Above the Thunder: Reminiscences of a Field Artillery Pilot in World War II

Index

298 Aftawadona, Mount (Luzon), 144–45, 171–73 Agoo (Luzon), 207, 212 air mobility, 279 air observation, for artillery, 79, 177–79, 229, 238–39; demonstrations of effectiveness of, 100–101, 112; in development of Army Aviation branch, 278–79; effectiveness of, 206, 220, 231–32, 236, 242, 250–51; for first use of, 146–47; organic, 79, 100–101, 146–47; usefulness of passenger for, 249–51 air observation, nonartillery uses of, 177–79, 203, 229; dropping grenades on Japanese, 258–59; drops to infantry, 204, 244, 262–63; enabling withdrawals, 208–9, 241; scouting, 211–12, 248–49; spotting hidden machine guns, 215–16, 232–33, 238–39; watching enemy activity, 219, 238–39 air section, of 122d Field Artillery Battalion , 104, 254–55; in New Guinea, 109–10, 124, 126, 143–44; in Tornado Task Force, 190–91, 193–94 airplanes. See also L-4s, Piper: Aeronca L-3s, 83, 86–87, 213–14; around Kauai, 114–15; B-25s, 156–57; damage to, 116–17, 148; dropping hand grenades from, 147–48, 161–63; Fleet biplanes, 36; Interstate “Cadet,” 36; Japanese, 131–35, 260; Kerns as copilot in bomber, 156; Kerns’s opposition to dropping light planes, 279; L-5s, 192; maintenance for, 119, 218; P-36s, 47–48, 50–51; P-38s, 127–28; P-40s, 47–48, 50–51, 114–15, 155–56; radios on, 93, 106, 151, 200; ranges for, 149–50; repairs to, 117, 124–25; Stinson L-5s, 192; Taylor L-2s, 92; transporting and replacing, 106, 120, 123, 127, 140, 196; vulnerability of, 209–10, 241–42; weapons on, 151–53 airstrips: Agoo, 212; Aringay, 213, 218; clearing cows from, 117; construction of, 109, 124–27, 155, 160; Japanese sniping at, 218; lighting for night landings, 149–50; limitations of, 116–17; Lingayen, 196–97; Loacan Field (Baguio), 248–49, 249; Pugo, 218; Rabon, 199, 210, 210–11; San Fabian, 196; surf overtaking, 153–55; at Tor River, 143–44 Allen, Kennis: building airstrip, 126–27; cobra and, 128–29; damage to Kerns’s plane and, 148, 163–64; lighting Index index 299 airstrip, 149–50; at Maffin Bay, 126, 143; maintaining airplanes, 110, 125; riding with Kerns, 148, 153–55; riding with Vin, 179, 181 Allured, Steve, 158 Anderson, Staff Sgt., 98 Anderson, Technical Sergeant, 131 Aringay, Luzon, 213, 218 Arizona, USS, 51 Arizona Keed (Vin’s plane), 127, 151–52, 191–92, 196, 248 Army, U.S., 70; aviation branch of, 114–15, 278–79; deserving of honor, 49–50, 279–80; training regimes of, 279 Army Air Corps, entrance requirements, 36 Army Air Force (AAF), 39, 70, 99–100, 227; in New Guinea, 155, 160; 25th Liaison Pilot Training Detachment under, 83–84; weapons of, 150–51, 153 Arnold, Paul, 195 artillery, 66, 118. See also air observation, for artillery; 122d Field Artillery Battalion; in attack on Baguio, 243–46; Carlson’s skill at, 177–78, 236; coordination with infantry, 70–71, 234–37; effectiveness of air observation for, 231–32, 236, 242, 249–51; HE shells, 176–77; Kerns trying to protect civilians from, 243–44; Kerns’s skill at, 74–76; limitations of, 216, 268; lucky shots by, 232–34; officer training in, 64–65, 73–76, 78–80; philosophy of, 70–71; pilots hit by fragments, 175–76, 223; rules for clearance, 249–50; support for infantry by, 169, 171–73, 199; uses of, 55, 206, 222–23, 228, 232–33, 245–46, 264 artillery, Japanese, 233, 237 Artillery Officers Advanced Course, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 276 atomic bombs, precluding invasion of Japan, 213 Baguio, Luzon: American attack on, 244–46, 248; Americans in, 253–55, 268–70; 33d Division in battle for, 230, 231, 255; Japanese in, 222, 245–46; as objective of 33d Division, 203, 215–16, 243; topography of, 244, 248–49, 257–58; war damage to, 247 Baker, W. D. “Doug,” 46, 95–97 Bales, Pfc., 105 Barking Sands, 114–15 Base F, P-38 pilots around, 127–28 Battle of Midway, 70 Bechtel, Lieutenant, 90 Bernard, Robert, 66 Blake, Lieutenant, 170 Bledsoe, William P ., 45, 57, 60, 64–66, 69, 277 Booby Trap II (Kerns’s plane), 127, 182, 191 Bortz, Dick, 111, 213–14, 252, 255; medals for, 224–26; visiting Fortification Point, 124–25 Brady, John, 192 Brazil, SS, 103 Brisley, Bill, 98, 106, 108, 138, 262 bulldozers, 7, 124–25, 219 Bunn, Carl, 45–46, 48, 49, 257, 278, 281 Burns, Mr. and Mrs., 113–14...