In Hostile Skies: An American B-24 Pilot in World War II

Chapter 6 – Our Early Missions

107 IT฀WAS฀ABOUT฀4:45฀P.M.฀when฀Frank฀and฀Mackey฀returned฀to฀the฀ hut฀and฀told฀me฀that฀we฀were฀on฀the฀alert฀list฀for฀tomorrow’s฀mission .฀I฀thought฀they฀were฀joking,฀but฀they฀were฀not.฀I฀put฀on฀my฀ clothes฀and฀went฀over฀to฀the฀bulletin฀board฀to฀see฀for฀myself,฀and฀ sure฀enough฀my฀name฀was฀there.฀I฀continued฀to฀have฀the฀feeling฀ that฀we฀were฀just฀a฀number. My฀spirits฀were฀as฀low฀as฀they฀could฀get.฀It฀had฀now฀been฀six฀ weeks฀since฀I฀kissed฀Jean฀and฀said฀goodbye.฀I฀had฀been฀on฀the฀move฀ ever฀since฀and,฀as฀a฀result,฀had฀not฀received฀any฀mail.฀Not฀having฀ any฀letters฀from฀Jean฀or฀any฀of฀my฀family฀was฀very฀discouraging.฀ Later฀that฀day฀I฀attended฀mail฀call,฀hoping฀that฀maybe฀I฀would฀get฀at฀ least฀one฀letter,฀but฀no฀such฀luck.฀I฀returned฀to฀our฀hut฀and฀my฀crew฀ gathered฀and฀we฀talked฀about฀the฀next฀day’s฀mission.฀We฀all฀tried฀ to฀joke฀and฀see฀the฀lighter฀side,฀but฀there฀was฀not฀much฀to฀laugh฀ about—at฀least฀for฀me.฀I฀still฀had฀fresh฀memories฀of฀the฀mission฀I฀ flew฀earlier฀that฀day฀and฀how฀lucky฀I฀was฀to฀survive.฀I฀could฀not฀concentrate ฀too฀much฀on฀tomorrow’s฀mission฀for฀thinking฀of฀the฀one฀ I฀just฀finished.฀Because฀the฀mission฀would฀be฀the฀first฀for฀my฀crew,฀ they฀were฀excited. I฀was฀busy฀thinking฀of฀what฀happened฀this฀morning฀and฀what฀ might฀happen฀tomorrow.฀I฀would฀be฀responsible฀for฀all฀the฀details฀ from฀the฀briefing,฀going฀through฀preflight,฀starting฀the฀engines,฀taxiCHAPTER ฀6 Our฀Early฀Missions 108฀ In฀Hostile฀Skies ing฀out,฀taking฀off,฀and฀finding฀our฀place฀in฀the฀formation.฀All฀of฀ this฀had฀to฀be฀done฀in฀precise฀sequence฀and฀timing.฀I฀was฀unsure฀ whether฀I฀could฀keep฀all฀of฀the฀information฀in฀my฀head.฀I฀was฀also฀ concerned฀that฀I฀would฀have฀to฀fly฀the฀entire฀mission,฀because฀we฀ had฀not฀had฀the฀time฀or฀opportunity฀to฀teach฀Ed฀formation฀flying.฀I฀ had฀thought฀about฀discussing฀this฀problem฀with฀my฀squadron฀commander ฀but฀hesitated฀because฀he฀probably฀would฀have฀taken฀Ed฀ from฀my฀crew฀and฀given฀me฀someone฀else.฀Ed฀was฀such฀a฀fine฀person ฀and฀a฀good฀pilot฀that฀I฀did฀not฀want฀to฀lose฀him;฀so,฀I฀decided฀to฀ keep฀my฀mouth฀shut.฀It฀was฀tough฀enough฀to฀learn฀in฀the฀training฀ program,฀but฀to฀learn฀it฀while฀flying฀combat฀was฀even฀more฀difficult.฀ In฀fact,฀he฀had฀not฀even฀had฀the฀opportunity฀to฀learn฀to฀take฀off฀or฀ land฀the฀plane.฀I฀was฀aware฀of฀that,฀but฀I฀always฀felt฀if฀something฀ happened฀to฀me฀he฀could฀get฀it฀safely฀on฀the฀ground. Not฀ having฀ slept฀ last฀ night,฀ the฀ events฀ of฀ the฀ previous฀ mission ฀should฀have฀been฀enough฀to฀make฀me฀sleep.฀However,฀after฀I฀ learned฀that฀we฀were฀scheduled฀to฀fly฀tomorrow,฀I฀forgot฀all฀about฀ being฀exhausted฀and฀had฀difficulty฀sleeping.฀About฀two฀o’clock฀the฀ next฀morning฀I฀heard฀the฀sound฀of฀trucks฀being฀started,฀and฀I฀knew฀ it฀would฀not฀be฀long฀until฀I฀would฀get฀my฀wake-up฀call.฀Soon฀I฀heard฀ footsteps฀outside,฀the฀door฀opened,฀and฀the฀private฀with฀his฀flashlight ฀came฀to฀my฀cot฀and฀gently฀touched฀my฀arm฀and฀told฀me฀it฀was฀ time฀to฀get฀up.฀I฀got฀dressed,฀and฀before฀I฀left฀I฀made฀sure฀Ed,฀Frank,฀ and฀Mackey฀were฀ready฀to฀go.฀I฀was฀afraid฀Mackey฀would฀go฀back฀ to฀ sleep฀ because฀ he฀ went฀ to฀ bed฀ about฀ an฀ hour฀ before฀ wake-up฀ time.฀We฀all฀walked฀out฀the฀door฀and฀as฀usual฀found฀the฀weather฀ chilly฀and฀misty.฀With฀the฀help฀of฀the฀flashlight,฀we฀found฀our฀way฀to฀ the฀road฀and฀made฀the฀long฀walk฀to฀the฀mess฀hall.฀Following฀breakfast ,฀most฀of฀us฀caught฀a฀truck฀to฀the฀briefing฀room.฀After฀an฀opening ฀prayer,฀the฀briefing฀officer฀drew฀the฀curtains฀back,฀and฀the฀large฀ map฀of฀England฀and฀Europe฀indicated฀our฀target฀was฀near฀Paris. No฀matter฀where฀the฀target฀was฀there฀were฀always฀groans฀and฀ moans.฀Today฀they฀were฀real฀and฀loud.฀Some฀of฀the฀crews฀remembered ฀a฀recent฀mission฀to฀Paris,฀and฀from฀what฀I฀had฀been฀told฀it฀ was฀hell.฀Floyd฀Harville,฀the฀pilot฀of฀the฀other฀crew฀that฀shared฀our฀ P-47฀“Thunderbolt”฀in฀flight฀(courtesy฀of฀the...