The weather was good as we left Guam and headed for the Naval Air Station at Iwakuni, Japan. There was nothing to look at but a lot of the western Pacific,  and we were anticipating a long and boring day. We were just a few hours out when one of the pilots announced over the intercom that we were approaching Iwo Jima.  I had no idea our officers had plotted a course that would take us to this infamous battlefield. Iwo Jima is 814 miles from Guam and it’s another 750 miles to Japan. The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the fiercest battles of WWII. Over 1,100 U.S. Marines died there and more than 4,000 were wounded. One of the most famous photos of WWII is of the Marines raising the flag atop Mt. Suribachi. Mt. Suribachi is an extinct volcano that rises 554 feet above sea level and dominates the island. It’s a big, black, ugly rock. The Battle of Iwo Jimo was fought from February 19 to March 26, 1945. I was only eight years old, but I remember the news reports. We got war stories from the radio, the newspapers, and the newsreels at the theater. If you are a younger reader, here is a bridge to get you back in the time period. Future actor, Lee Marvin, a 20-year-old marine, was wounded at Iwo Jima. Another young marine in the same Company was Bob Keasham. He was later known as Captain Kangaroo.

The flight was smooth, and we made good time. After we landed at Iwakuni, we attached our wheels and were pulled up the ramp. We were more than a month late, so it was no wonder that the whole squadron was there to greet us. As we lined up at the hatch to disembark, cans of beer were handed to us. When it was my turn, I started down the ladder. Suddenly, a bunch of hands grabbed me and jerked me off the ladder. Then, I was carried to the sea wall and thrown in the water. As I was being dragged onto the ramp, I noticed that none of my fellow crew members had been dunked.  I wanted to know what was going on. It turned out the results of the ratings exams had been posted, and I had made Third Class. I was an Aviation Electronics Technician Third Class, AT3. Hooray! More money!

NAS  Iwakuni was an okay base. There was a good library and a good gym, and that’s where I spent most of my off-duty time. Trying to save money, I allowed myself one ten-cent glass of beer each week at the Enlisted Men’s Club. I was smoking Pall Mall cigarettes as they were longer and could be cut in two, thus providing two smokes for the price of one.

This was the time of the Cold War, and our squadron’s job was to fly patrols in the South China Sea and monitor shipping. Our route took us past the southern tip of Korea and past the coast of China. We took pictures of all ships and identified them by name and/or number. We also recorded all vital info such as deck cargo and people in view.

 One day, we had reached the northern-most point of our trek, and had done a 180 and were headed back south. After some period of time, one of the pilots came over the intercom saying, “We’ve got company!” I looked out my window and there was a Russian MIG with a Chinese pilot. He was having trouble slowing down enough to match our speed and had his flaps down and dive brakes down. He was flying just off our port wing and smiling as he stared at us. He could have potted us, and no one would have ever known the difference.

Another time,  we had to do a four-hour training hop so that one of the newer pilots could get in some time at the controls. The pilot elected to check out the city of Hiroshima. Some of the city had been rebuilt, but it still looked terrible. The results of the atom bomb were evident. The place had been burned to a crisp.

One  morning, the squadron notified us that a typhoon was heading for Iwakuni. All planes were directed to get airborne and head for Sangley Point in the Philippines. We got in the air, but after a couple of hours, lost an engine. That’s another story.

Dave Thomas

5/30/2024

We left Midway and headed for Guam. It was a nice day, and the ocean was blue and serene looking. It was mostly an uneventful day. I only remember that an engine gauge malfunctioned and would have to be replaced when we got to Guam.

Arriving at Guam, we were instructed to land at Apra Harbor. It was a quiet harbor with no traffic, and we were directed to a Coast Guard station that was equipped with wheels and a seaplane ramp so we could be beached. The ground crew towed the wheels to us, and we mounted them and were towed up the ramp by a big tractor-like vehicle called a Buddha. After the aircraft was secured, we were driven a few miles to NAS Agana where we checked in at the barracks.

We were told it would take several days to get a replacement gauge shipped over from the states. I think we spent a week or so on Guam while waiting. Most of our time was spent at Apra Harbor. There was some snorkel gear at the facility that we made good use of. The water was clear and not too deep, and the bottom was beautiful. It looked live every square inch was covered by some type of plant or sea life. It was like looking at one of those beautiful tropical aquariums. Tropical fish were everywhere. One of the guys even speared an Octopus. He took it into town and traded it for a case of beer.

One day I went to the PX to get some items. As I moved with the crowd toward the entrance door, I almost bumped into an officer, an ensign, who was coming out. I did a doubletake when I realized that it was Dick Stephenson, a classmate from my hometown, Augusta, Kansas. We talked for a few minutes, and each of us was quite surprised at seeing the other.

I just remembered a story that makes me chuckle. The day after we arrived at Agana, we wanted to go back to Apra Harbor and do some housekeeping chores. The whole crew went to the main gate to the office of the Officer of the Day (O.O.D.). Lt. Surovik told the O.O.D. that we needed a vehicle assigned to us so we could work on our airplane at Apra Harbor. The O.O.D. (also a Lt) said we could call for a ride when needed. Lt. Surovik said we didn’t want to wait half an hour every time we wanted to go somewhere. The O.O.D. said he was sorry, but that’s the way it was. Lt. Surovik insisted. The O.O.D. said no. Both raised their voices and started getting red in the face. If I remember correctly, Lt. Surovik was 6 feet 5 inches and could appear to be a very menacing guy. Surovik said something like, “I’m a senior officer, and I need a car.” The O.O.D. said, “We’ll see who is a senior. What’s your service number?” They both grabbed for their wallets and pulled out their I.D. cards. Lt. Surovik had the lowest service number, so, therefore, was the senior officer. The O.O.D. reluctantly agreed to assign a vehicle. No one in the crew had ever been assigned a Navy driver’s license. They figured I was the least likely to get drunk and drive, so I was issued a license on the spot. The yeoman that typed the license must have been a little upset over the yelling as he typed my height as 6 feet 11 inches.  I kept the license for years just because of that.

We had a pleasant stay on Guam. I don’t remember for sure, but we must have been there a week or ten days before heading for NAS Iwakuni, Japan.

Dave Thomas

5/23/2024

Pat was on her way to the grocery store. When she backed out of the garage, there were two crows circling the driveway. One was the bird with the mangled foot, and she figured the other one was the Talker. They flew ahead of her for a block and a half. They flew ahead of her for a block and a half. When she stopped at a stop sign, they flew a big circle, did a flyby on the car, squawking at her all the while, and then flew away. They had  just been providing a friendly  escort.

Pat went out to check the crow’s water and discovered that one of the crows had left her a gift. It was a cleanly cut 10” branch. It looked like one of the neighbors had been pruning, and a crow had selected the nice cut-off for Pat.

One time, Pat went to Costco. When she got out of the car a crow was circling overhead and talking to her. There were other people in the parking lot, but no crows were talking to them.  Was this one of Pat’s crows that followed her from home? Or, have Pat’s crows been telling the rest of the crow world that she is a nice lady, and they should have a word with her?

Meanwhile, the crow with the mangled foot shows up and flies past the window several times. Pat sees the crow but is busy and doesn’t go out.  The crow gets up on the stoop and peeks   in the side window of the front door. After a bit, Pat goes out and scatters some bread and English Walnuts. As she watches, each crow picks up an English walnut and dunks it in the water bowl. I don’t know if this has to do with cleanliness or it makes them easier to swallow.

To eat an English walnut, a crow holds it down with it’s foot and then pecks at it. There are always some small crumbs the crows can’t get. Not to worry, as a clean up crew is on the job. There are two sparrows that come in and clean up the nut crumbs and breadcrumbs. The sparrows get there right after the crows arrive. I don’t know what alerts them. Do the understand crow talk, or do they just watch for the crows? The crows and the sparrows get along, so everything is fine.

Dave Thomas

5/23/2024              

VP48 1959 Deployment- Kwajalein to Midway (Part 2 of 6)

I should have introduced the crew already so I can refer to them by name:

Lt. George Surovik- Pilot- Plane Commander

LTJG Al Bell- Copilot

LTJG Jay Dow- Navigator

Don Crocker AD2- Plane Captain

Ed Doering, AM2-

Jim Dollar, AT2

Ken Largent AD3

Marlyn Nelson AE3

John Reid-Green, AN AT Striker

Lucious Smith, AO3

Dave Thomas A18, AT Striker

After we finally got airborne and left Kwajalein, it looked like an easy ride to Midway Island. We were flying at 10,000 feet, which is about the limit for being comfortable without an oxygen mask. The ocean was blue and pretty for as far as you could see. All we flight crew members had to do was drink coffee and try to keep from being bored. After a few hours, we reached the point of no return. That’s the place where you no longer have enough gas to turn around and get back to where you started. Not long after this, one of our engines died. If I remember correctly, it was the starboard engine. The pilots, Surovik and Bell, feathered the prop and started trimming up for single engine flight. Lt. Surovik was also calling ahead to Midway with a Mayday call. As the radar operator, I was ordered to fire it up and see if there were any nearby ships. I could see ahead for about 120 miles, and there wasn’t a blip in sight. Midway Control told Lt. Surovik they were dispatching a Coast Guard seaplane to escort us in. LTJG Dow was computing the fuel situation at the new rate of burn and also doing some figuring to determine when and where we might be intercepted by the escort.

In a few minutes, an order was given to the crew to jettison the non-essential gear that was stowed aft. We were told that if more weight reduction was required, or personal gear was next.

For the next few hours, we just hummed along and wondered where the escort was and if he would be paddling a lifeboat before we saw it. Fortunately, it was just a slow and boring ride until the escort plane arrived and escorted us in to Midway.

Midway was equipped to beach seaplanes. They had the wheels with floats and a seaplane ramp to pull us up. After landing and being brought ashore, we checked in at the barracks. I remember that the lockers had light bulbs in the bottom to keep your clothing dry and to fight the humidity.

We would be on Midway about a month while we waited for a new engine to be shipped from the states. We removed the bad engine from the plane and got it ready for the replacement. After that, we spent most of our time sitting in the shade under the wing of our plane and watching the gooney birds. There were thousands of them and every square foot of beach was taken. These albatrosses had a six or seven foot wingspan and looked beautiful in the air. But, when they came down, it was always a crash landing, and they often collided with each other on the ground.

If you want to hear more about the gooney birds, there is a story in this blog entitled “The Gooney Birds of Midway Island.”

Dave Thomas

5/16/2024

I saw a news piece on TV about a locally based Navy ship being deployed to the Western Pacific. It made me think of my own deployment in 1959. My first thought was that it was 65 years ago. That’s a long time ago. I would be away from home for six months, and I felt pretty guilty about it. I would be leaving my wife, Pat, by herself to care for our 6-month-old twin boys. It was tough enough for both of us to keep up with the feedings, changing diapers, washing diapers, and all the other stuff. I was still a lowly Airman (E-8), so money was tight, too.

Personal issues aside, I have to admit that I was looking forward to seeing places that we heard about daily as we grew up during WWII. I’m referring to Pearl Harbor, Kwajalein, Midway, Guam, and Japan. It turned out that I also laid eyes on Iwo Jima, Hiroshima, Okinawa, South Korea, and China. I’ll try to tell you of what little I know about each.

After boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois, and Aviation Prep School at Norman, Oklahoma, I attended Aviation Electronics “A” School of Millington, Tennessee, just outside of Memphis. I was one of the top 5 in my class, so I was allowed to pick my next duty station. Pat and I both wanted to live in California, so I picked San Diego (and we have been here since).

I was attached to Patrol Squadron Forty-Eight, VP 48, at Naval Air Station, North Island in Coronado, California. It’s located just across the bay from San Diego. VP48 was a sea plane squadron, flying the P5M-1 Martin Mariner. It was a twin-engine aircraft normally carrying a crew of eleven. The P5M didn’t have landing gear. Large wheels with floats attached were in place so the planes could be towed on land. These wheels were detached after entering the water and re-attached to come ashore.

We left San Diego one day in April, 1959, and flew to San Francisco. I think it was the next day that we flew on to Hawaii. Coming into Oahu, we got to see Pearl Harbor Battleship Row and the final resting place of the Arizona. The memorial for the Arizona hadn’t been built yet, but there was a temporary structure in place. We bunked at a barracks on the Pearl Harbor base and ate at their chow hall while there.

From Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, we headed for Kwajalein Atoll. The atoll is a 6.9 square mile speck in a very large Pacific Ocean. As I recall, there is a coral reef several hundred yards out that partially encircles the atoll. After several hours of flying time, we landed and went ashore for the night. After breakfast the next morning, we went outside to be greeted by a cloudy sky and a wind. Due to our heavy gas load and the local conditions, we were scheduled for a JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) take off. The JATO bottles were no larger than an ice chest and were hung on the rear hatches of the seaplane.

Let’s digress for a moment, and I’ll tell you what I remember about JATO. It stands for Jet Assisted Take Off. Our P5M sea planes had hatches (personnel doors) on each side at the rear of the planes. Two metal JATO containers (we called them bottles) were hung on each side at the rear of the plane. (You can look up “JATO bottles” on the internet to see pictures and the specs for them.) The JATO bottles were fired (ignited) two at a time. A bottle on the port side and a bottle on the starboard side were fired at the same time. Two firings would get you airborne. To make the take off run, the pilot would advance the engine RPM’s to the proper setting to get the plane under way. When the plane got to the proper speed, the first pair of the JATO bottles were fired. If the sea and the wind were right, the plane would lift and be running “on the step” or planning at the top of the waves. When the proper speed was reached, the second pair of JATO bottles would be fired and lift off would occur, and you became airborne. The JATO bottles just burned for a few seconds, and after that second pair shut off and you were airborne, a crewman jettisoned all four bottles. This was done by simply moving a leer on the inside of the hatches.

Now, back to the story. As I mentioned, it was a dark and cloudy day, and the sea looked pretty choppy. We loaded up, and the pilot started the engines and warmed them up as we taxied out into the harbor. We got into position, and the pilot pushed the throttles forward and started the take off run. We got up some speed, and he fired the first pair of JATO bottles. Nothing much happened. He couldn’t get enough lift to get on the step. We are scooting through the waves, and that coral reef is coming up quickly. The pilot tried to get up, but finally had to abort. We taxied back to the dock and replaced the JATO bottles. The pilot had a better feel for the conditions, so a second try was successful, and we got into the air.

We were headed for Midway.

Dave Thomas

5/9/2024

It’s almost May and Pat reminded me that we have a Cinco de Mayo story. This took place in the mid-1990’s. I’m a diabetic and sometime in 1993, I got a diabetic ulcer on the bottom of my right foot. My doctors fought it for a year and a half and couldn’t get it to heal. Finally, it was decided to amputate the right leg below the knee. This was done and I got a prosthesis and life got back to normal. The following spring, I wasn’t paying attention and the prosthesis rubbed against the side of my knee and caused a sore that immediately became infected. This had happened before and it meant anti-biotics, at least 2 doctor visits, and 6 weeks in the wheel chair without my leg.

So anyhow, I’m riding my wheel chair and here it is…Cinco de Mayo. Pat and I decided we should join in the festivities by having lunch at Casa de Pico, our favorite Mexican restaurant in Old Town San Diego. We got there and the place was as colorful and beautiful as always. We sat on the patio to take advantage of the warm, sunny day and to hear the music and listen to the chatter and the laughter of the other patrons. Pat ordered a blended margarita in the big glass with the salt on the rim and, being diabetic, I ordered coffee.

As we waited to be served, we talked and admired the holiday decorations. There were some miniature Mexican flags on the tables so Pat took a couple and attached them to the handlebars of my wheel chair. We enjoyed our meal and left the restaurant and then headed for the side gate to leave the area. Getting through the wrought iron gate we needed to go about 50 yards down the side street to the parking lot. Pat was pushing me in the wheel chair and I was teasing and smart-mouthing her about drinking the margarita and maybe being too tipsy to push me. She countered by pushing faster to show that she could handle the job. I was having a heck of a good time and started yelling “faster, faster”. Pat was up to the challenge and in a few seconds was up to full speed. We were flying down the street with Mexican flags flying and Pat sprinting for dear life. We were looking good until we hit the pot-hole. Wham! Pat ran into the back of the wheel chair and I was dumped into the street. Yow, this is gonna’ hurt! Maybe next time I’ll keep my mouth shut.

Dave Thomas
April17, 2016

Spring is here. The canyons are greening up. The wildflowers are blooming. The birds, bugs, and small animals have plenty of food again. The sad part of it is that the crows have found a new food source and aren’t coming around every day. Some of the crows have found  a new friend in Pat and will still be coming to visit her. She speaks in a soft and caring voice, and they listen carefully until it is their turn. Also, when Terri comes over or Pat is returning from the store, the crows spot them and follow them to our house. When they get out of the car, the crows do a fly-by and then circle them in a greeting. Sometimes, we don’t see the crows for a few days, and they don’t always eat. The two crows that still show up the most are the guy with the mangled foot and The Talker. I’ll give you an account of how a recent visit went.

This morning Pat went outside and gave the food call and scattered the food in the driveway. No crows showed up. Pat went back in the house and then decided on the laundry she had going in the garage. We keep a remote garage door clicker in the living room as it is faster to go out the front door and into the garage then it is to go to the back of the house and into the garage. The crows know the sound of our garage door opening, and always respond by flying past and looking in. The crows saw Pat and immediately peeled off and flew to the top of the liquid amber tree next door. Pat realized that this was The Talker as it always likes to do its talking from the top of the tree.  Pat walked out onto the drive, and, immediately, the crow with the mangled foot came swooping in and landed in front of Pat. It walked up to about four feet in front of her, bobbing its head in greeting. Pat starts talking. “How are you? I was so worried because I hadn’t seen you for four days. I guess you found a new source of food, and that’s fine. I miss you guys a lot and am thankful you are visiting this morning.” The crow cocks his head and listens as it walks back and forth in front of her. Meanwhile, The Talker sees that Pat is talking to the mangled foot guy and gets all excited. It starts hopping around on the branch it is standing on and talking up a blue streak. The conversation goes on for a while. Neither bird shows any interest in the food. After a few minutes, Pat goes into the house, and the birds fly away. It was just a visit to let Pat know that they were okay and to find out if she was the same.

Dave Thomas

5/2/2024