|
Standing
L To R - James T. Murphy, Bombardier - Vernon (Bugs) Garner,
Co-Pilot - Daniel R. Burgraff, Pilot -Lewis Hahn, Navigator -
Robert Wright, Radar |
I am always amazed when I think this 22-year-old Oklahoman showed up on a B29 combat crew as a radio operator. The enemy soon let us know they didn't like us dropping bombs on their roof tops!
For
example, when we went to Nagoya on a night time raid, we were greeted
with everything they could throw at us, plus the fact the fire was already
going strong. We got caught in the heat thermals and were bouncing all
over the place. I did not have my seat belt on and ended up being thrown
around quite a bit. We had one engine shot out (flack) and as we left
for home (Tinian) we lost another engine!
Fire bomb raid
Thanks to a fine engineer, pilot, co-pilot and navigator we made it back to Iwo. The tower told the pilot to circle and try again, but he responded, "No way, we're coming in!" As we taxied off the runway on the way to the hardstand area, we ran out of fuel and then had to be towed the rest of the way.
Since
we were then forced to spend the night on Iwo, we were told not to venture
into any caves, as there was the possibility of some Japanese soldiers
still holed up around there. Also, if we ran across any bottles of sake,
the beer, we were told not to try it because it might be tainted! That
night on Iwo we were exposed to a cold, saltwater shower, strange to
say the least!
Iwo Central Field
When we arrived back at Tinian (West Field) some of our Quonset hut companions were surprised to see us, thinking we had not made it! But thanks to a great AIRCRAFT, a lot of LUCK, a whole lot of help from THE MAN UPSTAIRS and a GREAT CREW, WE MADE IT!
