In Their Own Words
The Times, The Places, The Events - from the men who lived them
The Times, The Places, The Events - from the men who lived them
Thomas Jones - 95th
"I well remember my first mission. After take-off and climb over the sea, some jock above and ahead of me cleared his four .50s with a burst of fire as we always did. The empty casings rattled off my windscreen, scaring the hell out of me. I thought the Jerries had 'zeroed in', and I was going to be shot down."
"I well remember my first mission. After take-off and climb over the sea, some jock above and ahead of me cleared his four .50s with a burst of fire as we always did. The empty casings rattled off my windscreen, scaring the hell out of me. I thought the Jerries had 'zeroed in', and I was going to be shot down."
Soren "Whitey" Anton - 96th
"My last mission was, February 3, 1943, we were escorting B-26 bombers on a routine anti-shipping mission against Rommels supply ships. We ran into 8 or 10, Me210s and Me109s. The flight leader turned into me and I had to immediately pull a tight turn to get away from the flight leader. After recovering from the tight turn, I jumped right back in the middle of that hornets nest, remembering Jimmy Doolittle's orders, 'protect the bombers'. I was flying every way but straight in a collection of machine gun bullets, that was striking my P-38. I shot the 'green house' off an Me110 which was firing at me and must have wounded the pilot, as he pulled into me for a mid air collision. I went straight up and chopped the throttle on one engine and did a wing over, and there he was, right below me. I gave him the, 4 fifties and the 20 mm. He caught fire. Then I was going to attempt another interception of them and in all the machine guns firing at me, I just happened to pick up a tracer in my right elbow, shattering the joint. I managed to get away from them and headed West until I figured it was time to turn South, out into the desert where the 82nd Fighter Group was located. I don't remember who pulled me out of the cockpit after I landed, as I was out of it-due to shock and loss of blood. I was taken to a British Field hospital, at the time of the Kasserine Pass Battle. Then I was sent to the, 298th British General Hospital in Algiers. As soon as I was ambulatory, I was placed on a British hospital ship headed for the first American hospital in Bristol, England. After winding up a 9 month hospital experience, which included 2 more hospitals in the United States, it was back to duty and confined to the US. No more 'fighters'."
"My last mission was, February 3, 1943, we were escorting B-26 bombers on a routine anti-shipping mission against Rommels supply ships. We ran into 8 or 10, Me210s and Me109s. The flight leader turned into me and I had to immediately pull a tight turn to get away from the flight leader. After recovering from the tight turn, I jumped right back in the middle of that hornets nest, remembering Jimmy Doolittle's orders, 'protect the bombers'. I was flying every way but straight in a collection of machine gun bullets, that was striking my P-38. I shot the 'green house' off an Me110 which was firing at me and must have wounded the pilot, as he pulled into me for a mid air collision. I went straight up and chopped the throttle on one engine and did a wing over, and there he was, right below me. I gave him the, 4 fifties and the 20 mm. He caught fire. Then I was going to attempt another interception of them and in all the machine guns firing at me, I just happened to pick up a tracer in my right elbow, shattering the joint. I managed to get away from them and headed West until I figured it was time to turn South, out into the desert where the 82nd Fighter Group was located. I don't remember who pulled me out of the cockpit after I landed, as I was out of it-due to shock and loss of blood. I was taken to a British Field hospital, at the time of the Kasserine Pass Battle. Then I was sent to the, 298th British General Hospital in Algiers. As soon as I was ambulatory, I was placed on a British hospital ship headed for the first American hospital in Bristol, England. After winding up a 9 month hospital experience, which included 2 more hospitals in the United States, it was back to duty and confined to the US. No more 'fighters'."
Lincoln Jones - 96th
"We could hear the engines of a P-38 coming in 'HOT', way to 'HOT'. No one on the ground had any idea that Whitey had been shot. The plane touched down and just kept moving and moving and getting closer to structures. It finally stopped just short of running into a structure. Of course, by then, everyone had figured out that there was something seriously wrong with Whitey. A bunch of guys jumped up on the plane, to get Whitey out, Johnny Caputo (97th), being one of them. By this time, Whitey had completely passed out, from shock and loss of blood. Whitey was immediately taken to the hospital for a very long road, to recovery, from his wounds. Upon looking into the cockpit of his P-38, no one could figure out, 'how', he ever made it back to the base."
"We could hear the engines of a P-38 coming in 'HOT', way to 'HOT'. No one on the ground had any idea that Whitey had been shot. The plane touched down and just kept moving and moving and getting closer to structures. It finally stopped just short of running into a structure. Of course, by then, everyone had figured out that there was something seriously wrong with Whitey. A bunch of guys jumped up on the plane, to get Whitey out, Johnny Caputo (97th), being one of them. By this time, Whitey had completely passed out, from shock and loss of blood. Whitey was immediately taken to the hospital for a very long road, to recovery, from his wounds. Upon looking into the cockpit of his P-38, no one could figure out, 'how', he ever made it back to the base."
Maurice 'Ole' Olson - 95th
"The recent story in the 'FLY PAST' magazine about the 82nd FG, brought this mission to mind. My 24th mission was to escort a 'Photo Recon' to Munich, Germany on December 3, 1944. We were challenged by an attack from above our foursome. I remember that there were three of us, escorting, one P-38 'recky'. We did peel off and follow the Me262 down but to know avail. We did have to jettison our tanks and go to the deck as we were over Munich and were treated to much ground fire. The debriefing was more complete than any of the others and seems that it lasted over an hour. I don't recall the other two guys, but something tells me, Snow, was the Flight Leader and I'm thinking, Harley Barnhart, may have been involved. I did fly my first ten missions as a B-24 co-pilot and lost my crew on July 3, 1944, as I sat a 'mission out', to make room for a pilot to complete his tour. They were shot down in a raid to Ploesti and were all taken prisoners in Sofia, Bulgaria. Happy circumstances created a happy meeting with Major Gardner in Rome and he helped me transfer to the 95th FS where, Bill Blurock, Ron Graham, and Don Stoutenborough became my mentors as I learned to fly the P-38. These were lucky days indeed. I completed my tour of 50 missions on February 18, 1945."
"The recent story in the 'FLY PAST' magazine about the 82nd FG, brought this mission to mind. My 24th mission was to escort a 'Photo Recon' to Munich, Germany on December 3, 1944. We were challenged by an attack from above our foursome. I remember that there were three of us, escorting, one P-38 'recky'. We did peel off and follow the Me262 down but to know avail. We did have to jettison our tanks and go to the deck as we were over Munich and were treated to much ground fire. The debriefing was more complete than any of the others and seems that it lasted over an hour. I don't recall the other two guys, but something tells me, Snow, was the Flight Leader and I'm thinking, Harley Barnhart, may have been involved. I did fly my first ten missions as a B-24 co-pilot and lost my crew on July 3, 1944, as I sat a 'mission out', to make room for a pilot to complete his tour. They were shot down in a raid to Ploesti and were all taken prisoners in Sofia, Bulgaria. Happy circumstances created a happy meeting with Major Gardner in Rome and he helped me transfer to the 95th FS where, Bill Blurock, Ron Graham, and Don Stoutenborough became my mentors as I learned to fly the P-38. These were lucky days indeed. I completed my tour of 50 missions on February 18, 1945."
Roy Norris - 96th
'The American and British Liberation of Greece'. The 82nd Fighter Group mission for this liberation was to provide cover for the C-47's towing CG-4A gliders. The destination was Megara Airdrome, West of Athens. The date was October 16, 1944. There was a stratus overcast only a couple thousand feet above the Mediterranean and the 'gooney' birds and gliders were hugging the ceiling. We, as escort cover, could not fly above them, so, we flew along side making lots of turns to stay with them. Well being an experienced glider infantryman, I was a 60 millimeter mortar squad leader in the 82nd Airborne Division before being an Aviation Cadet, I lowered my wheels and flaps, and slid into a 'very tight' formation with one of the gliders. Immediately, M-1 rifle barrels, started popping out of the small plastic windows! I got the message. I 'slipped out' and resumed my proper position in formation. After the 'gooney' birds and gliders had landed, our group proceeded West, to an island to land for refueling. Now, knowing of this refueling stop. I had placed all my ration cigarettes on the right side of the cockpit. They covered the emergency hydraulic pump and valve. On landing each P-38 was positioned next to several 55 gallon drums, which contained gasoline. The pilot was to fill the tanks while a man hand pumped from the drums. This man wore an open shirt and shorts made from burlap! His shoes were in shreds. With no place to trade my cigarettes, I gave them to the man. The British officer in charge of the refueling, 'chewed' me out, something fierce! He said, "I made this man, rich"! After refueling, we flew back to Vincencio, our home base.
'The American and British Liberation of Greece'. The 82nd Fighter Group mission for this liberation was to provide cover for the C-47's towing CG-4A gliders. The destination was Megara Airdrome, West of Athens. The date was October 16, 1944. There was a stratus overcast only a couple thousand feet above the Mediterranean and the 'gooney' birds and gliders were hugging the ceiling. We, as escort cover, could not fly above them, so, we flew along side making lots of turns to stay with them. Well being an experienced glider infantryman, I was a 60 millimeter mortar squad leader in the 82nd Airborne Division before being an Aviation Cadet, I lowered my wheels and flaps, and slid into a 'very tight' formation with one of the gliders. Immediately, M-1 rifle barrels, started popping out of the small plastic windows! I got the message. I 'slipped out' and resumed my proper position in formation. After the 'gooney' birds and gliders had landed, our group proceeded West, to an island to land for refueling. Now, knowing of this refueling stop. I had placed all my ration cigarettes on the right side of the cockpit. They covered the emergency hydraulic pump and valve. On landing each P-38 was positioned next to several 55 gallon drums, which contained gasoline. The pilot was to fill the tanks while a man hand pumped from the drums. This man wore an open shirt and shorts made from burlap! His shoes were in shreds. With no place to trade my cigarettes, I gave them to the man. The British officer in charge of the refueling, 'chewed' me out, something fierce! He said, "I made this man, rich"! After refueling, we flew back to Vincencio, our home base.
Bill Hayduk - 95th
"Early winter 1945, I flew an escort mission to Bratislava, Czech. On the way to the target, my 'wingman' had an early return as did a 'flight leader' in the 96th. The 96th 'wingman' was told to come over to the 95th Squadron and fly my wing. The anti-aircraft fire was well directed and some B-24s were shot up over Bratislava. I happened to be very close to a damaged B-24 and reported that my 'wingman' and I would escort him home. We were unable to establish radio contact with the crippled B-24, so hand signals were used between myself and the B-24. After about a 1/2 an hour, heading South, I spotted a single aircraft coming up from the South towards us. I positioned myself and 'wingman', up sun, to be able to make an effective pass should this aircraft be a bandit. As it was, it was a B-24 looking for the cripple we were bringing home. At the moment I was instructing the undamaged B-24, where I wanted him, to position himself, all hell broke loose with anti-aircraft fire on the crippled B-24. I instructed my 'wingman' to stay up with the undamaged B-24, as I dove down to get the crippled B-24, to follow me out of the flak. As the crippled B-24 started his turn, parachutes started to come out of the ship. I counted ten. The last chute to open, got caught on the wing tip of the falling B-24 and went right into the ground with the aircraft. If the pilot from the 96th, remembers this story, I would appreciate him contacting me, through the, Webmaster of the, 82nd Fighter Group website, as I never knew who he was."
"Early winter 1945, I flew an escort mission to Bratislava, Czech. On the way to the target, my 'wingman' had an early return as did a 'flight leader' in the 96th. The 96th 'wingman' was told to come over to the 95th Squadron and fly my wing. The anti-aircraft fire was well directed and some B-24s were shot up over Bratislava. I happened to be very close to a damaged B-24 and reported that my 'wingman' and I would escort him home. We were unable to establish radio contact with the crippled B-24, so hand signals were used between myself and the B-24. After about a 1/2 an hour, heading South, I spotted a single aircraft coming up from the South towards us. I positioned myself and 'wingman', up sun, to be able to make an effective pass should this aircraft be a bandit. As it was, it was a B-24 looking for the cripple we were bringing home. At the moment I was instructing the undamaged B-24, where I wanted him, to position himself, all hell broke loose with anti-aircraft fire on the crippled B-24. I instructed my 'wingman' to stay up with the undamaged B-24, as I dove down to get the crippled B-24, to follow me out of the flak. As the crippled B-24 started his turn, parachutes started to come out of the ship. I counted ten. The last chute to open, got caught on the wing tip of the falling B-24 and went right into the ground with the aircraft. If the pilot from the 96th, remembers this story, I would appreciate him contacting me, through the, Webmaster of the, 82nd Fighter Group website, as I never knew who he was."
Robert Kirtley - 95th
"IF YOU AIN'T, 'CUTTIN' THE GRASS' !!!..... THEN DON'T BE 'BUZZIN' !!!"
"IF YOU AIN'T, 'CUTTIN' THE GRASS' !!!..... THEN DON'T BE 'BUZZIN' !!!"