Navy Squadrons 106/102/14 Association
Newsletter by Lisa Kirk
4426 Maple Ave.
La Mesa, CA 91941


Newsletter - October 2015               August 10, 1945 - Japan Surrenders!!!

SCUTTLEBUTT  

None!    None?    None!  

I have not heard from ANYBODY since the last newsletter!  Please send in your scuttlebutt to help keep this newsletter going. 

Also, I will be needing more personal stories for future newsletters.  Anyone?

  Cheryl Carlson printed up some nice looking t-shirts for the 25^th Reunion in Savannah.  If you would like to purchase one or buy additional shirts, get in touch with her by email, phone or mail.  Her contact information is on the back page of this newsletter under ‘Your Volunteers”.

SQUADRON WEBSITES  

            http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/            VPB-106 & VPB-102/14

            https://members.tripod.com/~vpb_102                          VPB-102/14

            http://vpb106.com/index.html                                         VPB-106

            http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/archive/           VB-106

            Harold Warnimont’s (102) movie film during his tour is on You Tube

             VP/VPB-102 Video, From Crew #9, July 44- May 45, HW ...         

            Also, check out these websites for information on our squadrons and members:

                                          VPNavy.org               NavyLog.org

A PERSONAL STORY……

 Tinian, 1944-1945
By Robert L. Kirk, Squadron 102, Crew 11  

How North Field Tinian looked when we arrived at the end of August 1944.  Burned out Japanese hanger and destroyed Japanese aircraft.

While running patrols out of Eniwetok in the Marshall Island group for almost a month, following the famous Mariana Turkey Shoot, and watching the backside of the invasion of Saipan and Tinian for any surprise attack the Japanese might be planning, we moved up to North Field Tinian.  The Marines had secured the north tip of Tinian and were pushing the Japanese south about five miles south of the air strip.  We had already lost one crew out of a two plane flight when a Japanese destroyer escorting two merchant ships shot down one of the two planes.

When we parked the aircraft, a driver in a weapons carrier met us and we were advised that he was taking us to the quarters area.  When we arrived we found a row of tents all rolled up and ready to erect. There was also a pile of coral, a Coleman lantern and a can of fuel. Fortunately there was still enough daylight to erect a tent.  Four of us picked one and erected it.  We would later learn the purpose of the coral.

Before we left Eniwetok, the skipper had obtained enough information to inform us that we should take the fold-up cot, three inch mattress and pillow with us.  We had been sleeping in these so called Army Cots in a Quonset hut while residing on Eniwetok.  Had we not followed the skipper’s instruction, we would be sleeping on bare ground with no bed or bedding.  Fortunately we had also taken our mosquito netting for later use.

There was no mess tent, as yet, but we were provided with K-Rations and we could have all that we wanted.  These were also our flight rations.  If I remember right, they were labeled Breakfast, Dinner and Supper.  K-rations are about the size of a Cracker Jack box and contain some dried, highly concentrated and nutritious food.

Water was at a premium.  There were lister bags spaced around on tripods for drinking.  Lister bags are large canvas bags with a faucet near the bottom.  The chlorine added made the taste pretty bad but it was all we had to drink for a while.  Since there was no shade over the Lister Bags, the water in them was quite warm.  

Bathing was by rainfall and one hoped the rain did not cease until you were rinsed off.  We cumshawed a 50 gallon drum from somewhere and saved rainwater in it.  Used it to rinse off when rain stopped. (See below).  Shortly following our arrival on Tinian the monsoon season set in and the entire island was one big mass of mud.  Water even flowed into the tents.  Some intelligent person had foreseen that situation and thus the reason for the coral, mentioned above.  We covered the tent floor with the coral and it was much better walking on it than sinking in the mud.  The island had been planted with sugar cane which had been plowed under but mosquitoes and flies were in abundance until the entire island was sprayed (by air) with DDT on three occasions. 

Must have been Monday – I see the wash is hanging out.

The food and supplies for the still fighting Japanese were cut off and they were suffering from hunger, along with all the inconveniences of fighting a war with no food or supplies coming in.  They would infiltrate the lines, walk north and sneak in to our tents to steal K-Rations.  At first we were a little leery about them wandering around our tent area so most slept with a 38 Caliber pistol under their pillow.  Later, after a mess tent was constructed they even found one Japanese soldier in the chow line.

  Shortly after arriving on Tinian, someone discovered a nice beach on the west shore.  Very few knew (or cared) about the beach and it was very lightly used.  Since nobody had thought to bring swimming trunks it became known as Nude Beach.  After the Army Air Corps folks arrived in droves, it was no longer a nude beach and became so crowded that we no longer cared to use it.  (see below)

Sometime in September (I don’t recall the exact date) we noticed great influx of Army Air Corps crews arriving, along with their new B-29’s.  We hadn’t even been aware there was such an aircraft.  Along with one of our crew, the two of us walked to their flight line to look at the aircraft and perhaps tour the inside.  As we approached the aircraft, two airmen with Thompson machine guns yelled “HALT”.  Now you have to realize that at this time on Tinian there were only Navy members, Army Air Corps people and a few Japanese prisoners. 

We continued to walk towards the aircraft at a slow pace and said something like, “We are Navy and would just like to see the aircraft.”  At this point both airmen raised their weapons, pointed them directly at us and said, “We said HALT !!!”. Needless to say, we turned and left. To this day, I wonder if they would have shot us.

Quonset Huts

One night a few of us were sitting on top of our Quonset hut watching the attack on Saipan.  It was amazing at night, somewhat like the fireworks on July 4.  From behind us, we heard a plane roaring in at a very low altitude. We slid down the side of the Quonset hut into a dugout we had previously prepared.  Later, we discovered the plane had dropped “Daisy Cutters” but had been too low to allow time to arm them.  Daisy Cutters are anti-personnel small bombs that have long stems, allowing them to explode above ground and spread shrapnel in all directions.  

Modern Tinian

Tinian……Mariana Islands, Pacific Ocean               It's a small island, less than 40 square miles, a flat green dot in the vastness of Pacific blue.  Fly over it and you notice a slash across its north end of uninhabited bush, a long thin line that looks like an overgrown dirt runway.  If you didn't know what it was, you wouldn't give it a second glance out your airplane window.  On the ground, you see the runway isn't dirt but tarmac and crushed limestone, abandoned with weeds sticking out of it.  Yet this is arguably the most historical airstrip on earth.  This is where World War II was won.  This is Runway Able.              On July 24, 1944, 30,000 US Marines landed on the beaches of Tinian ....  Eight days later, over 8,000 of the 8,800 Japanese soldiers on the island were dead (vs. 328 Marines), and four months later the Seabees had built the busiest airfield of WWII - dubbed North Field -  enabling B-29 Superfortresses to launch air attacks on the Philippines, Okinawa, and mainland Japan.             Late in the afternoon of August 5, 1945, a B-29 was maneuvered over a bomb loading pit, then after lengthy preparations, taxied to the east end of North Field's main runway, Runway Able, and at 2:45am in the early morning darkness of August 6th, took off.  The B-29 was piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets of the US Army Air Force, who had named the plane after his mother, Enola Gay.  The crew named the bomb they were carrying Little Boy.  6 hours later at 8:15am Japan time, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima .              Three days later, in the pre-dawn hours of August 9, a B-29 named Bockscar (a pun on "boxcar" after its flight commander Capt. Fred Bock), piloted by Major Charles Sweeney took off from Runway Able.  Finding its primary target of Kokura obscured by clouds, Sweeney proceeded to the secondary target of Nagasaki, over which, at 11:01am, bombardier Kermit Beahan released the atomic bomb dubbed Fat Man.              Sixteen hours after the nuking of Nagasaki, on August 10, 1945 at 0300, the Japanese Emperor without his cabinet's consent decided to end the Pacific War.             Most people, when they think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , reflect on the numbers of lives killed in the nuclear blasts - at least 70,000 and 50,000 respectively.  But think of lives saved - how many more Japanese and Americans would have died in a continuation of the war.  The US was getting ready to invade Japan (Operation Downfall) and that would have caused upwards of a million American and Japanese deaths or more.             Today, the two ‘Atomic Bomb Pits’ remain on Tinian enclosed in glass with pictures of their story and there is even a hotel & casino. Tinian WWII – North Field in bottom half of picture Atomic Bomb Pit

Once again we had a terrific reunion and Savannah was beautiful with lots of things to experience.  Staying at the Embassy Suites Savannah Historic District enabled us to easily walk and explore the history, shopping, and eateries of Savannah on our own.  Our groups tours led us to Fort Pulaski, the Tybee Island Lighthouse, a narrated bus tour around the historic district, and the Mighty 8^th Air Force Museum which is a wonderfully arranged museum with many artifacts including a B-17.  As is customary, the banquet was the grand finale of the reunion including dinner and a DJ with 3 generations on the dance floor.  What could be better?

 5 members were in attendance from both squadrons VPB 102/14 and VPB 106.  Along with their family members and friends, our reunion totaled 50 attendees.

-R.D. Carroll (102) and his wife Betty, unfortunately, had to cancel their trip and were sorely missed.
-Bob Sausen (106) and his family left prematurely on the last day.   His wife, Ann, got tripped up by a chair and required surgery to repair her leg but we’re happy to report she is on the mend.  We were sad you missed the Banquet and regret you are not in the squadron members or group photos.
-We have hopes that there will be other squadron members to join us at next year’s reunion.  Volunteers are researching a new city to hold the 2016 Reunion. 

  In Appreciation…..“Thank you” can never be said too many times to all the people who helped in one way or another to bring the reunion together.  So again, “THANK YOU!” to Keith & Dorothy Birks, Steve & Cheryl Carlson, Deb Zeit, Kathy & Joe Rottman, R.D. & Betty Carroll, Bob Kirk, Lisa Kirk, David Hollingshead, Mike & Debby Kirk, Ken & Diana Clark, Shannon Hardege, Debby Signaigo, Shelly Pridemore, Dirt Crowder, Billy & Andie Howeth, Suzanne Ghosn, Rick Sausen, Steve & Vicki Theroux, Carol Zito, Frank Lencioni, Bob Brodine, Russ Hoff, Mabel Baker, Premiere Chiropractic Center, Brian Gniadek DDS.

Savannah Reunion Banquet Members Marvin Theroux, Bob Kirk, Casey Kuklinski, Keith Birks Members and wives Lucy Leon and Dorothy Birks