDY's back to K-8, to Okinawa, to Clark AB in the Philippines, and to Taiwan. When I took this picture Carl had just finished a bike ride on his only wheeled transportation. At that time, in 1955, Carl was a 1st Lieutenant.

Later that year five of us; Carl, Roy Olivier, Jim Madsen, Jim Plunkett, and myself rotated back to the ZI. Carl, Jim Plunkett and I found our way to B-57's, in the 764th Bomb Squadron, 461st Bomb Wing at Byltheville AFB, Arkansas. We were in the jet age, high flyers, and assigned to a construction zone

pretending to be an airfield. I was newly married to Ritamarie, but Carl, still a bachelor, lived a wild life at the BOQ which also housed the “Officer's Club:� a small room in the WW II barracks he called home.

A year later we parted company. I was off to be upgraded to a SAC capable B-47 Navigator, while Carl enjoyed the B-57 for another six months. Then he too was caught up in SAC's search for competent airman. Shortly we were both in B-47's, living the life of SAC Cold War warriors., I at Lincoln and Carl at Homestead. His wild bachelor days came to and end when in 1959, Carl and Cathy were married.

Carl retired from the Air Force in 1973. His Air Force career had been one of a SAC warrior who migrated from the B-47 to the B-52, participated in the missions over Vietnam and was retired as a Major after 20 plus years. As he entered civilian life they 17

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the IRS to the treasurer's tasks and by doing so insured the Association's financial security for the future. As a Board Member, Carl could always be counted on to provide sound advice and direction.

As a friend he was magnificent. He still always had a smile on his face and continued to be an avid tennis player. He prided himself on being a “Grim Reaper,� and was always willing to volunteer and Many years would pass before Carl and I were to meet support the Squadron and the Association. again. Ritamarie and I stopped by to visit with Carl and Cathy in Miami Lakes for an afternoon. By Carl was be interred at Arlington National Cemetery on that time, Rita and I were retired in Hobe Sound, April 21st, 2014, at 9:00am. Please say a prayer for Florida. In 2002, the Moshers moved north to Vero him, Cathy and their family. Carl is missed and will Beach, Florida, and he and Cathy became active continue to be missed by all that knew him. in the 13th Bomb Squadron Association and were With Reaper Pride, frequent reunion attendees. moved to Miami Lakes, Florida. He was initially employed by Southern Bell Telephone, and shortly thereafter by the IRS from which he also retired.

In the 28 years that he and Cathy lived in Miami Lakes, Florida they raised their family of two sons, two daughters and eight grand children and were active participants of the Miami Lakes community.

When I became the Association President, I asked Carl to replace me as the Association Treasurer. He was elected and applied his accounting aplomb from

Perry R. Nuhn, Colonel USAF (ret), Past 13th Bomb Squadron Association President .

13th BOMB SQUADRON REUNION 2014

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13th BOMB SQUADRON REUNION 2014

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As of November 2013

Deaths Not Previously Reported

Eugene Gomes December 25, 2013 Navigator 1954-55

Rest In Peace Walter P. Schlagel February 21, 2013 Navigator 1951

John M. King May 21, 2013 Navigator 1951-52

Donald T. Lees October 2, 2010 Navigator 1943

Julius F. Clausen August 6, 2013 Mechanic 1953-54

Frank R. Pimentel Ocober 10, 2013 Navigator 1972

Aaron Combs August 28, 2013 Crew Chief 1951-52

Dean E. Sogard June 9, 2011 Navigator 1953-54

James P. Gilhooley December 31, 2013 Navigator 1971-72

William C Millington, Sr. October 27, 2010 Flt Line Mechanic 1953-56

Robert D. Catone June 25, 2012 Turret Mechanic 1948-52 & 1957

Omer Stone August 20, 2013 Gunner 1952

Dallas E. Shepherd February 3, 2013 Aerial Camera 1951-52

James J. Gearhart May 20, 2013 Pilot 1952 & 1967-68

William C. Gross March 22, 2014 Radio Mechanic 1951-52

I'll Fly Away

By Albert E. Brumley

Some bright morning when this life is over I'll fly away To that home on God's celestial shore I'll fly away I'll fly away, oh glory I'll fly away in the morning When I die hallelujah by and by I'll fly away

When the shadows of this life have gone I'll fly away Oh how glad and happy when we meet I'll fly away When I die hallelujah by and by I'll fly away I'll fly away oh glory I'll fly away in the morning When I die hallelujah by and by I'll fly away

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Just a few more weary days and then I'll fly away To a land where joys will never end I'll fly away I'll fly away oh glory I'll fly away in the morning When I die hallelujah by and by I'll fly away I'll fly away

March 2014

The Hot SEAT Editor’s Comments

Well I survived the my first year as editor of the

INVADER! It hasn't been easy, but the strong support and encouragement I have received from all of you has really made a big difference. Please keep the news, photos and stories coming.

As some of you might know, at the same time I was taking over as Editor of the INVADER, I was also starting a new graphic design business with my son. I'm happy to report we survived our first year in business as well.

My whole career as a graphic designer was spent working for companies, so owning my own business and working with my son is uncharted territory. Everyday is an adventure as we gain new clients and projects. It's a lot of fun and a lot of stress, but at the end of the day, what we have done and what we have earned is ours. It's a pretty gratifying experience. If you know anybody who is starting a business and needs a new logo or is looking to update their current logo, give us a call, we specialize in logo design, branding and illustration, photography and retouching.

Shameless promotion aside, as a graphic designer and illustrator, I have had an opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people who have enriched my life and given me the opportunity to do some pretty amazing things. Since most of you have spent some time in a Jeep, you might find this story of interest. Last July while driving down to Florida, I got a call from a guy named Terry Hagen in Butler, Pennsylvania who is involved with the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival. The Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival is a celebration of the first Jeep built by American Bantam Car Company in Butler, Pennsylvania. Terry asked me if I would be interested in creating the poster for the 2014 Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival. Having owned 9 Jeeps and being a big fan of the Jeep, I couldn't say yes fast enough!

The American Bantam Car Company specialized in building small cars long before the cost of gasoline was an issue in this country. As the situation in Europe became more and more dire, the U.S. Army put the word out to 135 companies that they needed

a small 1/4 ton "General Purpose" reconnaissance car. Only Bantam and Willys responded and only Bantam showed up with an actual working prototype!

After some modifications to the original design, the Bantam Reconnaissance Don Henderson, Editor Car or the BRC-40 was born. It became the first production Jeep built! Bantam built just under 3000 of these sturdy 4-wheel drive vehicles before the government turned the basic Bantam design over to Willys and Ford and they built the bulk of the Jeeps used in WWII. Bantam had to settle for the contract to build trailers for the Jeeps.

The trailer contract was not enough to sustain the company and eventually American Bantam

was taken over by ARMCO Steel in 1956. My illustration features the 1940 Bantam BRC-40, the Red Keystone or "Bucket of Blood" shoulder patch of the 28th Infantry Division, National Guard of Pennsylvania. Each of the 100 prints is hand signed by me and each has the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival's logo embossed and foil stamped on them. It's a pretty impressive poster if I do say so myself. If anybody is interested in owning one, they can be purchased from the festival at: www.bantamjeepfestival.com/ friends-of-the-festival/ 23

13th Bomb Squadron Association

Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID West Press 85726

Bob Parks 3219 Tavern Oaks St. San Antonio, TX 78247-3080 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Can anybody supply any details on this image of a B-57G? Charlie Hinton sent this to me a while back when we were doing the Historic Planes of the 13th Squadron. I know it's difficult to see, but there looks to be a word bubble above the Oscar nose art. I'd like to know what it says.