Lexington Stories, The Fred Gwynn Manuscript — Chapter 4

Then the carrier scooted south to fool the Japs, who would probably expect us to either head north-east to Pearl Harbor or hang around for another attack. That's about all there was to it, when you come to make an unofficial and impersonal summary.

But for each person there was naturally much more. Speaking necessarily for myself, I was (let's say) greatly "exhilarated" by the whole business. Although I hadn't been able to sleep the night before on account of fear, I found out that, once having seen the damned target and noted what poor marksmen the Jap gunners were, I got pretty cocky, and started preparing my version of the Battle of Tarawa while still flying around the island. It's a silly way to act, but it seems to be inevitable - with the "sine qua non" premise that our fighters have already gained control of the air! I don't know how the fighters feel.

It is unlikely that one ever forgets his baptism of fire. I suppose that there is some literary heritage that makes you expect to find enemy hordes drawn up in lines brandishing spears, bows-and-arrows, catapults, broad swords, blunder-busses, cannon, rockets, and 16-inch guns in your face. It is a great surprise (though not an unpleasant one) to make an air attack and not see your opponents at all. You vaguely see AA tracer and puffs, sometimes a few feet away and sometimes a few miles away, but as long as it doesn't hit you, it doesn't seem to bother you much. But there is still a subconscious fear of the unknown: you still keep expecting a thousand Zeroes to come diving out of a cloud, all gunning for you alone, or a formidable and grinning Jap ogre to appear in your cockpit poising a samurai sword across your neck. The major motive on one's first few attacks manifests itself in the constant feeling: let's get the hell out of here so I can tell somebody about it.


	A Related Lexington Story Fred Gwynn's "Torpedo 16" Chapter 4 Page 2 of 4


On September 18, 1943, at 0345, Torpedo 16 started off on its first attack, the first wave precluding us ensigns. Everything seemed to happen in a hurry. All the pilots came back from the night strike, each one vividly reporting violent AA fire. Then the second bunch went off, dropped its bombs, and came back intact, vividly reporting violent AA fire.
Mission Strike IV Schedule Tarawa 18 September 1943 USS Lexington (CV-16) flying the TBF-1 Gruman Avenger Torpedo Bomber (VT-16) Air Group Commander Ernest Snowden Torpedo Group squadron leader LtCdr Robert Isely 1-1-1 LCdr Robt Isely/Dana/Kleiner TBF-1(51) 1-1-2 Ens Bill Linn/Cote/ClementsTBF-1(58) 1-2-1 Ltjg Roc Curry/Averill/AaronTBF-1(62) 1-2-2 Ens Newby Landon/Johnson/HaddenTBF-1(68) 1-3-1 Ltjg Lee Witter/Wetherell/KellyTBF-1(65) 1-3-2 Ens Fred Gwynn/Bryan/DavidsonTBF-1(66) 2-1-1 Lt Norm Sterrie/Klingbeil/WebbTBF-1(57) 2-1-2 Ltjg Mac McLellan/Greenhalgh/RehnTBF-1(61) 2.1 hrs 2-2-1 Lt Kent Cushman/Frede/StephensTBF-1(53) 2.2 hrs 2-2-2 Ltjg Tom Bronn/Linson/GeissingerTBF-1(60) 2.5 hrs 2-3-1 Lt John Bowen/Marceau/ThomsenTBF-1(55) 2-3-2 Ltjg Benny Williams/Quinn/LeuTBF-1(54) 2-3-3 Ens Wally Larson/Haithcox/CunninghamTBF-1(69)
Then the carrier scooted south to fool the Japs, who would probably expect us to either head north-east to Pearl Harbor or hang around for another attack. That's about all there was to it, when you come to make an unofficial and impersonal summary. But for each person there was naturally much more. Speaking necessarily for myself, I was (let's say) greatly "exhilarated" by the whole business. Although I hadn't been able to sleep the night before on account of fear, I found out that, once having seen the damned target and noted what poor marksmen the Jap gunners were, I got pretty cocky, and started preparing my version of the Battle of Tarawa while still flying around the island. It's a silly way to act, but it seems to be inevitable - with the "sine qua non" premise that our fighters have already gained control of the air! I don't know how the fighters feel. It is unlikely that one ever forgets his baptism of fire. I suppose that there is some literary heritage that makes you expect to find enemy hordes drawn up in lines brandishing spears, bows-and-arrows, catapults, broad swords, blunder-busses, cannon, rockets, and 16-inch guns in your face. It is a great surprise (though not an unpleasant one) to make an air attack and not see your opponents at all. You vaguely see AA tracer and puffs, sometimes a few feet away and sometimes a few miles away, but as long as it doesn't hit you, it doesn't seem to bother you much. But there is still a subconscious fear of the unknown: you still keep expecting a thousand Zeroes to come diving out of a cloud, all gunning for you alone, or a formidable and grinning Jap ogre to appear in your cockpit poising a samurai sword across your neck. The major motive on one's first few attacks manifests itself in the constant feeling: let's get the hell out of here so I can tell somebody about it.
		My own attack was almost ludicrous. After watching Cdr. Isely lead Bill Linn, Wally Larson, and Benny Williams on a perfect dive and glide over the runway, Roc Curry led Newby Landon, Lee Witter and myself, down in a beautiful dive, but I picked up so much speed I had trouble controlling the plane. We all had four delayed-action bombs designated for that same runway, but I went over the target so fast that I only had time to drop one bomb.

Newby Landon (in T-shirt) was killed later over Guam. Paul Dana (on right) was killed over Saipan.
Then I saw a little boat in the lagoon and thought I'd better strafe it, but I never got the plane pointed right and the only result was that I shot a hole in my cowl-flap (opened to cut down the speed of the glide), which threw out the synchronization and put a hole in the propeller. I did see a miniscule figure jumping around in the boat, but that's all. End of Page 2 of Chapter 4 — Go to Page 3 Page — 1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — This Chapter you may go to Introduction — Table of Contents Chapter — 1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — Epilogue — or Go to the Lexington Stories Cover Page Or Home - Contact Us - Cold War Hist. - 91st SRS Hist. - Stardust 40 Mission Story RB-29 Crew Hist. - Hiking Rural Japan - Extended Stories - Short Stories Biographical Notes - Current Commentary - Art Gallery - Fun Stuff Education Programs - Cold War Museum Web Site