Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 103 text:

for Splashing those eight planes were Lt. Pettitt, Lt. (jg) Pleat, Lt. (jg) Ingram, Lt. (jg) Homyak, Lt. (jg) Bazzell, Ens. Swanson, Ens. Prindle and Ens. Turner, with Lt. (jg) Ingram accounting for two planes alone; one Zeke and one Val. These fine pilots had shown they could dish it out, and the eight additional Jap Hags painted on our bridge the next day was their visible tribute to our Shipmate, Lt. ( jg) Bazzell, who took his last long flight that day after personnallv accounting for a Jap Zeke. It was also during the Okinawa operations - Sunday, 8 April — that Lt. (jg) Cron and his air crewmen had an experience that was hair- raising to say the least. They were shot down behind the enemy lines, and the thrilling story of their experience will be found in the back of the book. Four Thousandth L. nding Vc celebrated another event on 1 1 April when the four thousandth landing was made on our flight deck by Lt. Pettitt. That ' s an indication of a lot of flying, and is further evi- dence that we have come a long way since 14 May 1944. Avenger Turns Fighter On 1 2 April, Lt. (jg) Rcilly performed the unusual feat of splashing a Jap Val over Okinawa Gunto while flying his Avenger Torpedo Bomber on a photographic mission. These powerful planes are not built to be used in a dog fight. On this particular day, Lt. ( jg) Reilly was flying along the beach of Okina- wa Shima taking pictures of Jap installations when he suddenly spotted a Val crossing his path dead ahead. He couldn ' t let the oppor- tunity pass; .so, imagining hiinself in one of our lighter planes, he lit out after him, and the last he saw of the rascal was in a funeral pyre on the beach. Lt. (jg) Reilly had brought the Ban- dit down with his fixed guns, but, as he flew low over the target, his Turret Gunner made the kill certain by strafing the Val with a stream of lead that left no doubt about that Jap being out of combat forever. Fr. nklin Delano Roosevelt The Okinawa operations were destined to be momentous in many ways, and it was with gen- uine sorrow and regret on the part of all hands that, on 13 April, we received a dispatch from Secretary Forrestal reading as follows: I HAVE THE SAD DUT ' OF ANNOUNC- ING TO THE NAVAL SERVICE THE DEATH OF FRANKLIN DELANO ROOS- EVELT, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, WHK;H 0C:CURRED ON 12 APRIL X THE WORLD HAS LOST A c:hampion of democ:racy who ' Val burning in Okinawa ravine after being shot down by Lt. (jg) Rcilty while on photo mission in TBM on 12 April. CAN ILL BE spared BY OUR C:OUNTRY AND THE ALLIED CAUSE X THE NAVY WHIC;H HE SO DEARLY LOVED CAN PAY NO BETTER TRIBUTE TO HIS MEM- ORY THAN TO C;ARRY ON IN THE TRA- DiriON OF WHICH HE WAS SO PROUD X COLORS SHALL BE DISPLAYED AT HALF MAST FOR 30 DAYS BEGINNING 0800 13 APRIL WEST LONGITUDE DATE IN SO FAR AS WAR OPERATIONS PER- MIT X MEMORIAL SERMCE SHALL BE HELD ON THE DAY OF THE FUNERAL TO BE ANNOUNCED LATER AT ALL ' ARDS AND STATIONS AND ON BOARD ALL VESSELS OF THE NAVY, WAR OP- ERATIONS PERMITTING X WEARING OF MOURNING BADGES AND FIRING OF SALUTES WILL BE DISPENSED WITH IN MEW OF WAR ClONDITIONS X Regardless of indi idual political sympathies, this message came as a distinct shock to all of us. We had lost a President w ho had been a real leader throughout the course of the war, and one who, no one can deny, had thoroughly sold himself to our Allied Leaders and had gained such harmonious relations with them 99

Page 102 text:

rtlcnlcd for ;in Aclmii;il tii Icjivr his Flag Ship ill thi- jutivc coinhiit one iiiui lly over to an- otlur (airier ihat ihc Old Man (diild hardly Ix ' lifvc iiis fVfs when he saw our distinniiishcd giirst i ct out of the plane. As soon as the ( ' aptain i ol clown to llv llii;ht deck to tercet the Admiral, he immediate- ly told the Skipper that, after hearini of what we had Ix-rn throuijh at Kerama Retto tlie day In-fore, he jusl had to (ome over to see us. He .Jai I :,:,jI, cli-stio ed on Okinawa. also told the Old Man that he wanted to talk to our .Ship ' s Company over the general an- nouncing system. The Captain was only too glad to comply; so, after he had lunched with the .SkipfK-r, he talked to us for a few minutes, and he could have talked to us from now on without pleasing us more than when he .said. After hearing what you men went through at Kerama Retto yesterday, I just had to come o er here and personally sec what it is that makes the Lwiga Point click. His entire talk was most complimentary and was appreciated b - us far more than he will ever know. Ad- miral Durgin is a very busy man. and he had to make his visit a brief one; so at 1334 he flew away from our decks and back to his Flag Ship, leaving us all with the definite feeling that we had reached the climax in our first year ' s operations. And, with humble grati- tude for this gesture on the part of the Admiral. we re-affirmed our determination to continue to justify our Admiral ' s confidence in us. The Admiral ' s visit was about all you heard anyone aboard talking about for sometime thereafter. We were, howe er, also pleased and grateful to recei e from Admiral Blandy, Commander .Amphibious Forces, on .} . [)ril, th - following dis|}al( h: Tin-: a(;(;ri:ssi I. simrii miow.n . . I)R :sl ' I; sAcco. ll ' l.isHl.l)B Ai.i, OF ' OL ' DLRI.XC IHF I ' .VS I W I.IK ii.w K .M. i)K 11 . i ' ri im.(;k for . n, TO BF . . 1IMBI:R 01 1 III, I F. . I X A (JR.VND .Si, AM Ff)K () R Sqi .MJRO.N Fn all fairness to ail pilots everywhere it should Ix- explained that the number of planes shot down by a particular .Sfjuadron is, to a certain extent, luck. In tjther words, the .Squadron that happens to ha e the TC.AP (Target Combat Air Patrol) duty when and where the enemy comes in is, naturally, going to splash more planes than the .Squadron simply flying FCAP (Local Combat Air Patrol) over vessels off shore. It .so happened that, up until this point, our fighters hadn ' t had much of an opportunity to show their stufi. On Friday, 6 .April, our .Squadron finally got the break they had been waiting for. We happened to have the TCAP over Okinawa Gunto that day when the .Sons of Nippon came down, and they made a Field Day of it, shooting down eight enemy planes late that afternoon. Our pilots who were resfxjnsible Destruction of large building 7 miles N E of Naha, Okinawa

Page 104 text:

tliiit llic Diplomatir V;ir, as well as tlic War of (l()inl)at, against our enemies was definiiely nearinn a successful conclusion. He had made j reat strides toward the achievement of World Peace: the San Francisco World IVace Con- ference, in session at this writing, was just one of his achievements. Despite his un- cjuestioned ability, however, no one man in the L ' nited States is indi.spensihie to the welfare of (jur Nation; therefore, the very minute that ' iee President iVuman was sworn in as Presi- dent, all Americans everywhere silently assured him of their whole-hearted support and co- operation in the pro.sccution of the war along the lines already laid out by his prcdcces.sor. And it was with great admiration that we, on the Liinoa Point, recognized his deep sense of humility as President Truman took up the burden of his high oilicc. At the time of President Roosevelt ' s death, momentous events were taking place all o er the world. Our Russian Allies were rolling int(j Berlin from the east, and (jur own Armed I ' orces, under the brilliant leadership of (ien- eral Eisenhower, were forging steadily ahead from the west. Berlin had, by this time, Ix-cn completely occupied by Ru.ssian Troops, and e (ry town of any con.setjuence throughout (iermany had been taken by one or the other of the Alli d Armies. We received word that Hitler was dead: unv report having it that he had died a hero, and another that he had died the ignominious death of a suicide. We cho.se to accept the latter cowardly cause of his death. Yes, Ciermany, the homeland of the Super Race was truly on the verge of surrender. Then, on our side of the world, British, Indian and . merican forces were routing the Japs out of Burma, and Rangoon, the Capital, had already been re-taken. That great soldier. Diplomat and Statesman. General Chiang Kai- Shek, was giving the Japs many a tough scrap in his vast land of C:hina. And last, but not least, we had the Japs thrown Ijack on their Underground Jap hangars on Okinawa. Camouflaged airstrip just beyond highway. 100