Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: freakazoid on July 31, 2017, 12:38:33 PM
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So this past Saturday afternoon my grandpa passed away, 93 years old. So far they aren't sure what caused it but he was found in the garage where he hit his head pretty hard. Before then he was always really active, you never would of guess that he was in his 90s. He served in the Army Air Forces during WW2 for only a short time. He was on the B-29 A-21, sometimes called labeled as A-square 21, Superfortress; nicknamed Thumper. I never asked him about his service time so I don't know a whole lot about it but I know that at one point he was injured playing I think baseball and that basically ended his time in. I did a little digging and I managed to find out a little more. I knew he was the radar operator, later learned his MOS was 866. I managed to find his Army Serial Number and learned that he joined two days after Pearl Harbor. I'm not sure if he got injured before he went on any actual bombing operations but I think so, there is a big record list on the 497th bombing group website, http://www.497thbombgroupb29.org/records.htm that has everybody who served in it and information like what orders they had and it has when he transferred bases but not any operation numbers like others have; they even have a document written by the guy who replaced my grandpa. I'm not even sure if he got transferred to Saipan.
His plane was apparently kind of famous. It was in the 20th Air Force, 73rd Bombardment Wing, 497th Bombardment Group, 870th Bombardment Squadron. The A-squared planes were part of the 497th. On October 19, 1944 it transferred to Saipan where they staged bombing runs. It was in the first group over there and the first plane to reach 40 missions at which point it was transferred back to the US in June 1945, where it went on a war bond tour. On it's first mission it led the second group. Apparently it would take a total of 7.5 hours to cross the ocean. It had two sets of pilots, or Airplane Commanders. The first was Lt. Col "Pappy" Haynes. Eventually Maj. Campbell and his crew took over, I think after 23 missions. Lt. Col Haynes is the one who flew it back for the war bond tour. The nose art is Thumper from the Bambi movie, riding a bomb. Beside that they painted smaller versions for each bombing run with the name of the city that was the target. There are little Rising Sun Flags, Kyokujitsu-ki, on some of the little Thumper emblems that represent enemy planes shot down, 26 total by the time it returned to the US. There are also little hearts that represent men wounded, apparently it was the tail gunner that was the painter. When It returned for the war bond tour they replaced the little Thumpers with 40 bombs.
There was also a model kit put out by Monogram with Thumper being the plane on the cover, apparently taking precedence over Enola Gay and also Bockscar which are the other two decals you can put on, once I learned about this I found it on ebay and bought it. Haven't put it together yet as I want to practice on some other models with gluing and painting to make sure I can do it right.
The only thing I know that he still has from his time in is a picture of the plane and crew, and I think a pair of his gloves. He use to have one of those leather flight jackets but apparently my grandma sold it a long time ago. Also had his service 1911 and I think that had got sold too :'(. I found a place that makes vintage style A-2 flight jackets, and a few other models, and they paint nose art on them. Thumper is one of them that they do so I am going to eventually buy one. Pricey though, about $1000 total for the jacket and the nose art. https://www.flightjacket.com/thumper-nose-art.html Any idea on which model/models of jacket would have been the style that they actually used there?
In the pictures you can see some that were taken while it was on the war bond tour. The photo with them lined up in front is after grandpa left, the guy in the upper right is the one who replaced him. My grandpa has the actual picture in his house, I need to see if there is maybe anything on the back. Managed to find this silent film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaxtzGJhOTo that was taken there and it actually shows the plane and crew, too pixilated to really make out the faces but I know it was during his time that his crew was there, and I know that one of the guys you can see is the pilot by what he is wearing. Found some other film of the squadron out on a bombing run but his plane isn't in it. I've been looking for any other pictures or film that might happen to show it in the background or something but so far no luck.
I'm taking leave to attend his funeral and over in Pratt, there use to be an airfield there where they practiced out of before shipping off to Japan, there is a museum and I'm going to check it out and see if they happen to have any other information.
I never asked him about his time in and he never really talked about it. Since I'm in the Navy I've been thinking maybe he might open up more about it with me, but asking about it always felt a little uncomfortable so I never did it. Earlier this year I broke my ACL and was going to use that as an opener to ask him about his time since he injured himself too while in. Was going to do that next time I took leave in November but now I am unable to do it. Damn. :'(
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My condolences to you and your family. :'(
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Condolences Freak. It's cool though, that you were able to dig up some history to remember him by. Getting the jacket will be an awesome way to remember him.
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Condolences, sir...
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Very sorry for your loss . . .
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Condolences, sir :'(
As a next of kin, you can Request his Official Military Personnel Files.
https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records
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I'm so sorry for your loss.
For everyone else. There is no time like the present to discuss your or their service.
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Sorry for your loss. Those are some great photos and memories. I have nothing of my dad's service in the Marines just after WWII. I'd love to be able to see his service jacket.
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Sorry for you loss, Freak.
There is a lot of history lost because those guys didn't talk much about their experiences. My dad never talked about his combat time and POW time in WWII in Europe. But before he died at age 93 in 1999, he made a double tape that I had put on DVD a couple years ago. Dad had an eidetic memory and he walked through his experience from the time he got drafted in his late 30's till he was repatriated by the British and mustered out near the end of the war. To say that I was amazed would be an understatement.
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Sorry for your loss.
We are losing so much history with the passing of our WWII vets
My uncle that passed in 2008 served in the China/Burma theater as a motor pool mechanic. He was in China for most of the war but never really talked much about it till he was near the end.
He had told us stories about flying "over the hump" and a little about life at the camp, things like how they would get their beer cold and such.
When he knew he didn't have long he told me about how he was assigned to a .50 cal machine gun during air raids, Said he wasn't a great shot but he had managed to knock down a couple of Zeros during different attacks. That, and several other stories about the hard parts of those days.
His younger brother served in Europe and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. Until I saw it on his headstone I'd never know that he had been awarded the Bronze Star.
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Sorry for your loss.
My own Grandfather is 94 almost 95 and he has really never spoken about his service either. I know he served in the Navy during WWII, just not all of the details. I know before I left on one of my deployments he was in tears and saying something about losing them all over or again. Didn't want to dig too much.
Now his memory isn't all that it used to be so I'm not sure I could get much from him if I got an opportunity to speak to him. Running the odds that I will get to see him again.
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Thank everyone!
Update: I am back at my dads and he pulled out some of his stuff. Has some of his documents from when he was in, 20th AF patch, and dog tags. Dad told me that he broke his ankle playing baseball, it turned out that the very next day they got the word that they were shipping out to Saipan. At first he thought he just sprained it but his Aircraft Controller Maj. Campbell said he should go in and have it checked out. If he had known they would be shipping out he would have waited until after he got to Saipan. So he ended up staying at the training base and teaching new people the Radio Operator job. Also, it was the upper left guy, not right, that replaced him.
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Sorry for your loss brother, prayers.