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A
PERSONAL STORY…… George Crocker,
ARM2C, Squadron 106, Crew 1 Spurred
by a phone call earlier this year with Hal Fisher, AOM2C, Squadron 106, Crew 8 Special
thanks to Bethany Frank for transcribing and editing George’s story.
David “Hal”
Fisher’s Story of Crew It
was an unexpected thunderstorm on a routine flight down the Pacific to
San Diego. It was more of a
practice flight for the pilots and crews to get more training before
going into combat. A new Bomber was to be flown and tested by Crew 8 of
Squadron 106. This particular Privateer, the new Navy Bomber was
interesting because it had more fire power than any other Bomber in
WWII. There were 6 turrets,
twin of 50 caliber machine guns in each turret.
There were two on top, one on the bowel, one in the half part of
the plane, and two on the side of the plane near the back of the wing.
It was well equipped for the purpose of war. Nevertheless, this
storm brought on some unusual things.
The story that went around the Squadron was that the instruments
on this particular plane of crew 8 were knocked out when they hit this
storm and as a result lost their way.
After exhausting most of their fuel, the pilot finally saw an
opening in the clouds and knew that he was either going to crash or make
a purposeful landing on the water. Of
course the plane wasn’t equipped to land on water but the fact that
the tanks were near empty, could then be used for flotation. As long as
the plane made a good flat landing, it would float long enough for
everybody to be able to get out of the plane safely.
A typical crew in the Navy Squadrons were comprised of 12
members, but on this day instead 14 people successfully escaped the
plane. There were the standard twelve members of the crew, and additionally
two Marinettes--most likely invited due to the excitement of the new
Bomber. Fortunately, there was a very small island not too far from
where they landed. They retrieved their life rafts and together
paddled over to the island. It was a deserted island, nothing there
except the brush and sea. No
life whatsoever except for clams and whatever other animals would have
stopped there for rest. There
they were stranded in isolation for two and a half days, incapable of
contacting their units. They had only sand crabs for food (which are
very watery, but would have given some substance). Certainly a very
difficult place to be with few resources such as food and shelter,
likely questioning their odds of being found.
After those
long two and a half days, the first pilot and another (I don’t quite
know who it was, perhaps the copilot), started out in a raft searching
for help. It would have been a very distressing journey as there was
nothing but sea stretched endlessly in front of them.
It was half of day’s journey when suddenly they saw what they
thought a fishing boat, a Mexican fisherman. By flashing small metal
mirrors the life jackets were equipped with, they were able to
successfully signal the fisherman. Later when interviewed, the
fisherman reported that he traveled up there only once a year, so they
were very fortunate indeed to find help.
The fisherman took them to a small village several miles down
the coast of Mexico where they were able to phone Cabo San Lucas and
arrange a rescue team from San Diego.
A rescue crew of five members were sent: the pilot and four
others on what the Navy called a PBM Mariner.
It was a Bomber, not commonly used for the purpose of combat but
instead used for rescue and that sort of thing.
The Mariner was a float plane, and so it was able to land on the
water for a successful recovery. It resembled a wooden shoe with
wings— it had a high wing and most likely just two engines, but
certainly capable of taking everyone back to San Diego collectively.
On the evening news that night, there was no mention of the two
Marinettes being on that plane. In the San Diego evening newspaper, the
picture of their rescue also excluded their participation.
It instead showed only the rescue crew and the men of Crew 8,
several still wearing their life preservers, looking as though they had
been through a great deal of agony. Luckily, no one seriously hurt.
These particular members of the crew became rather notorious
throughout the Squadron due to this event and being the first crew to
lose an airplane. There were also rumors that one of the Marinettes was
the daughter of an Admiral—which proved to be untrue. The Phone Call
Among VPB 106, crew 8 was a Bombardier named David Fisher.
One evening, almost 70 years after the crash of his Privateer, he
ended up on my answering machine. In his message he said “George!”
--I didn’t recognize the voice. He
continued “are you still living?”
I had never met David and so I initially thought it to be a ‘robocall.’
As a result, I called up my daughter and she tracked the area code to
the Sarasota/St. Petersburg area in Florida.
Deciding it was a real person, I tried reaching David.
It wasn’t until the following evening we were able to speak and
I learned that we were in the same Navy Squadron of 106, both of us the
last living members of our crews: I had been in crew 1 and David in crew
8. I quickly learned he was part of the crew that lost the plane in the
Sea of Cortez. After
that initial phone call, we did talk again and agreed to keep in touch.
I had many more questions about the crash on the island and how
they were rescued. I found out the Marinettes names were
Helen and Edna. I asked him whether they had received any reprimand for
being AWOL but as far as he knew, they just went right back to their
units. They were probably very happy to see them alive because if it
hadn’t been for the fisherman, they all could have starved to death very
easily. David was kind enough to send pictures he had saved, clippings
from the paper as well as the coveted pictures of the two Marinettes. We
had a wonderful conversation; it was quite a surprise to me what he
related regarding the time they were on the island and what had happened. David informed me that he is 94 years old (which is why he wanted to know if I was living). I told him I was approaching 97 and in fairly good health. However, I don’t see too well and I don’t walk like I used to, but I can walk for certain distances. I don’t have to use a cane and I’m pretty active. I’m not in any real pain if I’m sitting down, but if I’m walking in a grocery store suddenly my legs start giving out on me as if to say that after all these years, they don’t want to work for me anymore. I told somebody one time, “If I’d have known the golden years were going to be like this, I wouldn’t have taken such good care of my body. I’d have had more beers and hit more bars along the way.” r
According to US Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, only 389,292 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II were alive in 2019. That’s less than 3 percent. As we move into 2020, the number will only continue to shrink. 29th REUNION
REVIEW Sunday,
October 6
– Thursday, October 10,
2019 San Diego, California
It is always exciting to join this group of ‘family’ for the
reunion. The weather was just
right, the tours fun, and the company the best.
Two of our members had to cancel out.
Casey Kuklinski, 102, had back issues so was unable to travel and
Marvin Theroux, 106, ended up in the hospital the week prior but is
out and doing much better now. Wayne
Ristig and the Birks were not present. You
were all sorely missed.
Bob Kirk, 102, was our sole squadron member attending this year BUT
with the families and friends of squadrons members, here and gone, we
totaled around 50. Thank you
all for your support! Attendees
Many,
many thanks
go to those who donated their time, home-ranch, and/or $$ toward the
reunion!
……And
in the evening our final gathering at the Banquet.
SCUTTLEBUTT Melissa Marten Pecora, daughter of Marv Marten (102) - It is interesting that your newsletter (personal) stories brought back so many memories. Dad was in crew 7 and the day before crew 8 hit the dirt, 7 went over the berm and crashed leaving the tail of their PB4Y up in the air. They always took off over the water because the Japanese aircraft had shorter runways and the PBY's needed more room and they were always counting on a head on wind to give them the lift they needed. The dirt diggers and movers were trying to lengthen the strip and the PBY's had to back their tails up to them. Didn't give them much room to take off plus dad's PBY's tail was sticking up which further hampered everything. Dad said they tried to salvage everything they could from the aircrafts. Replacement parts were hard to come by. I'm going to check out his flight log book which our son has because he was so interested in his grandad's experiences. Our son is a Cmdr. in the Coast Guard and the fact that all the documentation and crew were entered in long hand compared to today's digital logs and computer entries is amazing to our son. What an experience to be able to have a son listen and marvel at the experiences that his grandfather had. My Dad is amazing and for him to have 4 children, 12 grandchildren and 15 great grands when he never thought he'd return to the states and marry the love of his life, Shirley Kirby is as he says a gift from God!
Jeff
Fletcher,
son of Albert Fletcher (106) - I
recently came into the possession of a couple of documents that have an
interesting story. You may wish to include these stories if you would
like. Story 1. I
came across a pay stub of my mothers from September 1944. She was a part
of the "Rosie the Riveter" war effort and she worked at the
Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation in San Diego, California. Her pay
stub from 1944 for 48 hours work (32 regular hours and 16 OT hours)
amounted to $33.60. After deductions for withholding tax, insurance and
war bonds, her weekly take home pay amounted to $25.42!
Note: This actually was good pay since minimum wage was $00.30 in
1944. It's also interesting that she worked for Consolidated Vultee which
I believe manufactured many planes during WW2 including the PB4Y2. Story 2. I
received my father's flight log from WW2 from my sister. It has entries
from April 1943 to August 1945. In a typical month (e.g. June 1945), his
crew, Crew #1, completed 10 missions with flight durations of 14.8 hours,
13.6 hours, 13.5 hours, etc. This echoes the fact of the Privateer's long
range and that one of the biggest fears that crewmen had was not having
enough fuel to return to base. One of his last entries is from August
1945.... "August 15th war ended. I have completed 90 missions." Nina
Sutten,
wife of Sheldon Sutten (102)
– From a phone message: We are celebrating our 75th anniversary on 6/24/19.
We are most grateful and thank you for all the good work done for
the squadron. It is very nice
to continue receiving the newsletters.
(Nina:
your phone number on record is not current so I was unable to call you
back. Please contact me with
an updated phone number.) Dave
Weber,
son of John D. Weber (106) – Please
accept this donation to help in printing/mailing the Navy Squadron
newsletter. I have enjoyed
reading the real life stories our heroes have written for this newsletter.
I know there are very few of these fine heroes among us and getting
fewer daily so what you and you staff does to bring these facts to us is
outstanding. Nola
Call,
daughter in law of Melvin Call
(106) – I regret to inform you
that my father-in-law, Melvin E. Call, passed away at the age of 95 on May
31, 2019. He enjoyed hearing
about the squadron activities and thoroughly enjoyed the chance he had to
go to a reunion a few years back. Doris
Goins,
daughter in law of Ralph Goins
(106) – It is with a heavy heart
that I inform you that at age of 98, Ralph Goins passed away on May 26,
2019. He was in squadron 106.
Thank you so much for the newsletters as they meant a lot to him.
Casey Kuklinski
(106) – Last week I gave your dad (Bob
Kirk) a call and he surprised me. He
said, “Casey, glad to hear from you” before I had a chance to say
hello. He sounded like a very
strong man (like I used to know him).
I’m very happy that I called.
Have a very happy holiday. Mike Kelly, son of George Durwood Kelly, Chief Petty Officer/VB-VPB 106-119/ARM2 1921-2010. This is from a letter that Mike sent to George Crocker: In watching the Normandy commemorations this year, it struck me that in a few short years all of you guys who served with dad will be gone. Dad was promoted to be face-to-face with his Lord in 2010 but we think of him, and miss him and mom, every day. The memories of the several reunions my brother, Mark, and I were fortunate to attend with dad, you and all will live in our souls forever. To remember “The Skipper” as dad called Adm. Hayward, and his gracious and many humorous remembrances, and the stories you guys told, were highlights of those reunions. Have a liberty room in our home with pictures and scrapbooks. Bet those pictures and scrapbooks end up in a good home with stories being told. Read and saw your picture/notes on the island of Palawan in the Philippines in the latest newsletter. Not shocking anymore but just shows what evil leaders, and followers, will do if left unchallenged by free and courageous men. Thank you for that recall and the patch, pictures attached below, you re-designed for the Wolverators. Wear it proudly and all the time at work to remind people that VB-106, and countless others, paid the price to enjoy the freedom we have as a nation today. Notice all the WWII vets at the grocery store glancing my way when I wear it, to get a glimpse of their era, and I see the measure of respect for the patch, and what it represents, in their eyes. Sending a map, picture attached too, I’m sure you’ve seen before, think it was in the squadron memorial book for VB-106. Dad brought back some sand from a Pacific island in a vial. He kept it for years in a drawer with other war mementoes. He was asked, from time to time, to share his WWII story with several elementary school kids’ classes in our hometown of Troy. So he put 7-8 grains of sand, inside a xeroxed copy of the map shown, to each kid under scotch tape to keep the sand sealed in. Finally got this one framed. You can see the sand is close to the top, right above Midway Islands. Don’t know how many kids have their maps (with real WWII Pacific sand) now but bet they will remember that an old man, worn but proud, Wolverator patch and more, served alongside other brave men and women to purchase our freedom, and free others who were brutalized by evil. But through the blood of patriots, those who came back and those who did not, those who stayed and those who prayed, we conquered evil that time by Providence and the sacrifice of so many….and live on to fight now again for that same freedom. Thank you, George, and all who served, for staying the course and helping remind us of the price paid and sacrifices made on our behalf as the “kids” who now understand in part what you all did for us as a nation. Nobody really knows what the hell of war is like till you’ve been there. The Last Fighter Pilot of WWII, thank everyone for these stories… https://www.dvidshub.net/video/395572/jerry-wellin-world-war-ii-veteran-interview sums up magnificently how much we owe The Greatest Generation. A grateful country salutes all of you and are proud to be citizens of the greatest nation on earth, the good ole U.S.A. courtesy of the grace of God, the U.S. Military, and those who support her, at home and abroad. Enjoy the pictures; they bring back floods of memories for you, I know, and us. FROM LISA KIRK
I hope that everyone who was able to come to the 2019 Reunion had a
good time and for those who did not come will enjoy reading about it.
As a gift to the squadron members of 102 and 106, the members’
families pitched in and ordered ‘bricks’ that have been installed on
the campus of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. Their mission is to ensure that all generations will understand the price
of freedom and be inspired by what they learn.
Your bricks
are a way to show our utmost appreciation for your service to our country
with duty, honor, courage, commitment, and integrity.
We thank you from our hearts for our freedom that we live with
today.
Although the reunions will continue, it
has been decided to change it up a bit.
In lieu of a fully organized agenda where the volunteers set up the
hotel, tours, and banquet for group rates, instead, we will announce the
city, hotel and the tours that we intend to use and it will be up to each
of us to make our own reservations directly with the hotel and tour
companies. Unfortunately,
doing things this way, the group rates and discounts will not be available
to us. This will eliminate the
time of planning, executing, and the responsibility of a budget for the
volunteers.*
It was suggested that we have a ‘Rendezvous’ in New Orleans and
visit the National World War II Museum to view the newly installed
Squadron Bricks. The campus
has expanded greatly since our 2012 Reunion in New Orleans.
The Mississippi River Cruise that was discussed is out of the
picture due to costs. 2020 Rendezvous More details in the next newsletter. We hope to see you there!
*
The balance of the Reunion Funds is $0 after the 2019
Reunion. The Squadrons’
account still has Newsletter Funds to cover the mailing of the newsletters for at least another year. SQUADRON WEBSITES
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/
VPB-106 & VPB-102/14
https://members.tripod.com/~vpb_102
VPB-102/14
Facebook
VB-106 Wolverators
Facebook Navy Squadrons 106/102/14 Assn
VP/VPB-102
Video, From Crew #9, July 44- May 45, HW ... Also, check out these websites for
information on our squadrons and members: www.VPNavy.org
www.NavyLog.org
* The memorabilia from squadrons 102/14 and 106 are archived in San Diego at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Pictures from the collection are posted on the flickr website above.
Memoriam With sincere regrets we wish to report that since our last
newsletter we have received information that the following shipmates have
passed away. The great bond these
men had that tied them together with their squadron members can never be
broken. They served their country,
their squadron and their families in the highest tradition of the Navy.
May they rest in peace. VB/VPB/VP 106 VPB 102/14 No
One Reported
There
may be more of our members who have passed on *******AS ALWAYS YOUR NEWS, COMMENTS, UPDATES, ETC. ARE WELCOME*******
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