Issue 9.12
I was having lunch at the Hurricane Senior Center and sat next to another WW 2 vet. When two of us get together, we usually ask each other where we served. I could tell Rex where I served in one sentence. I was a crewman on B-17’s over Germany and flew 35 missions.
However, Rex’s wasn’t so easy. Rex was a pilot with a burning desire to fly P38’s but instead piloted C47’s, C46’s,C45’s P51’s and others. He tells about the first time he took off in a P51 while in New Guinea. This single seat hot American fighter has no second seat, so his first flight has to be as good as his last flight because he doesn’t have an experienced pilot in a back seat.
Rex stopped at the end of the runway and when given the signal to take off, opened up the throttle and that Rolls Royce “Merlin” engine snapped his head to the headrest. That darned airplane seemed to have a mind of its own because as it left the ground, it veered over to port and headed straight for the control tower. After the control tower guys picked themselves off the floor, they expressed their feelings with a string of expletives over the radio. Darn, the P51’s didn’t last so Rex was back on the old “Gooney Bird”, the C47. His next stop was at Clark Field at recaptured Philippines. There were many derelict mostly Jap planes around the perimeter. One night a left behind Jap soldier emerged out of one of the derelicts with guns blazing, killing some American flyers including Rex’s co- pilot. The Jap was seen to go back in his lair in an old “Betty” bomber. The Americans emptied their hand held machine guns into that fuselage. When they got through, there wasn’t much left without a whole. Of course no one could live through that.
Rex survived the war and had a successful civilian life.
When flyers have finished all their training and are ready to go into combat each one is in possession of two boxes. One box is full and one box is empty. The full box is labeled “Luck” and the empty box is labeled “Experience”. Each flyer hopes that the empty box will be filled with experience before the other box is emptied of luck. Usually his ticket to go home is when that happens.
Sam Wyrouch can be contacted at 801-707-2666.