DAUNTLESS: adjective 1. not to be daunted or intimidated; fearless; intrepid; bold: a dauntless hero . (dictionary.com)
Today is the beginning of Memorial Day weekend. I can’t think of a better time to be typing the word “dauntless” on my keyboard.
When my brother Bill and I started this website; we were determined to keep it free from politics or any other agenda.
This Memorial Day is particularly poignant, however, because Truth is holding up a gigantic mirror for us to look at – what’s looking back at us is the tragic national shame swirling around the VA Hospitals and Health Care facilities. This situation was a long time in the making. Its roots lie in the confluence of a huge influx of veterans needing care after Iraq and Afghanistan and years of budget cutting by the decades-old joke that is and has been our Senate and our House of Representatives. Congress allocates the money, and they have systematically failed to hold up our promise to our veterans – you serve our country, and our country will be here to help you afterwards.
Shame on them, and shame on us for sending them back to Washington.
The Planes of Fame Museum also has some of “our planes” from WWII. One of the hangars is divided in two, with one room dedicated to the heavy carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6). CV-6 was no stranger to the men on the Boston; she was one of the carriers they screened in raids on the Japanese Home Islands and the Battle of Iwo Jima in the early days of 1945.
The “Enterprise Room” is a great collection of stuff. It’s also home to several carrier planes common to the War in the Pacific. Today, we’ll concentrate on the TBM Avenger. Pictured below is their Avenger stored just as it would have been on a carrier – “wings up and back.”
below: from their website:
www.planesoffame.org
There were “heroes by the many hundreds” among the carrier pilots during the War. Here’s a guy you might have heard of before (from p. 290 – A Bird’s Eye View):
…… a squadron of Avenger torpedo bombers launched off the light carrier San Jacinto on September 2, 1944 attacked a radar installation on ChiChi Jima. They flew into a storm of antiaircraft fire, and the plane piloted by George H. Bush flamed down and crashed into the sea. Bush had successfully bombed his target before bailing out. The only survivor, he was rescued by a submarine and returned to his carrier a month later.
“Val” on display at the Planes of Fame Museum, Chino, CA
From Frank Studenski’s War Diary:
April 30, 1944 (the Hollandia Invasion)
This morning planes took off the carriers to bomb Jap airfields and ships. All of the planes were in the air by 0630 hours. Jap planes spotted us at 0900 hours. We were attacked by 22 torpedo planes. The carrier Cabot’s fighters shot down most of the planes. Some of the planes got through into the formation. One plane was sighted off our starboard bow, this was a torpedo plane making a run on us. The plane came in low over the water, but did not drop his torpedo, the pilot was either dead or his release gear was shot away. The plane flew over our bow and crashed on the port side. A second plane came in low over the water and we opened up our forties. The plane was headed for the Yorktown which was just forward on our port side. This plane also crashed on the port side and went up in flames. A loud cheer went up after it hit the water. We shot down two of the three planes that got through the formation.
We expect more air attacks this afternoon or tonight. We were at general quarters all day. Bogies were reported in the area, but none came close to shoot at. Everyone is excited about the two Jill Torpedo Planes we shot down.
Pictured above is a “Val” an Aichi D3A2 divebomber. Vals were “early war” divebombers – the scourge of Pearl Harbor. They were “less used” as the war went on, replaced by other more efficient divebombers such as the Yokosuka D4Y Suisei “Judy” – well known to the men on the Boston and the other Task Force ships. The ships were also targeted by torpedo planes – planes that dropped down only a few feet above the water line and released armed and propelled torpedoes. Common among them were the Nakajima B6N Tenzans, “Jills.”
From George Pitts’ diary:
Oct 13-44 (the Battle off Formosa)
……… Just after supper about sunset the Japs closed in after having heckled us all day long. About 12 planes came in breaking inside the formation through a screen of flak made by our guns. 4 or 5 were shot down. No one noticed the Canberra (sister ship) astern of us. She had two Jap torpedo planes making a run at her. She hit them both, but one managed to to set his torpedo loose and it hit the Canberra just aft of her stbd beam. All this happened pretty fast. The attack last about 1 hour. Then the cruiser Wichita went to take the Canberra (cruiser) in tow. Twenty seven men were killed in the firerooms where the fish hit.
Oct 14-44
……… Just about suppertime they came in force. Raids of 30 and 50 planes came in single groups. Our fighters repelled them until dark, then all hell broke loose again. Quite a few broke in our formation while others circled it and let loose with their torpedoes. A few missed our bow and one astern. The Houston (light cruiser) who took the Canberra’s place in the formation, took a torpedo in the fantail. . . .
Oct 16-44
……. At approximately 1400 (2 pm) the Japs attacked with carrier planes probably knowing they had crippled a few of our ships. They intended to finish them off. They attacked the tugs and cripples (Houston and Canberra) that we had left this morning. The Houston took another fish in her fantail. She’s almost split in two ………
Two weekends ago, I drove down to the Greater LA area. I had two “jobs” to do: visit Norm Bayley’s grandson (we are working on a “Norm project”), and see Pat Fedele who was about to celebrate his 90th birthday (which fell on Easter Sunday.) Happy birthday, Pat. One reason to visit Pat was to donate a set of Baked Beans books to the library in his housing community – which overlooks a golf course in Orange County. While we were there, the librarian (a pianist), convinced Pat to join her in a couple of “Italian songs.” I caught the “action” on my tape recorder, and I’ll try to get at least one song posted in the near future.
While I was down there, I decided to drive to Chino, CA to the Planes of Fame Museum. One criticism of A Bird’s Eye View is that there are no pictures of Japanese planes that are frequently mentioned. It’s a valid point – but getting pictures is easier said than done. I had read that the museum in Chino has a Zero in their collection, so off I went. As is often the case with Steve Kelly adventures, when I got there, the Zero was unavailable. It had just been returned from an Air Show somewhere and was in pieces waiting to be reassembled. I was assured that it would be ready to fly in their upcoming May 3 Air Show . . .
Here’s what their Mitsubishi A6M5 looks like:
Zero in flight, from the Planes of Fame website: www.planesoffame.org
Well, despite not actually seeing the plane I went to see, the museum is a pretty amazing place. They do have some other WWll planes there – and I’ll post the pictures I took over the next several postings.
Clarence enlisted in Cleveland, OH and reported to CA-69 two days after her Commissioning, on July 2, 1943. He served aboard her for more than a year, mustering off the ship on Aug 2, 1944. He was transferred to Fleet Service School in San Diego, CA.
photo submitted by Clarence’s son, Michael Thomas Hutson, Sr., Lt. US Navy Ret.
