Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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whether or not the bomb was armed, the Cap- tain had one of our torpedo bomber pilots fly wing-on on Lt. Foster, as close as possible, to see if the arming wire was still secured to the fuse and that the bomb was secured to the rack. The torpedo bomber pilot's reply was, Affirm- ativef' ' The Captain then asked Lt. Foster if he wanted to attempt a landing aboard, and his reply was, 'clf you think it advisable, I will land aboard, Captain? Lt. Foster well knew that his life was at stake 3 yet he made his reply in keeping with the finest traditions of the Naval service. After another ten minutes of maneu- vering, trying again to shake off the bomb, Lt. Foster came into the landing circle. All planes were taken below to the hangar deck except two which were spotted forward on the flight deck, and for which there was no room on the hangar deck. All Fire Parties manned their stations and everyone was on their toes. Lt. Foster first made a pass at the ship, fiying close to the bridge, so that the Captain and Lt. Cjgj Palena could ascertain that the bomb was secure. Being assured that the bomb was se- cure, thc Captain ordered Lt. Foster in. Commander Eastwold and Lt. Palcna were the only ones on the flight deck when Lt. Foster came in on a very good landing. For a Heeting moment the bomb remained intact on the plane, but the impact of the arresting gear loosened it, and it slid bounding down the deck in the direction of the parked planes and where impact with the planes might detonate the bomb, throwing liquid ire all over the ship, and possibly causing the loss of the ship and many of our personnel. Lt. Cjgj Palena was standing near the island, and, as the bomb slid beneath the third barrier, he took outa, after it and caught it between the barrier and one of the planes spotted forward to starboard. He straddled the bomb and yelled, 'CDamn it! Somebody give me a wrench! A big pipe wrench appeared out of nowhere, but it was i I E i Fighter returns safely from Iwo .lima with wing Section damaged by enemy flak.

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,su-1-wha - . gin -E i I 1 3 4 I ? too large. Seconds later, Olup, AOlVI2c, om of Lt. Palena's ordnance lll4'lI, ran across the flight deck with a small wrench for hi111 to use in removing tl1e fuse. Seconds ll1l'2lIli the difference lJCUfVl'l'l1 life and death for lllkllly ol' of us. While Lt. Cjgj Palena was Wllflilllg on the fuse, the Exec was standing by as well as the Fire Parties who had their hoses trai11ed on the bomb. All of tl1is time there was a decided possibility that the bomb might explode and throw liquid lire in all directions. The rest of the story is short, while all that had gone before seemed like an eternity to those involved. The fuse was removed in seconds and the bomb was thrown over the side, with no one the worse for this hair-raising experience. . Lt. Qjgj Palena's conduct throughout this try- ing ordeal was an example of extraordinary heroism, and we are not only proud of and grateful to him, but we are glad to have him as a shipmate. The Old Man, too, was proud, because the Admiral had left him with a Shot w 337' 41 if ,. 1 I potatoj, which Lt. Cjgj Palena cooled off, and he immediately called Lt. Falena to the bridge and gave him the traditional Navy 'cWell Done ll' There is nothing that gives a man more gen- uine satisfaction than to know that his work is appreciated. It was, therefore, with a feeling of pride in the part we had played that we re- ceived, on 22 February, the dispatch from CinCPac, which we quote as follows: UTHE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE FIRST CARRIER TASK FORCE OF THE PACIFIC FLEET HAVE DEALT THE EN- EMY A CRUSHING BLOW WHICH WILL LONG BE REMEMBERED X THE SAME COURAGE, SKILL AND TEAMWORK WHICH ENABLED OUR CARRIER PI- LOTS TO DESTROY THE ENEMY IN BAD WEATHER OVER TOKYO ARE NOW BEING DISPLAYED BY THE FORCES WHICH ARE TAKING IWO IS- I . I as af, 1 -2 ww We refuel IH rough weather off Iwo Jima.