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From Lisa Kirk  

I’d like to begin with my apology for such a long absence of the newsletter.  There is no one to blame but me so I will own it.  I will give it my best not to let it lapse again.  My intention is to put out 3 newsletters each year.  

I suppose most of you have gathered that there will NOT be a Squadron Rendezvous in 2020 as was planned for in October in New Orleans.  With any luck we will be together again in 2021 but we will see what the future holds.  COVID-19 has not only altered our lives but has cost lives, taken jobs away, ruined businesses, isolated people in group homes, and the list goes on.  Everyone is affected in some way.   I hope you and yours are healthy and when this situation pulls you down, that you remember what you do have to be thankful for.  

A list of past reunions was in the newsletter a few years ago.  Since there will not be any future Reunions, Rendezvous’ instead, below is a complete, updated list.  Almost made it to 30!  

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29 Years of REUNIONS

PATROL BOMBING SQUADRON 106   1st      1973    San Diego, CA 2nd   1976    San Diego, CA 3rd 1979  Colorado Spr, CO 4th     1982    Pensacola, FL 5th           1985    Norfolk, VA 6th      1987    Palo Alto, CA 7th       1989 Fort Worth, TX 8th     1991    Melbourne, FL 9th     1993    San Diego, CA 10th      1995    Pensacola, FL 11th        1997    Boston, MA 12th    1999   Covington, KY 13th     2001    Branson, MO 14th     2003   San Diego, CA 15th      2005   Pensacola, FL 16th             2006   Peoria, IL  17th      2007   Pensacola, FL

PATROL BOMBING SQUADRONS 102/14             1st          1976    Seminole, OK 2nd       1978    San Diego, CA    3rd  1980  Virginia Beach, VA 4th   1982    New Orleans, LA 5th   1984    Sacramento, CA 6th   1986    Washington DC 7th      1988    Pensacola, FL 8th     1990    Tucson, AZ      9th      1992    Seattle, WA    10th  1994  Minneapolis, MN 11th    1996    Boston, MA         12th    1998    Pensacola, FL    13th    2000   San Diego, CA    14th    2002   Boston, MA       15th    2004   Peoria, IL            16th    2006   Tucson, AZ          17th    2008   Manchester, NH

            PATROL BOMBING SQUADRONS 106/102/14

18th 2008 Hot Springs, AR 19th   2009  Cape Cod, MA 20th  2010 Washington DC 21st  2011    San Diego, CA   22nd 2012 New Orleans, LA 23rd   2013    Chicago, IL

24th 2014    San Antonio, TX 25th    2015    Savannah, GA   26th     2016    Nashville, TN   27th    2017   Portland, OR      28th  2018  Philadelphia, PA  29th   2019   San Diego, CA

A PERSONAL STORY……

 

John D. “Jack” Weber

VB-106, Crew 12, Machinist Mate 3^rd Class

Submitted by Dave Weber, son of Jack Weber  

   My name is Dave Weber, son of Jack Weber. My Dad served with the Navy VB 106, Crew 12. Towards the end of his life he told me the story of his experience in the Navy. One particular story was very personal to him. While stationed and flying off an unknown island he met an old buddy from home.  Lynus Briggs had grown up about 15 miles from Dad and they had known each other from their boyhood times. Lynus was a member of the VB 106, Crew 17. Like Dad he also was a machinist mate 3^rd class. They would hang out on the beach during down times. One particular time while

swimming in the sea Lynus got caught in a rip current and was flaying about as he was taken away from the shore. Now Lynus was known as a good athlete and good swimmer but was in danger of drowning. Dad saw this and swam out to Lynus and was able to bring him into shore safely. This day was truly Lynus’s lucky day.

Now Dad had told me how dangerous their flights were with landing and takeoffs being the worst times for any crew.  His crew was no exception to problems. One time they came in with two engines out of commission and were concerned they would have to make a water landing. Fortunately they had a very experienced pilot and were able to bring the plane down and land safely. He said the whole crew was praying with all their might and feared the worst.

Alas they did see their share of fatal mishaps. One story he shared was the time a plane came in hard and hit not more than 200 feet from where he was standing. Most of the men nearby hit the ground for cover but Dad watched in horror as the plane hit and exploded with shrapnel flying all around. Nobody survived and it left Dad shaken with an awful memory.

  On Christmas Day, 1943, a day when all were thinking about family and the Spirit of the Holiday the worst happened. Squadron members were stunned to learn crew 17 had crashed off the shore of Guadalcanal. A loss of an engine on takeoff with a full load attributed to the crash. Four of the twelve crew members died as a result. One of the crew was Lynus Briggs, Dad’s good friend. When he heard the news it shook him to the core. He had experienced loss of crew members that he knew but nobody that was this close.

 The family was notified by mail of his death and his body was interred in Allied territory until it was safe to return him home. On March 19, 1948, after his body was returned, services were held in his hometown of Traer, Iowa. r

SCUTTLEBUTT  

Russell Hoff (102) – From Russ Hoff (VPB 102).  96 and “still here!”  Russ sent a check and his donation will go towards costs of mailing the newsletters.  THANK YOU, RUSS!!!

Orlene “Nina” Sutton, wife of Sheldon Sutton (102) – Thank you so much for all that you do to make the newsletters available.  I am enclosing a check to help with any possible interruption in the sending of them.  Please continue: they mean so very much to families, as well as our military heroes!  And please thank your father for us, old friends, the Sheldon Suttons.  We will always remember what a very special couple that he and your mother were, an asset to any occasion!  Lisa, I am so sad to add my dear husband’s name to your Memoriam list.  Sheldon and I were blessed to renew our wedding vows on our seventy-sixth wedding anniversary but he left us to join the angels just days ago.  He loved the squadron and showed it, having originated the reunions.  I am so sorry to bring that news – so very sorry.  All the best to you, your father, and your team of volunteers! 8/20/20.   Heart-felt condolences for your loss, Nina…….and thank you so much for your thoughtful donation to help keep the squadrons’ newsletter going.

James W. “Jim” Curylo –son of Walter J Curylo (VP-14) – I found this email that was sent to Bob Kirk (102) some time back.  I’m a bit too young to be a member of VP-14, but you night say I was born into it.  My father was Walter J. Curylo who was an AMM1c (NAP) when he joined VP-14 on 3-31-41.  He retired as an Aviation Machinist Mate Chief in 1953.  He and my mother, Cecelia, were in Kaneohe Bay on the 7^th of December, 1941.  I “joined” the squadron on the 15^th of December, 1941.  My birth certificate reads that I was delivered in the “U.S. Navy Dispensary” by “G. M. Hutto, M.D.” so that seals my claim.  Some irony from later years, I served on the USS Lester, DE-1022, as an electronics technician.  The USS Lester was part of an escort squadron that included the USS Van Voorhis, named after the squadron commander of VP-14 who signed my father’s transfer papers in 1943.  Both Fred Falkner Lester and Bruce Avery Van Voorhis were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, posthumously.  Both my mother and father have passed away but I state with pride that I am Navy.

Navy Squadron 106A with PB4Y-2 in Samar, Philippines 1945(?)
Picture compliments of Dorothy Birks

A sad but amazing true story about 19 Marines killed in the Gilbert Islands in 1942 (defending against the Japanese)……  

They had to retreat, so they asked the islanders to please bury their dead so the Japs couldn’t find them. Years later, they checked and found a man who had been a teenager then and remembered where they were buried.  In 1999, a C130 and an honor guard were sent there and found all 19 had been buried with their helmets on, their rifles in their hands, in perfect condition. The islanders had really done a wonderful job.  As they were loading the bodies, a voice from out of nowhere started singing The Marine Hymn.......... gave everyone goose bumps. Turns out, the voice was from a man who spoke no English but remembered a song the Marines taught him when they landed.  Very touching.  They got all 19 and their photos are at the end. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/C6f_FvZpm3g

The recovered remains were returned to the central ID Lab in Honolulu where the 18 reported dead and one of the MIA Marines were identified.  The bodies of 6 of the Marines were returned to their families for private burial and the remaining 13 were interred in Arlington National Cemetery in 2001.

Marine Honor Guard during Repatriation of recovered remains.

Graves of 30 U.S. Marines Found  

In 2019, the nonprofit organization, History Flight, that searches for the remains of U.S. servicemen lost in past conflicts found what officials believe are the graves of more than 30 Marines and sailors from the 6th Marine Regiment killed during the last night of the 3-day Battle of Tarawa in November 1943 on the remote Pacific atoll of Tarawa.  The remains are flown to Hawaii for identification.

History Flight has recovered the remains of 272 individuals from Tarawa since 2015, when it began excavating under a contract with the Defense Department.  It is estimated there are at least another 270 to be found.

SQUADRON WEBSITES

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

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

   http://www.vpb106.com                                                 VPB-106     

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

                        Facebook                                                                          VB-106 Wolverators       

                        Facebook                                                      Navy Squadrons 106/102/14 Assn

   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:

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. 
** The website for VPB-106, http://www.vpb106.com, that Susan Hayes created has disappeared from the internet. We have not been able to connect with Susan, daughter of Richard and Maryann Hayes (106). If anyone has any information for Susan or the website, we would be most appreciative for your input.