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(That's me on the top row, second from left) Some problems caused fear other than being shot down by flak or fighters. First allow me to explain my personal fear. Any problem or situation that was life threatening caused me to endure fear. On April 23, 1945 our 9th mission, we were halfway to Iwo Jima when problems with an engine caused me to have some fear. We were loaded with 6000 gallons of 100 octane gas and thirty-five 500 lb general demolition bombs . Number three engine started to puff out smoke, belching out flashes of fire. Flight Engineer Lt. Wales and Airplane Commander Capt. Tucker were in conversation over the intercom searching for a solution to this problem when finally they had no recourse but to activate the inboard extinguisher hoping to extinguish the fire and also feather the propeller. Watching through the blister, to our relief, we saw that the engine showed no signs of a fire. ( I recall watching an engine burn off of a B-29 when we were on a practice bombing flight down off Puerto Rico. The back wall of the engine is made of magnesium which burns quickly when subjected to fire. Whereas the engine would fall off.) I was relieved to see that the engine was still intact . We were now flying with three engines and the mission would have to be aborted. I felt upset because of all the hard work and preparation that was wasted getting to this point in the mission. Suddenly number four engine started to let out yellow puffs of flame. Captain Tucker called back and said that he was getting rid of the bombs and stand by to bail out. The five of us, right gunner, left gunner CFC gunner, radar operator and myself (tail gunner) lined up outside of the radar room, by the putt-putt . Radar Operator, Joe Ryan, had a headset on waiting for the order to bail out. We had opened a hatch an the noise of the rushing air only added to the fear that I felt. I looked at my equipment, the Mae West, my chest type parachute and the one man life raft attached to my parachute harness and in a split second started going through my training instructions. In the back of my mind other concerns surfaced. I recall hearing that some crews that bailed out had their GI boots come off because of the downward force exerted when the parachute opened . Paratroopers wore high top boots that were laced tight at the top to alleviate this problem. For some reason it worried me that if happened to me sharks would surely be attracted to my feet. I was also concerned about the parachute shroud lines coming down over me when I hit the water, and if so how was I going to inflate the Mae West and raft tangled up in those lines. Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted as I felt the plane shudder slightly as the bomb bay doors were opened. Shortly after, through the opened hatch I saw the entire sky light up. The bombs hitting the water exploding,illuminating the pitch black sky and water. It was an eerie sight that I will never forget. Number four engine was now our main concern. After what seemed forever the engine quieted down and we were told to return to our stations. We then proceeded back to Tinian and landed safely. We were given a new engine and after eight missions and one abort we now had four new engines. We later found out that the mission that we were assigned to that day was a milk run. Bombing was by radar because of poor visibility . I would have preferred going on that mission rather than the probability of bailing out at night. Bailing out in daylight did not concern me as much. At least I could see what I was doing. My other bail out fear was bailing out over the Japanese Empire. We were told at briefings that Japanese civilians were stoning and pitch forking B-29 crewman to death. If we were captured by military or police that would be preferable because they wanted to interrogate crewmen. I had made up my mind that if I had to bail out over Japan and approached by civilians I would use my 45 cal. pistol, shoot as many as I could and then blow my head off. I absolutely rebelled at the thought of being captured. Being nineteen years old then and now seventy four I wonder if that scenario occurred would I have committed myself to doing that. Writing these memories causes me to marvel at what all of us "KIDS" had gone through. We accepted responsibilities that made our lives dependent on each other. Having a draft dodging lying, immoral president leaves me with a sad feeling as to where we are today. However I am proud to say that I was and am still patriotic.
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