Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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GUERILLAS ARE GOOD GUYS Written by Lt. Arthur W. Gilkey, USNR, in collaboration with Lt. William H. Kearns, USNR, Squadron Air Combat Intelligence Oflicer. fAuthor's Note.-This is written as a triliute to those bands typ fearless fghters, the Philzfzpine guerillas, who have contriliuted so much to the spectacular advance cj our ground forces in the the recent invasion cyf Luzon. Un-sung, ill-clad, and ill-armed, these stout-hearted champions of freedom have fought, harrassed and killed the jap conqueror behind his lines since December 1941. To their courage and frrendshzji, scores mf American airmen, like mysehf and my crew, owe their lives.j 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 banging Lungai' QU.S.S. Lunga Pointl, 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. Aboard my Grumman Avenger as a special observer was 2nd Lt. Charles A. Thal- man, 40th Infantry Division, U.S.A., of Floral Gity, Fla., also my regular air crewmen: turret gunner Eugene E. Glizczinski, aviation ma- chinist's mate Qnd class, of Toledo, Ohio, and radioman Ronald W. Kirkpatrick, aviation radioman 3rd class, of Washougal, Washington. Our ship, in company with other support carriers like her under the command of Rear Admiral Galvin T. Durgin, USN, had spear- headed a spectacular advance through the heart of the Philippines under the very 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 emplage- 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 uobservationv hop looked like it would be a pleasure jaunt by contrast. We would simply fly over roads, towns and hills where enemy 1

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1 1 E 3 5 1 . N 1- Ui! 4 O 'S 10X lf 5 I .aw 1- -P ,, X N, ,, - 1 . . ,X 'Q ' the 65061181 X zz Q1 M ofthe To you Boots'1 listed below, we express the hope that, in years to come, when you are able to read your names herein, it will be with a feeling of pride and deep satisfaction in this evidence that your Father served in the Lunga Point during what may well turn out to be one of the most momen- tous years in the history of this world into which you have so recently come. Furthermore, it is our sincere hope that, by that time, civilization and Christianity will have progressed to such an extent that it will never be necessary for you to undergo what your Father has during the period which this book chronicles. c1Bluq'acl-netsw cc Waves Lance Ira Ray ........,...... 1 5 May 1944 Judith Ann Dolan ........ . . .27JU1'1C 1944 William Robert Smit, jr. ........ 8 June 1944 Barbara Palmer ...... . . .3o June 1944 Walker Dayton Martin ........ 29 june 1944 Karlee Karen Reber. .... 8 August 1944 Frank John Kramer, Jr. . . .... 1 3 July 1944 Linda Field Stowell. . . . . 1 5 August 1944 jose Pablo Sisneros ..... ...... 2 9 july 1944 Elvita Soliz Mejia .... ..... 1 9 August 1944 Daniel Lee Rocha ..... . . .2 5 August 1944 Beverly Kaye McBee ...... 6 September 1944 Sidney Jerry Starr .... .9 September 1944 Mary Nell Callicoatte ..... 9 September 1944 Kenneth Robert Grantz. . Richard Joseph LeBelle Roger Harrison ....... Daniel Eugene Wilkie. . . 2 5 September 27 September . . I7 October . . I9 October Santiago Guadalupe Longoria . .3o Oct. Kenneth Ray Tucker ..... 23 November Robert Allen Block ....... 26 November Howard joseph Leath ....., 5 December Frank Vickery Sutton ...... 6 December William Gerald Ballard, Jr. .... I9 Dec. Wayne Lewellyn Kingsbury. . I3 january Billy Raymond Wilbur ...... 30 january Alexander Miscichoski ........ 6 March Lynn Dean Robbs, Jr. ........ 7 March Norman Lawrence Runyon. . .20 March Raymond Russell Lynch ...... 30 March 1 944 1 944 1 944 1944 1 944 1 944 1 944 1 944 1944 1 944 1 945 1945 1 945 1 945 1 945 1945 Sharon Diane Botnen .... Jo Lee Black ....... Maria Theresa Baca. Connie Lou Eckert. . Mary Alice Herriman Sharon Ann Harris. . Pamela Sue Stevens. . Carol Ann Kush .... .22 September . .25 October 24 November 24 November 31 December . .6 February . 16 February .22 February Vickie Murray Linenweber .... 6 March Dianne Elise Larsen ........... 7 April Mary Louise Pettitt ...... ..... 4 May Jeanne Margaret Dolan ........ I3 May P. A. L. Charles Babbitt White, jr. ...... I5 May Offense: Over leave 24 hours. 1944 1944 1 944 1944 1944 1945 1 945 1945 1 945 1945 1945 1945 1945 155 B

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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 final attack, and knowing that the ,laps would never be able to use those vehicles again, I pulled up toward some low foothills that fringed the otherwise fiat 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. However, 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- nitiong so Gliszcinski called and requested that I fiy straight and level for a few moments so he could 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. Also, 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 wonit 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,ooo 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- edgement 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 twin-engine Jap planes nestling in the pro- tection of revetments. However, we didn't see any personnel or activity on the field itself. Cautioning 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 'fOkay. 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 ,laps 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 lives as dearly as possible. As the men came closer, however, we saw to our relief that they were F ilipinos-mostly boys in their late teens or early twenties. Suddenly we were sur- rounded and bombarded with cries of 'fHow, ya, Joelw 'fAmericano!' 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 vicinity 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