Espirito
Santos
Gunslingers
"...I remember bore sighting aircraft with no proper tools
available. We'd lift the tail by manpower onto a jack, setting
guns (all six at 300 yards). When I went home on leave in October,
I discovered Goodyear was still bore sighting them at 250, 300,
and 350 yards." -Mel Hynde
Outdoor Recreation
"...Movies in the rain (officers and men alike)." -Mel
Hynde
Technique
"...An F4U freezing up at 20,000 feet and pilot bailing out.
The pilot broke his leg on the horizontal or vertical stabilizer.
Major Fontana gave him hell for improper bailout." -Mel Hynde
Two Down and Locked
"...After three weeks with no mishaps in the F4Us, Lieutenant
Percy made an unintentional wheels-up landing. Exiting the aircraft
in disgust he threw his helmet to the ground and muttered 'I forgot!'
Major Fontana put him in hack for a week." -Mel Hynde
Fire
"...While performing maintenance on an F4U, a fire erupted
with Frank Poole in the cockpit. We all thought Frank had 'bought
it' when, in fact, he dove out the other side and was watching
it burn also from 100 feet away." -Mel Hynde
Tedium
"...I was always looking for a hop to relieve the tedium.
Lieutenant Johnson was very accommodating to all the enlisted
men. I'll never forget that smile of his. One day he had just
checked out in the float plane and I finagled a ride with him.
We loaded up with cans of peanuts and candy to drop to a native
girls school on the nearby island of Malakoolar. Lieutenant Johnson
flew low over the students in the fields they were cultivating
while I dropped the goodies. Some Australian sisters had rounded
up these young girls to save them from the older chiefs who would
marry them at 2 or 3 years old in order to save them for themselves.
These people had bones through their noses and we heard they ate
"long pig" cannibals! Lieutenant Johnson was quite a
guy. It was typical of him to think of helping those sisters."
-Bernie Coleman
Fuel Dump Fire
"...Noting a fire in the fuel dump I ran for help to the
ready tent. Major Brackett gave me hell for being abrupt with
him. Years later, when he came through Kinston on an inspection
tour, I denied that he knew me!" -Mel Hynde
Floating Instruments
"Although MGen Fontana still blamed Deacon Collins for this
at the '94 reunion in Pensacola, let me now set the record straight.
When I arrive at Guadalcanal I had no military occupational specialty
assigned so I was assigned to the 'bull gang.' (The bull gang
were basically common laborers.) One of our maintenance officers
(who shall remain nameless) ordered us to dig a 12-foot by 24-foot
by 4-foot deep hole in the ground. (The scale could be off a little
after all these years!) The purpose of the hole was to store the
spare aircraft instruments safely from bomb damage and whatever
else harm might befall them. After we dug the hole, we put the
instruments in place and then erected the tent over the top of
the pit, with the side flaps tied down. I asked the lieutenant
if we should put the flaps on the OUTSIDE pile of the dirt bordering
the hole so that if it rained the water would not run into the
pit. The lieutenant told me to mind my own business. Well, during
the night (you guessed it) it rained. Boy did it rain! The next
day, when I arrived at the tent, the boxes holding all the instruments
were floating in a pool of water approximately 12' x 24' x 4'.
Well, I started to laugh but unfortunately the lieutenant was
standing there. I was told to get the smile off my face. But I
just couldn’t. He said he was going to put me on mess duty. I
responded that I would eat better than him.
"The lieutenant was a Marine who had come up through the
enlisted ranks. He didn't seem to like any of us, which was unfortunate.
He had almost 30 years in the Corps, so I think he resented the
fact that many of us (not me however) were getting promoted so
rapidly. We had two other officers that we worked for. One was
Marine Gunner (Warrant Officer) Philip R. Hembree, who was the
Personnel and Mess Officer, as well as and squadron Adjutant.
The other was Marine Gunner Donald W. Houston, our Material Officer.
He was a good man, and smart! He later took me under his wing
and then put me in the tool crib in order to help me learn about
the tools. After that, he put me with Eddie F. Reynolds in engineering.
There were no tools put down in that squadron without being cleaned.
And I took care of that. Eddie recommended me for a rate. The
lieutenant turned it down. Gunner Houston asked him why he disliked
me. The lieutenant said it was because of the blunder with the
'floating instruments,' and that I'd be the last man to receive
any rate. Within three months, however, I would receive three
rates.
"Our men where falling like flies due to malaria. Replacements,
senior to me, kept coming in. One day I was told to take some
of them out to the flight line to get the F4U's ready for Guadalcanal.
The replacements asked me what I wanted done. I told them I was
a private and didn't tell corporals and sergeants what to do.
The lieutenant came out awhile later to the flight and asked me
if the planes were ready. I told him these corporals and sergeants
hadn't told me, a private, what to do. The lieutenant called my
ploy and pulled ALL the men off the line except me. He then told
me to get to work. 'Yes sir,' I replied. I was out on the flight
line till dark. But I got the aircraft ready. After that is when
I received those promotions."
-Norm Ebel
|
On The 'Canal'...
Welcome
"...Mac Corwin, a fellow ordnance man and Quantico school
mate, was a rough and ready type with whom I got thrown out of
the Lotus Club in Washington, D.C.. Mac met us at Henderson Field
in a 1937 Japanese Chevy 'look-a-like' flat bed pick-up truck.
He greeted us with "Well buddy, you really learn how to pray
here." We spent the rest of the morning digging foxholes
at the top of a ridge where a sick bay was located. We were scared
silly from Pistol Pete's shelling, while the pilots sat in the
ready tent calmly playing 'Acey-deucey.' -Mel Hynde
Fontana's Pre-game Pep Talk
"When the rest of VMF-112 joined us (the advance party) at
Guadalcanal, the C.O., Major Fontana, called us all together for
a talk. All I remember are his last words: 'This is where we separate
the men from the boys!'" -Peter Gregory
Post Maintenance Testing
"...Whenever I needed a good post maintenance test flight
performed, I would always try to get Ken Kirk. He always asked
me why I wanted him. I told him I trusted him and knew I'd get
the best test performed that I could. And that way, I was sure
it was good enough to perform for any pilot assigned to fly a
mission." -Norm Ebel
Clipboard Diplomacy
"...When Fighter #1 got to be in such horrible condition,
we moved our scramble crews to Henderson Field. We were told that
an Army ship was unloading food. Captain Fraser suggested taking
a clip board and a jeep down to the landing area. Awhile later
he and his driver returned with chocolate, gallon cans of peaches,
etc. Captain Fraser, who stuttered slightly, said 'ma..ma..maybe
we'd ba..ba..better bur..bur..burn the evidence.' So we built
a fire and burned crates. (Who would question a Marine captain
with a clipboard?)" -Mel Hynde
Ground Loop Right
"...On fighter #2, I recall wishing every plane landing in
trouble would ground loop to the right because we needed a left
wing. When we got one, a whole crew of men would hold it in place
until it could be bolted on." -Mel Hynde
Confiscation
"...I remember one pilot landing an F4F all shot up. Leaving
the plane to be bandaged up, he returned to the aircraft quickly
to get his sunglasses from the bottom of the cockpit before they
were 'confiscated.'" -Mel Hynde
Man's Man
"...I recall Technical Sergeant Conti's propeller monument
plaque reading 'A Man's Man,' We not only lost a comrade, we lost
the squadron's barber." -Mel Hynde
Silas
"...I remember Silas Bates, an Apache Indian, right off the
reservation, was on the 'canal only a few days. He was shipped
back to Espiritos Santos because he looked too Japanese!"
-Mel Hynde
Sharing
"...Officers buy their clothing and hence own them outright.
However, enlisted personnel are issued their clothes. In essence,
the clothes are still property of the government. One of our Technical
Sergeant (Tom Hurst) who was a Naval Aviation Pilot, ditched after
a mid-air collision with a Japanese Zero. He was rescued and,
after two days, returned to the squadron, barefoot and wearing
only a Navy shirt and trousers. After a rousing welcome, his tent
mates sheepishly confessed that they were wearing his extra articles
of clothing. Looking at his tent mates Technical Sergeant Hurst
grinned and said 'You bastards, you could have waited at least
a week!' (We hit Guadalcanal with only one change of clothing.
The rest of our gear was supposed to be sent up from Espiritos
Santos later. It never happened. I left the 'canal with only my
original shoes. The rest of my clothes I 'acquired' from Army
clotheslines!)" -Mel Hynde |
