13 Dec 44 Our boys pulled another raid today. The bombing results seemed to be good. They saw a couple of big fires in the target. They dropped visually and there were no clouds. The formation Rood was in got nearly a hundred miles off course and spent an hour over the mainland of Japan. There was some fighter opposition and according to Ray there was a lot of flak at their altitude. Craig said it was even rocking their ship. About three fighters made passes at Ray when they dropped back to help Capt Grise. Capt. Brown ended up following him down and he ditched about 100 miles from Japan. A gunner said he hit straight and didn't seem to break but when Brown got down below the clouds Grise was no where to be seen. One ship crashed on the east side of the island after apparently tried a go around with very little fuel. Haven't heard the full story yet. There were more than 100 planes took off yesterday and the formation in the 2nd squadron was far better than usual. Ray said one bombardier was killed on one of the other groups.

14 DEC 44 Nothing of importance happened yesterday. One or two ditched crews were picked up by the Navy. One crew was on the DEC 3rd raid. The wing lost 4 ships altogether yesterday. I read "Magnificent Obsession" most of the day for amusement.

15 DEC 44 Nothing happened today either, 'went up to the airplane and it's nearly ready for the mission to Nagoya tomorrow. Will be glad to be doing something again. It's rumored that we have to have 300 hours of combat time before we can go home or approximately 25 missions. Sure hope we make it. Had a letter from Dorothy today and was more than happy about it.

16 DEC 44 Helped clean guns this afternoon in preparation for the mission tomorrow. But it was called off. Went to East Field and the 30th B. Gp. area this evening. Bennett and Brunner are in Oahu on a rest leave. I saw Auerback and Halprin at the 30th

17 DEC 44 Went to church and I've never seen such a large crowd before. The going is getting a little rougher over Japan and it's having a profound effect on everyone. We briefed this evening on the raid which we are going to pull over Nagoya tomorrow. We're bombing the home office of the Mitsubishi plant and factory which is situated in the dock area of Nagoya. It's different than that bombed the 13th. There will be 24 ships taking off with each carrying ten 500 lb G.P.'s

18 DEC 44. We took off for Nagoya at 0729 with Father Hickey's blessing and a "God Bless You" written on the nose wheel hatch by the ground crew. We went to 31,000 feet to do our bombing. It was a 47 mi. long bomb run with a 101 knots ground speed. Most of the run was made by radar with last minute refinements by the bombardier. Capt. Hatch said our bombs hit the target. I hope so. Maj. Luman aborted and that left us the lead and we led six ships over the target. The flak was meager but accurate. It was bursting just a few hundred feet off our nose and some burst right underneath where I could hear it go ''whump" Whump." A couple fighters pressed there attacks. One was a Zeke 52 and one a Tony. Both came in at 11 o'clock low with all guns blazing. They didn't hit anyone in the formation. Coming in on the target I heard some pilot tell his crew to bail out because of a fire in the ship. Bricker and crew had to ditch up near Iwo Jima because he was unable to transfer gas. Capt. Hatch saw him hit and the ship broke in two. Someone got out though because Hatch saw them in their rafts. A lot of crews were sweating out gas and one man with one engine feathered and another which quit on the final ,crashed on the right side of the field killing two men in their tents. The crew survived.

19 DEC 44 Went to a critique this morning and the mission was thoroughly discussed. Col. Dougherty is getting this outfit on the ball. Thompson and Sullivan went on a search mission for Bricker and found him 20 miles from where Hatch said he was. From 7 to 9 men were reported in the two rafts. Rood said it was exceptionally hard to see the rafts at 10O0 feet. They contacted the sub and it was supposed to reach 'them at 1800 this morning.

20 DEC 44 Helped the gunners clean guns all morning. At 0400 this morning we had an alert caused by a B-24 with a weak IFF coming in from Guam. Did some laundry in the afternoon and had a big bull session with Clanton this evening.

21 DEC 44 Did absolutely nothing this morning but this afternoon Harrell, Ofeisch and I went to Tanapag Harbor where we took and LCI out to the sub tender Fulton. A Torpedoman took us aboard the Submarine Trigger and a good many questions were cleared up concerning subs. They are very compact and crowded but nice and clean. The men aboard the Fulton were crowded also. Harrell's friend got us some ice cream and it was the tastiest delicacy I've had since getting on this island. Cold water from a fountain tasted good too. We briefed this eve. on another raid to Nagoya. This time we'll bomb the Mitsubishi plant bombed first on DEC 13th . We're carrying oil bombs. 11 of them 9

22 DEC 44 We got up at 0345 and took off for Japan at 0707. We started out No. 3 ship in the 3rd element and after all the abortions we were deputy lead. We went over the target with only six out of the 14 ships scheduled. We bombed at 32,000 by radar and I have my doubts as to the results. I was scared to put it mildly until we started getting fighter attacks just as we turned off the target. There were more fighters than I have ever seen before. We had 27 attacks that were counted and included one Zeke, a large number of Tony's and quite a few Irvins and possibly some Nicks but they're doubtful. They made attacks from everywhere 1, 2, 3, 11, 12, 10 , 8 and 7 o'clock. I think it all happened within ten minutes, but it seemed years. The Japs really pressed their attacks home to within a few feet. One Tony came in at 1230 o'clock rolled up on his side and pulled his nose in towards us and I thought he would ram us but he went between us and the No. 3 man in the 2nd element. Wray is being credited with a probable the other gunners are splitting credit for another probable. The boys really worked together good yesterday during the fighting. Cutter got in plenty of shots on the the left side and burnt out his barrels. Wray saw the two probables spin down but didn't see them hit. Flak was meager end inaccurate but down by Hammamatsu I saw one patch of white flak which was bigger than any I've seen before. One ship in our formation had an engine shot out one had a couple of 20 mm holes. We weren't scratched. One or two ships ditched from other groups and one was shot down in flames.

23 DEC 44 Slept as much as I could and then went to a critique at 11 o'clock. Just as we finished the air raid siren blew but nothing materialized. Went to the line this afternoon and watched the boys clean guns.

24 DEC 44 Didn't do very much today. It's Christmas eve but one would never know it. The new Officer's Club was opened tonight and it is pretty nice. When completed it will be super.

25 DEC 44 CHRISTMAS This is the first time in my life that it's been hot on Christmas. We had a very nice dinner with pork chops, and chicken, potatoes, real butter and buns, with cake and pie for dessert. Four letters were my Xmas. presents and they were certainly nice ones. This afternoon we went on a test hop and took along fifteen of the ground crew men, among them was Louis Charest and we let him sit in the bombardiers seat. 'They all seemed to enjoy the trip. I shot two landings, one from each seat. At 2010 we had an air raid which lasted until 2302. 'The Japs dropped one large bomb. I saw one or two of the Japs get shot down in flames. The bomb caused one 29 to go up in smoke.

26 DEC 44 We briefed this morning on a mission in which we were to take a bunch of P-38's up to Iwo where they " were going to strafe the place. It was called off about 4 though. Last nights raid resulted in 3 Japs shot down by P-61's and one by AA. The 61's got two probables. Our losses were one B-29, and probably 1 and 11 with holes in them. At about 2005 this evening we had another raid which lasted until about 2130. Saw one Jap in the lights but the AA was way off. There was lots of firing but I didn't see anyone go down. The Japs dropped a lot of win dow both tonight and last night and it seems to have really screwed up our gunners. 10

27 DEC 44 At 2205 last night we had another raid which lasted until 2330. "Condor Base" was broadcast over the PA system so we heard them announce that both targets 3 and 27 had been shot down by a Charwoman (P-61). Immediately after the deed was done. At least three were shot down by AA and 61's. We didn't see any over the island. On the first raid they dropped a bomb killing some Navy men on the other end of the island. Today I worked some on our backyard and this afternoon censored mail and also went up to the ship where they will have to change the No. 2 engine. Eight ships from our group started for Tokyo today and six bombed the same factory we bombed on the first raid. They had some fighter interception.

28 DEC 44 Yesterdays raid was really screwed up. They missed the primary and tried to make a 180 degree turn and hit it again but didn't succeed and dropped there bombs in Tokyo with dubious results. Hiat ( a 43*K man in the 499th) ship got in the prop wash over Tokyo and was flipped over on its back and then split S'd from 32,000 ft. to 25,000 ft. and there airspeed went to 380 mph. They climbed to 33,000 ft. before they could level the ship out. I spent most of the day cleaning up my section of the Quonset. Washed the floor even. Then this afternoon I went to the line and watched them work on No. 2. Also started No. 3 and No. 4. Some of the turns the formation made yesterday were so steep that Taylor said they completely stalled and lost a thousand feet.

29 DEC 44 Nothing, except I tried to keep rather busy.

30 DEC 44 Nothing important today either. Spent the morning in S-2 learning what I could about the Jap war machine. Did some washing this afternoon.

31 DEC 44 Went to church this morning and generally took it easy until 1400. At that time we had a general briefing for our lead crew training mission tomorrow. We're going to Pagan again and drop a few bombs.

1 Jan 45 We flew today from 0815 until 1415. Went up to Pagan and dropped bombs for practice.

2 Jan 45 This morning at 0430 we had an air raid and one Jap came over the field and dropped some type of frag bomb and holes in two or three ships. Spent the day up at the ship cleaning guns and the inside of the ship. I more or less took care of the lower forward turret. Briefed this evening for a raid tomorrow on Nagoya. We're dropping mostly incendiaries and will try to burn the town up as it produces more of Japans war goods than any other town. 24 ships are scheduled to take off from this group.

3 Jan 45 We had an air raid this morning at 0415. No Japs reached the island, but two of them were shot down by P-61's. Then we ate and went to our ship and got it ready to go to Nagoya. We took off at 0810 and got out 365 miles and it was discovered that our fuel transfer pumps were inoperative so we aborted. We found another note written on the hatch by the ground crew and it helped my morale a lot. We couldn't lose with a ground crew like that. We just layed around this afternoon doing nothing. Drove up to East Field tonight but Brunner and Bennett are still in Oahu..Saw Jack Bussell, he's in the 497th Breeland is too and he brought his ship back from Tokyo a few days ago when the AC was wounded.

4 Jan 45 Cleaned guns all morning and spent most of the afternoon at the ship. I had a nice talk with Wray and Cutter. Wray is a very smart lad and has his ambitions. 11 1 4 Jan 45 Cont. He intends to try and get an International Harvester agency in his home town and go into business for himself. Cutter just plans to get out of the Army and tell everyone to go to hell " if he so pleases.E.M. for the most part have that attitude. They are both good boys. Went to see the show this evening with Ray.

Major Fitz and Lt. Copeland

5 Jan 45 Rood, Harrel and I went to the Navy docks this morning where we watched them in their flying boat operations. We went thru a PB29 Coronado. They are sure big ships. They have eight bunks in them and also an electric stove and a refrigerator. This island is sure expanding. All thru the area on the east side new warehouse buildings are going up. Isely Field is in the process of being completed also. Runway B was used for the first time on the third. Roads are being built all over. Spent the afternoon doing nothing and wrote letters this evening.

6 Jan 45 Layed in the sack or thereabouts this morning but spent the afternoon censoring mail and wrote a letter this evening plus some blinker practice. Also went to a picture show at S-2 on one of the nine targets we are to bomb in Japan.

7 Jan 45 We briefed again this morning for another raid on the Musashima plant at Tokyo. This will be the 4th or 5th attack on this plant in an attempt to knock it out. We took our equipment to the airplane this afternoon end when we got there we found that someone had just salvoed the bomb bay tanks out on the ground. The mission has been postponed at least 24 hours. I also went to communion services this morning.

8 Jan 45 With nothing else to do today Nelson and I cut weeds this morning and also did some laundry. This afternoon we messed around and tried to get something done on the porch in the back but didn't accomplish much. I wrote a letter this evening. We aren't going on the Tokyo mission after all but instead will run on a weather strike mission up to that city on the night of the 10th according to the present schedule. Personally I'd rather go to Tokyo in the daytime.

9 Jan 45 Started on a letter opener today made from the shell casing of a 105 mm cannon. Then Nelson and I got started on the back porch and by 1700 we had it completed except for one more board. We had a lot of fun building it. We are scheduled to bomb an oil works in the heart of Tokyo tomorrow. The mission to Tokyo was run today, and so far three ship from the group have ditched.

10 Jan 45 It turned out that only one ship from the 500th ditched but three more from the Wing. The mission was generally screwed up and only 15 ships hit the primary target. 30 some out of the 73 which got off the ground hit targets of opportunity. We briefed this morning on the trip to Tokyo tonight. 12.

11 Jan 45 We took off yesterday at 1400 for Tokyo rith twenty M18 incendiaries and a Capt. weather observer aboard. We dropped our bombs by radar at 2154. Tokyo itself was blacked out but one town to the right of Mt. Fujiyama wasn't. Instead of the predicted 10/10 over the target it was as clear as a bell. The Japs had an estimated 60 searchlights on when we over Tokyo. They weaved around for a few minutes then picked us up and followed us thru the bomb run and on out to sea even tho we did some violent evasive action. One fighter attacked us but none of us in the nose were able to see him because we were blinded. He came in from 0230 according to Barry. The flak was meager but accurate and we picked up one hole in the vertical stabilizer. We got back at 0430 this morning. I said a prayer as we started on the bomb run and it was answered. Had ice cream for supper.

12 Jan 45 We cleaned guns this morning and practiced some on our ditching drill. Had gas mask drill this afternoon and also played some bridge. Wrote letters this evening.

13 Jan 45 Spent the morning pulling the de-icer boots off the stabilizer. This afternoon we took our equipment to the planes and put the guns in the airplane. Also wrote a few letters.

14 Jan 45 We flew to Pagan this morning and dropped four bombs for practice. by radar. Kimmet and !fiat were down this afternoon from the 499th Learned that Fish and Ed Daves were lost in England somehow. Our airplane is being harmonized today. Played bridge this morn and cleaned up around my bed with a vacuum cleaner. The mission to Nagoya yesterday seems to have been a flop Got shot this afternoon and generally messed around. Bricker is back now and they must have had quite a time on the sub that picked them up. They were up to Jepan and back once and sunk one Sampan during the trip. Three men of their crew were lost during the ditching. Chidester was banged up some.

5 Jan 45 Layed around this morning and also did some laundry in our new washing machine. Cleaned guns this afternoon. Went up to Last Field and saw Brunner and Bennett. They just got back from Oahu where they had a big time.

16 Jan 45 Forgot to enter until the 18th

17 Jan 45 Did very little this morning. Went to see a gas mask drill this afternoon and also cleaned guns. We briefed this evening for a mission to bomb the Kawasaki works at a small town SW of Kobe. It is supposed to produce 6% of Japan's engine and 10% of it's assembled aircraft. It should be an easy mission

18 Jan 45 Played bridge most of the day and squeezed a lead crew inspection in between.'We'll probably go on the mission to Akashi tomorrow. Our ships have been stripped somewhat of armor plate and we are now carrying only one bomb bay tank and that's in the rear. We weigh about 133,000 on take off now.

19 Jan 45 We got up at 6400 and took off at 0707. Both Sqdns. of 11 ships each took off at the same time and joined together as a group. We led the 2nd sqdn.. We got to the target in fine shape and made an up wind visual run. There were some fires going when we got there and we put our bombs squarely on the target. We saw approximately 18 fighters and maybe 10 made attacks on the formation. I saw one Zeke and one of the new twin engine fighters and some Tonys. The flak was moderate and accurate and we received one hit in the vertical stabilizer. All ships from the Wing returned home to base which is the first time we've done that. On the way home we picked up the heaviest ice I've seen yet. It even got on the props and was nearly 3/8" thick on the nose glass. It started as rime ice and went to light clear ice before we got below the freezing level. We landed with 370 useable gallons of gas.

20 Jan 45 Saw the pictures the other sqdn. took and the target was really mauled. It's estimated 75% out of commision. It's believed now that this plant was producing that new twin engine fighter. We didn't get pictures of our bombs. Went to the Group critique this afternoon and it's generally conceded that this was the best mission we've run yet.

21 Jan 45 Cleaned a gun this morning, and also went to the Wing critique on the Akashi mission. General Lemay was there end he spoke a few words. He didn't seem like a bad Joe at all. We went to and escape and evasion lecture this afternoon and it was very interesting. It was given by a naval Lt. (S.G.)

22 Jan 45 Didn't do so much today. Went to the club this evening and the view out on the veranda is sure beautiful. The moon is about half full now.

23 Jan 45 Started to build a chair for the porch this morning. Will finish it as soon as I get time. This afternoon Rood, Harrel and myself went on a tour of the island which took us to the airstrip being built up on Marpi Point. I become more amazed every time I tour this island because the amount of progress is tremendous. Also went swimming at Blue Beach this afternoon.

24 Jan 45 Went to the hospital this morning and had my eyes tested. Will probably get glasses in about three wks. Have had a stomach ache all day so spent the afternoon in bed. Feel somewhat better now. A mission to Nagoya was run yesterday and our group went in at 26,000'. The flak wasn't too bad but at that altitude the fighters ran rings around them. The wing as a whole shot down or damaged about 60 fighters. Maj. Roberts was was shot down and crashed off the coast of Japan. Taylor took Z Square 8 and brought it back all shot up so I guess We'll get a new airplane again. The big Mitsubishi plant in the NE part of Nagoya was the target. The second sqdn. hit it but the first missed.

25 Jan 45 We started ground school today, but so far it's a farce and next to worthless. In the afternoon we were spoken to by Col. Dougherty and the more I see of him the more I like him. He is very definite and positive in his decisions. His ideas are numerous and sound. Spent my odd moments playing bridge.

26 Jan 45 Went to the Wing briefing this morning and we are going to either Nagoya or Tokyo tomorrow depending on what a weather ship going in ahead of us reports. We will be the first Group in and we'll go in at 25,000 feet. Went to the Group briefing and cleaned guns this afternoon. Wrote a letter to Mom this evening.

27 Jan 45 We got up at 0415 and took off at 0655. We were instructed to bomb Tokyo. This we tried to do but the Mushashino plant was covered and we dropped on Tokyo itself. We got our first attack by fighters over Hammamatsu. We saw one Jap explode and go down in flames over by Mt. Fuji. We got at least 57 fighters accounted for by Augunas and probably 50 of them attacked us personnally. They came for the most part between Kofu and 30 miles out to sea. We saw Carrico get hit in his No. 2 engine but he got back. We escorted a 497th ship home which had his left stabilizer off and left wing beat up by what must have been a ramming. He got home Okay but crashed on landing. We didn't get any holes in our ship but according to Craig we came near to being rammed by a Jap who stalled out just above us. The Wing lost seven ships but the 500th didn't lose any. We had a wonderful supper when we got back.

28 Jan 45 Went to ground critique, but otherwise sacked it,

29 Jan 45 Went to Wing Critique this morning and I think Lemay is highly agitated as everyone is recommending that we adopt policies contrary to his theories. They want to go back up for one thing to 28,000 ft. and above. Spent the rest of the day playing bridge or writing letters.

30 Jan 45 We flew to Tinian this morning in an ATC C-47 where we messed around and finally ferried a 29 back over here. Tinian is a rather flat island and it isn't bad at all. We landed at the Navy field.We got a new ship today.

31 Jan 45 T Messed around up at the ship this morning and it's in darn good shape. It has many new modifications such as a manual landing gear system. Played ball and cleaned up the backyard this afternoon. Played bridge and wrote letters this eve.

1 Feb. 45 Worked in the yard today and spent the afternoon at the club painting deck chairs. A mission is being run tomorrow to Kobe. They are going to try and burn the town out. The Tinian group will go for the first time tomorrow.

2 Feb 45 Did my laundry and also played a game of baseball this morning. The afternoon was mostly taken up by and officer's call at Group. Col. Dougherty gave an excellent performance.

3 Feb 45 Did a small washing this morning and then went to the airplane and cleaned up the front end of it inside. Didn't do a darned thing this PM.

4 Feb. 45 Went to church this morning and did a little work on the yard. flew a little while this afternoon. I made the landing and it was the best I've made.

5 Feb 45 Didn't do a thing this morning. Went to a critique on yesterdays mission this afternoon. The conclusions drawn were that we didn't do bit of good. Also taxied our ship back from the harmonization range this evening.

6 Feb 45 Had ground school all day so didn't accomplish a great deal. Wrote a letter this evening. We're going to Pagan in the morning.

7 Feb 45 Got up at 0500 and took of at 0715 for Pagan. Over the field we were intercepted by P-47's and they made pursuit curves on us for some time. We dropped 4 bombs on Pagan by radar and then calibrated our instruments. After we got down I and the gunners cleaned guns. We are going on a mission to Japan(Tokayama) in a day or so, 15.

8 Feb 45 Spent part of the morning up at the plane. In the evening I went to East Field and saw Brunner end Bennett. The mission to Tokoyama has been postponed and is tentatively scheduled to go to Ota. We probably won't go.

9 Feb. 45 Went to ground shcool this morning and loafed this afternoon. We are going to the Ota briefing later in the evening.

10 Feb 45 Got up at 0630 this morning and took off at 0835 for Pagan where we made one radar run. We spent four hours in the air "the strike report" sent back from Ota said that the bombing was visual and results from good to excellent. That really makes me feel good.

11 Feb 45 Went to church this morning and to the mission critique this afternoon. Apparently the mission could have run more sooothly but results were gotten. "Doc" McConnell gave us a medical lecture this evening and I also got in on a jam session at Special Service. It sounded darn good.

12 Feb 45 Got up at 0645 and took off at 0820 for Pagan where we made three bombing runs. A warship task force came in this morning to supplement the landing craft and troopship convoy that came in yesterday. It included a Tennessee class battleship and at least four small carriers. Also saw what may have been two more BB's anchored off Tinian. There were plenty of cruisers and DD's too.

13 Feb 45 This morning we rent to the harbor and took and LCI out to the baby carrier "Wake Island" and went aboard and inspected it. they are pretty nice ships and very clean. A nice way to fight a war. We cruised by the Tennessee and got a good look at it and it's certainly huge. Also saw a number of Fletcher class DD's . We got soaking wet on the trip back from the carrier which is in the Charger class. We are going on a training mission in the morning.

14 Feb 45 Flew on another training mission this morning only it was to Rota, this time and we had a nice ship formation. Col. Reeve rode with us. Dropped our bombs on the runway We briefed this evening on a flight to the Nagoya district where we're to bomb "Old Reliable" (The factory in the NE suburbs). It should be a rough mission. It looks like the invasion of Iwo will be coming off soon.

15 Feb 45 Got up ot 0350 this morn. and took off at 0700 for the Mitsubishi plant in Nagoya. We led the 2nd sq.. The wing rendezvoued up at Nashino Shima in good order and all 8 sqdns. took out for Japan but everyone was scattered by the front. We ended up by bombing Hammamatsu in a four ship element with Col. Goney of the 98th leading. Some ships managed to get to Nagoya. On the way home we used the radio compass and homed in on Capt. Feathers who had two engines out. We escorted him home then and spent 16 hrs. and 15 min. in the air. Maj. Parsons with us. We didn't have any opposition.

16 Feb 45 Had our sqdn and group critiques today and it becomes apparent that we went up yesterday in support of the Navy's strike against Tokyo. Gautsche came down today. He's flying P-51's and will soon be up on Iwo, and escorting us over Japan. Boy, am I glad of that. The Wing didn't lose an airplane yesterday.

17 Feb 45 Went to Wing critique this morning and did nothing else today.

18 Feb. 45 Nothing 16.

19 Feb 45 Got up 0345 and took off at 0645 for Tokyo where we were scheduled to bomb the Mushashino plant NW of the city. Col. Dougherty rode with us as we led the wing which included nine sqdns. As we passed Chichi and Haha we heard Navy pilots discussing their activities which were in support of the Iwo landing. We didn't have much flak over the target vrhich was the Tokyo dock area and we bombed by radar. The fighters were fewer than usual but were more aggressive than ever before. Samuelson was shot down before we got to the target. Six parachutes were seen to open, but one was on fire and collapsed. We escorted Pearson home when he had an engine shot out and the prop tore into the fuselage. He crashed on landing. Off the coast of Japan we strafed two Jap Sampans . They fired back at us.

20 Feb 45 Went to critiques during most of the day. The worst thing that happened yesterday was the fact that one ship in the sqdn. almost dropped their bombs on us.

21 Feb 45 Went to ground school and Wing critique this morning. It was brought out that the ships lost over the target were all stragglers. Junior Sanders came over this afternoon end It was nice to see someone from home again. He's aboard the Y0185 which is a cement barge out in the harbor.

22 Feb 45 Went to ground school this morn and practiced ditching in the afternoon. Bob Smith called this evening and I went over to see him and we had a nice talk. Then I went up to see Gautsche. This is the first that I knew about Bob. He's been flying C.P on a 24 over here since the first of January.

23 Feb 45 Went up to the hospital this morning and also had a little G.S. We played ball in the afternoon and won 13 to 3. Engle ditched a plane off Isely II this afternoon and both he and Ray plus a Navy man, who went along for the ride, were drowned. He apparently lost control as he was trying to land with 3 and 4 out

24 Feb 45 Went to the hospital this morning and my eyes are a lot better. We went to the club this afternoon and spent three hours working down there.

25 Feb 45 The boys went out on another strike in conjunction with the Navy's strike this morning. I went out to the Y0185 with Bob Smith and we had dinner with Al Sanders. It was a very good chicken dinner. I hauled dirt this evening for the backyard lawn.

26 Feb 45 Did nothing today but work on the back lawn. We hauled in dirt last night and smoothed it out today. The grass has arrived so will Plant it in the near future. We plan to have a border of flowers around the yard. Went to the club this evening, besides hauling more dirt.

27 Feb 45 Went to Ground school and worked on the lawn most of the day

28 Feb 45 Went to Ground school this morning and also worked on the lawn. It's now ready for the grass seed. We flew this aft. and I was in the left seat the whole time. (Am still leveling off to high). We're going on a training mission tomorrow.

1 Mar 45 Worked on the yard and went on a training mission which took us down towards Truk and back to Guam and Rota. We briefed to go to '357 again.

2 Mar 45 Did a laundry and worked on the yard. We didn't go to Tokyo today because of the weather . We're going on a training mission today 17.

3 Mar 45 We flew a training mission to Rota this morning and dropped incendiaries on the runway there. We were told this afternoon that we will get up at 2230 tonight and brief for and night-day mission to Tokyo.

4 Mar 45 We briefed last night and took off at about 0145. the mission was unusual in that we rendevouzed 50 miles off the coast using the radio compasses and signals sent out by the lead ship. It worked fairly well and the group went over in a 15 ship formation. We dropped by radar in the town of Tokyo as the Mushashino plant was covered over. The flak was fairly heavy and accurate. Both our wing ships were hit. We didn't see any fighters whatsoever. Col. Montgomery of Bomb. Com. A-3 rode with us and he was really a swell guy. One of the nicest I've ever met. It was his first mission.

5 Mar 45 Went to Sqdn. and Group critique today. We had a practice alert tonight and it sounded like old times again except that there was no Ack ack.

6 Mar 45 Went to a semblance of Ground School this morning and to a lecture on pneumatic bomb doors in the fore part of the afternoon. Spent the rest of it playing bridge, with Ray. Wrote letters this evening.

7 Mar 45 'Went to the Post Office this morning qnd also started on a mousetrap which I finished about 1500. Then wrote a couple of letters. Went to the show this evening after Officer's call.

8 Mar 45 Not much happened today.

9 Mar 45 1500 We briefed this morning for another trip to Tokyo. We'll take-off at 1835 tonight and hit there in the morning at 0115 approx. We're going in at between 7,000 and 7,800'. 150 of the 250 ships taking part in the strike will be ahead of us so there should be some large fires when we get there. We're carrying 40 M-18 incendiary clusters. No guns will be carried.

10 Mar 45 We took off last night at 1835 and after a dull trip hit the coast of Japan at 0210. Even before we made landfall we could see the fires at Tokyo. We were at 7,800' and there was smoke towering above us. The radar run was perfect and we dropped in an open spot visually. The city was a "Dantes" Inferno" when we dropped. We got some ack ack which was close enough to hear, but we weren't hit. One night fighter made a run on us but we turned into him and lost him. The saddest thing about the whole mission was that so many people dropped on Choshi Point. 139 ships hit Honshu from here and aprox. 300 from the Marianas for the biggest 29 raid of the war.

11 Mar 45 Didn't do much except go to church and lay in the sack. Went up this evening tho and watched the ships take-off for Nagoya. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, and there were 160 that took off altogether. They're carrying M-17 incendiaries.

12 Mar 45 This morning when we woke up the ceiling was zero zero practically and raining hard. It was really a rat race when the ships started coming in from Nagoya. This Wing lost one airplane to unknown causes. according to all reports the results were even better than at Tokyo. It has rained all day so my garden should really start growing. The S-2 pictures of Tokyo came out today and the results were devestating.

13 Mar 45 Went to the airplane this morning and cleaned it up in preparation for tonights mission to Osaka. Everyone in the crew is going tonight. We're carrying 40 M-17 incendiaries and will try to burn the city out. We'll eat at 1530. the raid on Nagoya turned out to be a flop.

14 Mar 45 We took off last night at 1750 as one of the 12 pathfinder ships and had a very uneventful trip. The target opened up at the last minute but it was purely a radar run. We didn't get any flak or fighters. One searchlight held us for a few seconds I saw four or five small fires burning already. We bombed at 0157. Ships bombing later reported huge fires and terrible updrafts from the heat. A good many were shot at and some had fighters on their tails. It looks as tho the raid may have been a big success.

15 Mar 45 Went down to the club with Ray this morning and they're really fixing it up nice. Played some bridge and did a washing this afternoon. It's said that we burned out 10 square miles of Osaka. Went to East Field this evening and saw Bennett.

Tthis is the last entry.

The Author: 2nd Lt. Robert E. Copeland died 17 Mar 45