The Twilight Warriors Part 4

He squeezed the trigger. The six .50-caliber guns rattled in a staccato beat. He saw his tracers arcing down toward the parked airplanes. As in a dream, he watched one of them explode in a roiling fireball. Then another.

The Corsairs swept over the airfield. In the harbor beyond, Erickson spotted a tanker. He salvoed his rockets at the s.h.i.+p, then opened up again with his guns. Peering over his shoulder as he pulled up, he saw that the tanker was ablaze. Crewmen were diving over the sides into the water.

But the enemy was firing back. One of the Tail End Charlies, Ens. Loren Isley, was diving on his target, guns firing-and didn't pull up. Isley's Corsair dove straight into the harbor and exploded.

Stunned, the other pilots stared at the blackened slick on the water where the Corsair had hit. No one knew-nor would they ever know-whether Isley had taken an antiaircraft round or just pressed his attack too close.

They came back to strafe the field, expending most of their .50-caliber ammunition, until Hyland gave the signal to pull off and rejoin.

But they weren't out of harm's way yet. As they were clearing the j.a.panese coastline, another Tail End Charlie, Ens. Rob Harris, called that he was losing gasoline. His fuel system had taken a hit, and he was down to only 20 gallons.

A couple of minutes later, Harris's engine quit, and he put the Corsair down in the frigid water off s.h.i.+koku. Overhead, another Tail End Charlie, Ens. Les Gray, circled, keeping an eye on Harris. He could see the pilot scrambling out of the c.o.c.kpit, but the Corsair was sinking quickly. Harris wasn't dragging his life raft out with him.

Within seconds the Corsair had vanished. And so had Rob Harris.

7

THE MOOD IN BOYS' TOWN THE MOOD IN BOYS' TOWN USS INTREPID INTREPID

168 MILES SOUTHEAST OF KYUSHU, j.a.pAN

MARCH 18, 1945

The men in the gun tubs couldn't believe it. Their first d.a.m.ned day back in the war, and it was happening all over again. A j.a.panese plane was skimming the water, somehow dodging the curtain of antiaircraft fire, headed straight for Intrepid Intrepid.

It seemed like the replay of a bad dream. Most of the men on the deck had been aboard Intrepid Intrepid four months earlier when two kamikazes, five minutes apart, plunged through the carrier's flight deck, snuffing out nearly a hundred lives and taking the s.h.i.+p out of action. four months earlier when two kamikazes, five minutes apart, plunged through the carrier's flight deck, snuffing out nearly a hundred lives and taking the s.h.i.+p out of action.

This one was a twin-engine bomber, and its pilot seemed to be blessed with divine protection. Oily black bursts were exploding all around him. The ocean below the bomber frothed with the splashes of spent ordnance. He kept coming.

j.a.panese planes had been stalking Intrepid Intrepid all morning. Fresh yellow blips kept showing up on the radar screens in CIC-the combat information center. CAP fighters from all the task group carriers were intercepting the bogeys, which were quickly tagged as bandits. As the intruders flew into range of the antiaircraft guns on the screening s.h.i.+ps, the CAP fighters were forced to withdraw and let the gunners blaze away. Most of the attackers were shot down or chased away. all morning. Fresh yellow blips kept showing up on the radar screens in CIC-the combat information center. CAP fighters from all the task group carriers were intercepting the bogeys, which were quickly tagged as bandits. As the intruders flew into range of the antiaircraft guns on the screening s.h.i.+ps, the CAP fighters were forced to withdraw and let the gunners blaze away. Most of the attackers were shot down or chased away.

But not all. Through the CAP screen and then through the hail of antiaircraft fire came a Yokosuka P1Y Frances bomber. Intrepid Intrepid's 5-inchers hammered away, mostly missing. As the Frances came closer, every Bofors 40-millimeter and rapid-fire Oerlikon 20-millimeter gun on Intrepid Intrepid's starboard side opened up.

The Frances was taking hits, trailing smoke-but still flying. The men on Intrepid Intrepid could see the two round cowlings with the radial engines and the distinctive long, slender wings. As the bomber bored closer, they could make out the figures of the pilots in the gla.s.s-enclosed c.o.c.kpit. could see the two round cowlings with the radial engines and the distinctive long, slender wings. As the bomber bored closer, they could make out the figures of the pilots in the gla.s.s-enclosed c.o.c.kpit.

The gunners braced themselves for the inevitable. This thing was clearly not a torpedo plane or a bomber. It was another kamikaze, and he had them bore sighted. Just when it seemed that the j.a.panese plane would smash into Intrepid Intrepid's flight deck, a round from one of the 5-inch guns clipped the Frances's tail.

The bomber's nose pitched straight down. In a scene that lasted less than two seconds but would remain fixed in their memories for the rest of their lives, the gunners had a plan view of the j.a.panese bomber. It was so close they felt they could reach out and touch it. The moment was captured by a combat photographer-the orange ball of the rising sun emblazoned on the starboard wing, port wing tip shattered by gunfire, j.a.panese crewmen hunched inside the c.o.c.kpit.

The bomber hit the water 50 feet from Intrepid Intrepid's starboard bow. The explosion showered fire and debris against Intrepid Intrepid's starboard side and into the exposed hangar bay. Flames enveloped the forward hangar bay, lighting off the fabric control surfaces of parked airplanes and scorching painted surfaces.

By a miracle, none of the airplanes exploded. There were casualties, but not all were caused by the kamikaze crash. One of Intrepid Intrepid's escorts, the cruiser Atlanta Atlanta, was also shooting at the incoming kamikaze and fired a 5-inch sh.e.l.l too close to Intrepid Intrepid's fantail. In the brief action, one sailor was killed and forty-four others wounded.

Intrepid's seasoned damage control crews had the fires extinguished in fifteen minutes. The worst damage was to the hangar deck curtain-the screen that shrouded the open hangar bay during night operations. No airplanes were destroyed, and the flame-damaged aircraft control surfaces would be quickly repaired. The hangar bay and forward starboard hull were fire-blackened and required new paint.

The morning had just begun. While Intrepid Intrepid was fighting off her attacker, a Yokosuka D4Y Judy dive-bomber put a 500-kilogram bomb into the carrier was fighting off her attacker, a Yokosuka D4Y Judy dive-bomber put a 500-kilogram bomb into the carrier Enterprise Enterprise, operating only a few thousand yards from Intrepid. Enterprise Intrepid. Enterprise's long string of luck held. The bomb punched a neat hole in her flight deck, then crashed into a machinery s.p.a.ce without exploding.

A few minutes past 1300, it was Yorktown Yorktown's turn. Three Judy dive-bombers dove on the carrier, and two missed their target. The third put its bomb through Yorktown Yorktown's signal bridge, penetrating one deck before exploding and blowing two big holes in the s.h.i.+p's side. Five Yorktown Yorktown crewmen were killed, and another twenty-six were wounded. crewmen were killed, and another twenty-six were wounded.

Returning from the strike on Kyushu, Intrepid Intrepid's Tail End Charlies were learning another lesson the hard way: a wingman used more fuel than his leader. This was because wingmen were forced to make constant throttle changes to keep their position in the flight. Each throttle movement consumed precious gasoline. After four and a half hours in the air, Hyland's wingmen were almost out of fuel.

But the Intrepid Intrepid wasn't ready to take them aboard. The flight deck was still packed with airplanes waiting to be launched. Watching his fuel quant.i.ty gauge, Erickson wished he'd leaned out his fuel mixture and been more prudent with the throttle. It was too late. His tanks were almost empty. So were those of Ens. George Tessier, the young North Carolinian who was flying on Hyland's left wing. wasn't ready to take them aboard. The flight deck was still packed with airplanes waiting to be launched. Watching his fuel quant.i.ty gauge, Erickson wished he'd leaned out his fuel mixture and been more prudent with the throttle. It was too late. His tanks were almost empty. So were those of Ens. George Tessier, the young North Carolinian who was flying on Hyland's left wing.

Hyland put his flight into a low-power, fuel-conserving orbit, waiting for a clear deck on Intrepid Intrepid. While they were still in the orbit, Tessier's engine abruptly quit. Dropping like a rock from the formation, Tessier's Corsair splashed down next to one of the screening destroyers. Minutes later the pilot was plucked out of the water by the destroyer crew.

Erickson knew he'd be next. Close to Intrepid Intrepid was was Enterprise Enterprise, which had already launched her own strike planes and had a clear deck. Erickson received immediate clearance to land aboard.

After he'd safely made it down on Enterprise Enterprise's deck and checked his fuel, he found that he had five gallons left. If he hadn't made it aboard on his first pa.s.s, he would have been in the water with Tessier.

Erickson spent the rest of the morning aboard Enterprise Enterprise. By comparison to Intrepid Intrepid, the older Enterprise Enterprise seemed smaller, her flight deck shorter and more narrow. Even her s.p.a.ces belowdecks seemed cramped. Famished after his four-and-a-half-hour mission, he gobbled down peanut b.u.t.ter sandwiches and cocoa while the deck crew refueled his Corsair. Catapulted back into the air, he was a.s.signed to a CAP station for another hour and a half before finally landing back aboard seemed smaller, her flight deck shorter and more narrow. Even her s.p.a.ces belowdecks seemed cramped. Famished after his four-and-a-half-hour mission, he gobbled down peanut b.u.t.ter sandwiches and cocoa while the deck crew refueled his Corsair. Catapulted back into the air, he was a.s.signed to a CAP station for another hour and a half before finally landing back aboard Intrepid Intrepid.

The kamikazes kept coming. Following the first bomb strike on Enterprise Enterprise, two more raiders were picked off by Enterprise Enterprise's gunners. One was a Judy dive-bomber whose crew, obviously not kamikazes, bailed out of the shattered airplane.

As the two j.a.panese parachutes floated down through the smoke and gunfire, one of Enterprise Enterprise's destroyer escorts came racing up with the apparent intention of capturing the enemy airmen.

They didn't. While the parachutes were still descending, the destroyer escort's gunners opened fire with their battery of 20-millimeters. The shredded bodies of the j.a.panese airmen hit the water, floated briefly, then disappeared beneath the waves.

None of the commanders who witnessed the incident expressed any outrage. To a man, each was filled with the same boiling fury at this maniacal enemy who was cras.h.i.+ng into their s.h.i.+ps. They were j.a.ps, and you exterminated them wherever you found them.

At 1045, Intrepid Intrepid launched its fourth strike of the morning. It was Country Landreth's second mission, and this time he was leading a strike against the j.a.panese airfield complex at Uwa Jima, on the home island of s.h.i.+koku. launched its fourth strike of the morning. It was Country Landreth's second mission, and this time he was leading a strike against the j.a.panese airfield complex at Uwa Jima, on the home island of s.h.i.+koku.

Arriving at the target, Landreth swept across the airfield, his .50-calibers rattling the fighter's airframe as he strafed buildings and parked airplanes. As he skimmed over the field at low alt.i.tude, he spotted something in the estuary ahead of him. It was a speedboat, racing across the water at high speed, leaving behind it a rooster tail of white water. Guessing that it must be a target of value, he went for it.

Then he noticed something else-a small island in the estuary. Protruding from the vegetation were a few round tanks and tile-roofed buildings. "I decided to give them a squirt on the way to the speedboat," he recalled.

It was a decision Landreth would regret for the rest of his life. He fired a burst into the tile roof, then s.h.i.+fted his attention back to the boat. In the next second, the innocent-looking building, which happened to be an ammunition storage facility, erupted in a cataclysmic explosion. Flame and debris shot hundreds of feet into the sky. As Landreth's Corsair flew through the fireball, the G-forces. .h.i.t him like a giant sledgehammer. His spine compressed, and the airframe of the Corsair shuddered from the impact.

When his vision cleared, Landreth knew he was in trouble. "I looked at the oil pressure dial," he remembered, "and it read zero." Thirty seconds later, right on schedule, the big twin-row Pratt & Whitney engine, now out of oil, chuffed once and then stopped. A ghostly silence filled Landreth's c.o.c.kpit.

He pointed the Corsair toward the open sea. Landreth's back was broken, and he had no feeling in his legs. Unable to use rudder pedals, he managed to turn the Corsair into the wind. He blew the canopy off just before the fighter splashed down in the gray sea off s.h.i.+koku.

And then, a miracle. Despite his injuries, he was able to haul himself out of the c.o.c.kpit, dragging the life raft with him. Somehow he clambered into the raft. He pulled his tarpaulin up over him, blue side out to be less visible to the j.a.panese.

He waited. It was a long shot, but there was a chance that a U.S. submarine or a "Dumbo"-a seagoing rescue plane-would pick him up. His squadronmates had seen him go down and would have pa.s.sed on his position via the search-and-rescue frequency. For the rest of the day he bobbed in his raft, in agony from his damaged spine.

Night came, and with it a freezing drizzle. Landreth hunkered down in the exposed raft, tarpaulin up to his chin, and waited. His mission had shrunk down to one overriding objective: stay alive until morning.

The strikes and fighter sweeps continued for the rest of the day. Twelve more Corsairs bombed and rocketed the airfield at Usa, on the north sh.o.r.e of Kyushu, then turned down the coast to make strafing attacks on the parked airplanes at Oita, which had been spared the earlier strikes because of weather. Escorted by the fighters, SB2C h.e.l.ldivers and bomb-carrying TBM Avengers then swept in to hammer the buildings and hangars at Oita with 500-pound bombs, returning to finish the job with their machine guns.

By the end of their first day of war, Intrepid Intrepid's newly formed air group had logged more than 120 combat missions.

That evening the officers' wardroom was segregated along the usual lines: black shoes and brown shoes. By long tradition, surface navy officers wore black uniform shoes, while the airedales-officers of the flying branch-wore brown shoes with their khakis or aviation green uniforms. But the culture gap between them extended far beyond the color of their shoes.

The black shoes had something to celebrate. There weren't many days when surface officers on an aircraft carrier could cover themselves with glory, but this was one of them. During the near-death encounter with the kamikaze that morning, the gunnery department and the damage control crews had risen to heroic status. Now the black shoes were in an animated discussion, reliving the incident.

Jabbering at the opposite end of the room were the brown shoes, gesturing with their hands, rehas.h.i.+ng the action over Kyushu and s.h.i.+koku. Most had flown two combat missions that day. Images of flak bursts and targets viewed through gun sights and the dry-mouthed anxiety of nearly empty fuel tanks were still fresh in their minds.

Even in normal times, the two groups maintained a cordial distance. Black shoes made no secret of their belief that they were the only real real Navy men aboard the s.h.i.+p. They alone understood the crafts of s.h.i.+p handling, gunnery, navigation, damage control. Without them, the carrier was nothing more than an immobile barge. Navy men aboard the s.h.i.+p. They alone understood the crafts of s.h.i.+p handling, gunnery, navigation, damage control. Without them, the carrier was nothing more than an immobile barge.

The brown shoes, for their part, couldn't care less about arcane nautical lore. Most of them, especially the Tail End Charlies, kept saying things like "left" instead of "port," "floor" for "deck," "wall" when they meant "bulkhead." Mainly to annoy the black shoes, they insisted on calling the 27,000-ton aircraft carrier a "boat."

But what galled the black-shoe officers most about the airedales was their att.i.tude att.i.tude. They were like spoiled frat boys. They sequestered themselves in their private berthing s.p.a.ces, where they played cards, partied, and, if reports were to be believed, actually consumed booze. One of Intrepid Intrepid's black shoes came up with an a.n.a.logy: the brown shoes were just like seagulls. Except for flying, all they did was eat, sleep, and c.r.a.p.

There was no party that night in Boys' Town. The mood had changed. Gone were the horseplay, the banter, the wisea.s.s jokes. There were two empty bunks. "All the ensigns were in quiet conversations, just above a whisper," remembered Erickson. "Except for a few standby pilots who would now be replacing our losses, we were no longer virgins."

Until that day, flying Navy airplanes had been a lark. Even losing friends in training hadn't dulled the sense that the war was a great adventure.

Now all that had changed. The best buddies of Loren Isley and Rob Harris were removing the personal effects from their lockers. What happened to them could have happened to any of the Tail End Charlies. "Some were seriously writing letters," Erickson recalled, "and it didn't take much to guess what the messages contained. One day of combat had changed boys into men."

Also among the missing was Lt. (jg) Country Landreth, who by virtue of seniority hadn't been a resident of Boys' Town. One of the Tail End Charlies had seen Landreth's Corsair go into the water offsh.o.r.e. Another pilot reported seeing a j.a.panese submarine a mile and a half from where he went down.

It meant that Landreth was screwed. By now he was either dead or captured.

8

SHOOT THE SON OF A b.i.t.c.h SHOOT THE SON OF A b.i.t.c.h OFF s.h.i.+KOKU, j.a.pAN

MARCH 19, 1945

Landreth was alive. Still adrift in his tiny raft, he clung to the hope that a submarine might pick him up. He had already stopped believing that a rescue plane was coming. Even if the crew was willing to risk coming this close to the j.a.panese sh.o.r.e, they'd never spot him in the murk. The weather was lousy. Freezing rain continued to pelt him.

The second day pa.s.sed. No submarine showed up. Nor did a rescue plane, even though the weather had cleared a bit. By the time darkness fell again, Landreth was in bad shape. His lower body was numb, and hypothermia was sapping the last of his energy. He had what seemed like pneumonia. He knew he couldn't last much longer.

On the morning of the third day, he was dimly aware of voices coming to him across the water. They weren't speaking English. Out of the gloom appeared a rowboat. The two young j.a.panese men in the boat stared at him, keeping their guns ready while they warily circled Landreth's raft. Finally, deciding that the bedraggled figure was not a threat, they hauled him into their rowboat and took him ash.o.r.e.

It was the first day of Country Landreth's ordeal as a prisoner of war.

The morning of March 19, 1945, was a replay of the day before-same predawn wake-up, same breakfast on tin trays, same briefing in the ready room. Wearing their red-lensed gla.s.ses to protect their night vision, the pilots again listened to Will Rawie tell them that they were going to j.a.pan. He said it in the same matter-of-fact style as the day before, as if he were giving them directions to the wardroom.

This time the ante was going up. The target was a big one-the Kure naval base. Kure was on the southern sh.o.r.e of Honshu, the main island of j.a.pan, 12 miles from the city of Hiros.h.i.+ma. Kure was the j.a.panese equivalent of the United States's Norfolk naval base. It was where the greatest s.h.i.+ps of the Imperial j.a.panese Navy were constructed and repaired, and where one, the greatest of them all, Yamato Yamato, was still home-ported. The complex contained airfields, oil depots, foundries, docks, workshops, slipways, and administrative buildings. Towering over the harbor was Mt. Yasumi, which was covered with antiaircraft gun emplacements. Across the bay was the island of Eta Jima, site of the Imperial Naval Academy, with its own concentration of antiaircraft batteries. Kure was one of the most heavily defended targets outside of Tokyo.

Erickson was again CAG Hyland's number four. The downside of flying with the air group commander, of course, was that any mistake he made would result in a monumental a.s.s chewing back on the s.h.i.+p. The big plus was that the CAG's division was always the first into the air and the first to land back aboard. Everything revolved around Hyland, who was responsible for coordinating the strike. His wingmen were responsible for covering his tail.

For Erickson, another plus was his section leader, Lt. (jg) Windy Hill. For all his faults-a tendency toward mouthiness and a streak of narcissism-Hill was a good fighter pilot. He'd made it through the Solomons and had the enemy aircraft kills to prove it. Erickson trusted Hill to make the right calls when the shooting started.

The ten Intrepid Intrepid Corsairs would be joined by a trio of four-plane divisions of h.e.l.lcats from Corsairs would be joined by a trio of four-plane divisions of h.e.l.lcats from Yorktown Yorktown. As the flights joined up, Erickson was suddenly aware of the number of airplanes in the strike. "The sky was full of planes as far as the eye could see, all making their way toward the home islands of j.a.pan."

But somehow the Intrepid Intrepid strike group and strike group and Yorktown Yorktown's group became separated. By the time Hyland's ten Corsairs were crossing the island of s.h.i.+koku, bound for Kure, they were alone. Directly in their path lay the j.a.panese airfield of Matsuyama. What they didn't yet know was that Matsuyama was the home base of the 343rd Kokutai (air group), the Imperial j.a.panese Navy's most elite fighter unit. The j.a.panese fighters were already airborne, waiting for them.

Dawn was breaking as the Corsairs crossed the inland sea between s.h.i.+koku and the main island of Honshu. Beneath their noses sprawled the Kure naval base. Still at 12,000 feet, they dropped their belly tanks-jettisonable auxiliary fuel tanks-and armed their .50-calibers. The antiaircraft gunners had already spotted them. The sky over the Kure harbor was filling with bursts of fire.

Erickson swiveled his head, glancing left, right, then up-and his heart nearly stopped. Six thousand feet above them, circling like hawks, was a cl.u.s.ter of dusky shapes. Even at this range, Erickson could make out the red meatb.a.l.l.s on the wings. It was his first sight of an enemy airplane in the air.

In an excited voice, he reported the fighters to Hyland. Hyland already knew about them. He'd been watching them for the past several minutes. The j.a.panese fighters didn't seem inclined to fight. They were in a lazy tail chase, following each other in aileron rolls. Erickson wondered whether they were working up their courage or just showing off.

Keeping an eye on the fighters overhead, Hyland led the Corsairs in a wide turn over the bay, then rolled into a dive on the oil storage tanks at Kure. Half the Corsairs were carrying 500-pound bombs, and the other half were armed with 5-inch rockets.

After putting their bombs and rockets into the tanks, they all came back for a strafing attack. By now black puffs of antiaircraft fire were filling the sky, but without much accuracy. All over the Kure complex, strike aircraft were pummeling their targets. In their concrete-sheltered berths, the behemoth battles.h.i.+p Yamato Yamato and the carrier and the carrier Amagi Amagi took hits, although neither wars.h.i.+p was seriously damaged. took hits, although neither wars.h.i.+p was seriously damaged.

Hyland was pulling out over Kure harbor when he spotted a prize-a Mitsubis.h.i.+ A6M2-N "Rufe" floatplane fighter flying low over the water-and dove after him. Erickson and Hill, now on their own, were climbing back to alt.i.tude. Above them, Erickson again saw the dark shapes still circling. As he watched, two of them peeled off in a dive, coming straight down at them.

Erickson and Hill pulled into a hard vertical climb, meeting them head-on. Erickson raked the bellies of the two oncoming airplanes-Kawanis.h.i.+ N1K-J fighters, code-named "George"-with his machine guns as they swept past.

But Windy Hill was in trouble. He hadn't been able to jettison his belly fuel tank. Now the drag of the external tank was slowing him down. One of the high-performance George fighters was on Hill's tail, closing in for the kill.

Erickson and Hill went into a Thach weave-a mutual-defense technique of crossing each other's path, clearing each pilot's tail. Weaving high to the outside of the turn, Erickson swept back down on the enemy fighter behind Hill.

He opened fire, watching the tracers of his .50-calibers arcing toward the j.a.panese fighter. In the next moment, the George blew apart. The aft fuselage separated from the c.o.c.kpit and spun away. No parachute blossomed from the debris of the airplane.

Meanwhile, Windy Hill, despite his still-attached belly tank, had maneuvered behind another of the j.a.panese fighters. He fired a long burst, and smoke belched from the George fighter. Seconds later the j.a.panese pilot bailed out.

As the enemy pilot's parachute blossomed, Erickson flashed past close enough to glimpse the pilot's dark brown flight suit and the astonished look on his face. On an impulse, Erickson turned hard, trying for a shot at the dangling figure. He couldn't turn tightly enough. The lucky j.a.panese pilot made it to the ground, still alive.

On reflection, Erickson was glad he hadn't killed the man in the chute-but not for humanitarian reasons. "I heard it might not be a good thing to do, as it didn't help the treatment given to our POWs below. I had no moment to consider this, either-I was at war."

They were still on their own. Flying a hundred yards abeam each other for mutual protection, Hill and Erickson were pa.s.sing back over s.h.i.+koku when more trouble appeared.

Erickson spotted it first-the dark green form of a Nakajima Ki-44 "Tojo" fighter, slipping in behind Hill's Corsair. A telltale pattern of winking orange bursts was coming from the Tojo's wings. Bright tracers were arcing like tentacles toward Hill's tail.

Again the Corsairs went into a desperate Thach weave. The tracers were converging on Hill, who was turning as hard as he could, trying to escape the deadly fire. For a few seconds Erickson had a shot at the Tojo-and missed.

Hill was desperate. He couldn't shake the Tojo. Tracers were flas.h.i.+ng past his canopy. "Shoot the son of a b.i.t.c.h, Eric!" he yelled on the radio.