Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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them didn ' t make it. but I don ' t know how- many we killed and wounded. Turning to get into position for a second run, I saw that the tanks, trucks and the automobile were burning merrily. Just to make sure. I made two more runs. After completing the hnal attack, and knowing that the Japs would nexer be able to use those vehicles again, I pulled up toward some o y foothills that fringed the otherwise flat plain. Here I saw what must have been several thousand Japs scurrying into fox-holes and fortified caves, the latter rein- forced and protected by thick concrete. If I had had rockets and a few bombs I could have made mincemeat out of quite a few of those emplacements and their occupants. Howe er. we still had plenty of ammunition for the guns .so we went in and strafed the troops and .set fire to a building which might have been a regimental headquarters. By this time the turret gun was out of ammu- nition: so Gliszcinski called and requested that I fly straight and level for a few moments so he coidd re-load. Accordingly, I levelled off at about 1500 feet. Suddenly I had a vague feeling that something was wrong with my engine. Checking the instruments hastily, I noticed that the oil pressure had dropped to zero. . lso, the prop governor was not func- tioning. We had seen some anti-aircraft shells burst behind us on one of our strafing runs, but I had not noticed any tracers from machine gun fire. However, it was certain that some Nip had put a lucky shot or two into our plane, .severing the oil line. We were in for it, no doubt about that. These engines are rugged and will take a beat- ing, but they won ' t run long without oil. I called my crew and passenger to stand by for an emergency landing and looked around for a likely place to set the 1 5,000 pound plane down. There were plenty of relatively flat fields below; so it was simply a case of picking the best one. Lt. Thalman called Commander Support Air- craft and reported the situation, gave our lo- cation and stated we were about to make an emergency landing. He received no acknowl- cdgement of the transmission due to the fact that his earphones had become disconnected. Meanwhile. I was concentrating on getting the plane down as intact as possible, heading in a long glide toward the field I had selected. We glided right over a Jap airfield, around the perimeter of which could be seen several single and t in-engine Jap planes nestling in the pro- tection of revetments. However, we didn ' t see any personnel or activity on the field itself. C:autioning the crew and observer to brace themselves, I brought the plane down in a wheels-up landing on a rice field. The rainy .season had long since passed and the field was dry. hard and rough. The Avenger skidded along on her oyster-white belly and came to a stop none the worse for her experience except for a bent propellor. As soon as the plane ceased its forward motion I radioed a message to the command ship and received a Roger. Well, at least somebody knew where we were and what had happened to us. Help would soon be on the way, we thought. My immediate concern was for the condition of my passengers, particularly for Lt. Thalman who had been riding in the second cockpit without benefit of a safety belt. Much to my relief, all hands reported Okay. Not one of us had been so much as scratched. Upon clambering out of the plane we sud- denly saw a sight that sent a momentary chill along our spines. Out of some distant weeds and brush came running toward us some twenty or thirty men. Our first thought was that they were Japs who had seen us go down and were bent on capturing us and our plane. We drew our revolvers, took shelter behind the fuselage of the aircraft and resolved to sell our li es as dearly as possible. As the men came closer, however, we saw to our relief that they were Filipinos — mostly boys in their late teens or early twenties. Suddenly w-e were sur- rounded and bombarded with cries of How. ya. Joe! .America no! and other equally heartening ejaculations. In surprisingly good English, they told us to come with them, that they would take us to the guerilla leader where we would be safe from the Japs. They also indicated that the Sons of Heaven were in the immediate icinity and that speed was of the essence. I told them that we would be happy to accompany them but that first it was necessary that we burn our maps and other confidential papers, and also destroy the plane. We immediately set about burning the papers. However, the Filipinos told us not to burn the plane as they would take care of that after stripping it of its precious guns and ammunition which were urgently needed by the guerillas. So we started off with the beaming and gesticulating youths, a small number of whom stayed behind to remove the guns and destroy the aircraft. Before we had 157

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GUKKII.I.AS AKl. (iOOl) (;UVS Writt.n by Lt. (JK) Arthur V. (Hlkcy. L ' SNR, in (olhiljoration with Lt. William H. Ki-arns, USNR. Sciuaclron Air Comhal Intrllit, ' cnce OHicir. (Atilfior ' s ole. This is wrilten as a Irlhule to those bands oj fearless fighters, the Philifipiiie guerillas, who have contributed so much to the spectacular advance of our ground forces in the the recent invasion oJ Luzon. I ' n-sung, ill-clad, and ill-armed, these stout-hearted champions of freedom have fought, harrassed and killed the Jap conqueror behind his lirws since December 1 41. To their courage and friendship, scores of American airmen, like myself and my crew, otve their lives.) The South China Sea, spurred on by a 35 knot wind, was kicking up quite a fuss that afternoon of 1 1 January as we took off from our carrier, the Lunging Lunga (U.S.S. Lunga Point), and headed toward Lingayen Gulf where two days before the Army had gone ashore as a prelude to the capture of Luzon and the prize plum of the Philippines — Manila. Our mission was to observe enemy activity ahead of the American lines along the broad, verdant plain stretching between Lingayen and Manila, . board my Grumman A enger as a special observer was 2nd Lt. Charles A. Thai- man, 40th Infantry Division, U.S.A., of Floral City, Fla.; also my regular air crewmen: turret gunner Eugene E. Glizczinski, aviation ma- chinist ' s mate 2nd class, of Toledo. Ohio, and radioman Ronald V. Kirkpatrick, aviation radioman 3rd class, of VVashougal, Washington. Our ship, in company with other support carriers like her under the command of Rear Admiral Calvin T. Durgin, USN. had spear- headed a spectacular advance through the heart of the Philippines under the ver%- noses of the Japs and had arrived off Lingayen Gulf several days in advance of the Gargantuan con- voys bearing the main invasion forces. We pilots had been bombing and strafing Jap shore installations, small craft, ammunition and fuel dumps, bridges, trucks, gun emplace- ments, troop concentrations and other targets of opportunity. We had flown through our own and enemy ack-ack, making low glide- bombing and strafing runs, so this particular observation hop looked like it would be a pleasure jaunt by contrast. We would simply fly over roads, towns and hills where enemy activity was suspected and report by radio anything we saw that looked sigiiilicanl. We had n(j bombs or rockets aboard as thi.s wa.s not to be a ' strike mission. Of course wc had our gun.s loaded with .- j calilj -r ammunition (not to mention the .30 calilx-r jx-a sho jter in the bilge which was Kirkpalrick ' s pride and joy) and if we .saw any Japs well at least wc could shoot up a few just to keep in practice. It was 1445 Philippine time when I ta.xied onto the catapult of the carrier, revved up the engine to full power, gave the instruments a final check and signalled the catapult officer that I was ready. Almost instantly we were airborne — gliding out over the turbulent sea and climbing gradually. I glanced back at the Lunga Point, her diminutive flight deck pitching and tossing. Thank God I ' m oH her for a while and up here where it ' s smooth, I said to myself. But had I known then that twenty days would pass before I could see the good old Lunga Point — and many times during those days I thought I would never see her — I would have eaten those words. Wc reported on station as per schedule and were ordered to search the roads and mountain areas in the vicinity of Mangatarem, a village about fifteen miles .south of the Lingayen beach. Results of this search were negative and were so reported to Commander .Support .Aircraft who controlled these flights. The Japs were down there all right, but were wisely keeping off the roads and out of sight of our airmen. We were then told to search the main highway south to Tarlac, an important road junction and Jap strong point approximately thirty miles south east of Mangatarem and forty miles ahead of our own front lines. Sighting nothing significant we continued on south of Tarlac and soon sighted three camouflaged tanks, two trucks and an automobile. I promptly re- ported this to the headquarters ship. C:alling my crew and Lt. Thalman on the intercom, I told them to prepare for a strafing attack. Although our fliers had shot up plenty of Jap trucks, tanks had been as scarce as hen ' s teeth and I didn t propose to let these remain operational very long. I made a low-level run and squirted them with my .50 caliber wing guns. After passing over them, I pulled the nose up so my turret gunner and radioman could get the target well in their sights. They didn ' t let the opportunity go by. The Nips ran for cover like a bunch of scared monkeys, which they undoubtedly were. Quite a few of

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Ronc scarcely a mile, I looked hack and saw a Rreat billow of smoke whii ii mark d ihe final resting place of our gallant Avenger. We were taken to a village or Barrio, about a mile and a half from where we landed. This would be al)out twelve miles south of Tarlac, and near the villau;e of Concepcion. The countryside throuijh which we passed was in the heart of an agricultural district cut up into small rectaiii;ular fields and farms. There were few dwellinp;s in evidence, but along the way men, women and children would suddenly appear ofTerinc; us fresh eggs, little cakes of sugar and other edibles. We had so many eggs that wc could not carry them all, but we ate all wc could raw and took the rest with us. Every- where wc were greeted with Americano, after which the people would stare at us as though we were strange creatures newly arrived from another planet. Soon we reached the barrio. Here vcrc grouped several houses of the thatched roof variety and which in .■ merica we would call huts. As we walked into the barrio and through the dusty main street, the whole pop- ulation turned out to welcome us. Their smiles and laughter would suddenly subside into stares. I have never been so stared at in my life and I guess we did our share of staring in return. For we had never seen at first hand the look an oppressed people bestows upon those who bring them promise of freedom after years of torture and misery. There is a look in the eye; an expression of face that tells what words cannot articulate. We four . mericans, in our funny Hying suits, toting our parachutes, first-aid kits, life jackets and other impedimenta of our kind, were symbols of imminent release from suffering and heartbreak for which these simple folk had prayed to Almighty God. .Since December 1 94 1 — three long years and more — these spiritually stalwart people had seen their land over-run, their crops and live- stock stolen, their sons and husbands tortured and killed, and their wives and daughters de- filed at the point of gun and bayonet by a God- less army of barbarians. The guerillas told me later that Red Cross shipments of medicines and supplies of mercy intended for our Ameri- can prisoners of war had been confiscated by Japanese authorities, diverted to their own greedy use, or sold to Filipinos at prices which only a handful could possibly pay. For ex- ample, a Filipino, ridden with malarial fever, could obtain a single capsule of quinine only by paying 1,000 Jap pesrjs the equivalent of about Si i.ck) in American money. They told me also of many unspeakable atrm ities inflicted on our prisoners, too horrible to relate here. In the barrio we were taken to a house and then- introduced to the leader of the guerilla forces in the immediate vicinity. He staled that he was in command of the 2nd Battalion of Hukbelahops, a unit of the Philippine .Xational .Xrmy. Hukbelahops, my ho.st informed me, meant Fighting the Japs. Later on we were to hear cjf many of the ex- ploits of this people ' s army as exciting and hair-raising a series of ad entures as ever were featured in the celluloid palaces of my home town, Front Royal, Virginia. The guerilla leader was young and said that his men were from 15 to 25 years of age, armed for the most part with old-style U.S. Army rifles and .45 caliber automatic pistols. They also had ac- cumulated an assortment of .-,0 and .30 caliber machine guns and numerous weapons taken from the Japs they had killed. Their ammu- nition was of various kinds and vintages and there was always need for more. From the tone of the leader ' s voice and the glint in his eye, I am sure that little ammunition was wasted. A Jap for every bullet was their motto. The leader informed us that clothing for his men was a real problem as the country was de- pendent on imports for its cotton and wool — imports which had been non-existent for three years. Many of the guerillas wore shirts and trousers fashioned from burlap bags and not a few wore parts of Jap army uniforms obtained by the simple expedient of killing the former owners. However, it seemed that nothing was too good for the Americano. .Several days later, when my fiying suit began to give off something of an aroma, one of my benefactors produced a pair of white cotton trousers, a dazzling blue sport shirt and a straw hat which he insisted that I accept. Not to have done so would have constituted an insult of the crudest kind. .So I donned the attire and spent the remaining days dodging Japs in an outfit that would have done credit to a country club sport. Prior to beginning our flights over Philippine territory, our Air Combat Intelligence officer had issued to each airman a packet containing 100 Philippine pesos, worth approximately S50.00 in -American money. This currency was to be used in the event any of us were forced down and presumably would purchase