Page 95 - Family History

Family Stories

planes near such an enemy strong hold could be American. We were never fired

on by our planes but that didn’t stop them from scaring the h--- out of us.

At 1145 about fifty of our dive bombers, torpedo bombers and rocket firing

fighters started an attack against Naha shipping and the airfield. It was a

beautiful sight to see and while our attacking planes zipped in and away, Backie

and I circled nearby getting a grandstand view. The attacks lasted only a few

minutes but during the few minutes one of our fighters received a hit, started to

burn and lost control. The pilot had seen us so he headed toward us, but the fire

was so bad he had to bail out at 500’ when about two miles off shore. I was

searching some islets to the south when this happened but Backie was right on

hand. He circled the pilot as he descended, and then threw smoke floats over to

mark his position in the water. At the same time, because I had an empty rear

seat, he called me up. Backie showed me where to land and then, because

visibility is poor after you’ve landed, Backie directed me to the pilot. Because of

nd
this, I was able to pick the survivor, a marine F4U 2 luit up before he

drowned. Backie was doing a tight circle over us, keeping an eye on us every

second at only 100 feet.

This rescue had attracted about twenty of our fighters who were consequently,

circling the scene.

That’s the reason the Japs fired at us. They figured that if they only shot into

this area, they ought to be able to hit one of our planes. Several ack ack

rockets hit near Backie but he dodged them successfully.

95