The Twilight Warriors (56 page)
Read The Twilight Warriors Online
Authors: Robert Gandt
For their generous support for this book, I thank my friend and co-author
of
Intrepid
, Bill White, president of the
Intrepid
Sea, Air & Space Museum, and executive vice president Dave Winters.
My gratitude again goes to my agent Alice Martell, of the Martell Agency, for her cheerleading and wise counsel, and to her efficient assistant, Stephanie Finman. As always, my ultimate thanks and a full measure of love to Anne Busse-Gandt, my wife and staunchest supporter.
CARRIER AIR GROUP 10
Ens. Bailey Badgley
Ens. Ernest M. Bailey Jr.
Lt. Alvin DeMaine Blackman
Ens. William Pearson Brede Jr.
Ens. Donald H. Croy
ARM3c Thomas S. Dally
ARM3c Charles E. Ford
Ens. Arthur Fulton
Ens. Robinson W. Harris
Ens. Elmer H. Hasse
Ens. Horace W. Heath
ARM3c Cecil B. Hollinhead
Lt. Oliver W. Hubbard
ARM1c Lee B. Hurst
Ens. Loren F. Isley
Ens. Charles W. Jensen
AOM2c Bernard A. Konitzer
AOM3c Charles M. Lowell Jr.
Lt. (jg) Richard W. Mason
Lt. (jg) Lawrence B. Mead
2nd Lt. Carl R. Miller, USMC
Lt. (jg) Willard J. Miller
Lt. (jg) Spence P. Mitchell
Ens. Willard E. Norgren
Lt. Mark L. Orr
Lt. (jg) Stanley Powell
Ens. Arthur H. Rogers
ARM1c Theodore Schevon
ARM3c Harry D. Weiner
Ens. William L. York
Prologue
1
The predeployment party at Alameda is drawn from Roy D. Erickson’s memoir
Tail End Charlies!
69–71, and from interviews of VBF-10 and VF-10 pilots.
2Descriptions of Rawie and Hyland are based on official biographies in the CAG-10 1945 cruise book,
The History of Bomber Fighting Squadron Ten
, and from multiple VBF-10/VF-10 interviews October 31, 2008.
The Next Island1Spruance, Nimitz, King aboard
Indianapolis:
Thomas B. Buell,
The Quiet Warrior: A Biography of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance
, 321.
2“You did a damn good job”: Buell,
Master of Sea Power: A Biography of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King
, 466.
3The Japanese would fight back with every weapon: ibid., 441.
4Vice Adm. Ohnishi and the
tokko
warriors at Mabalacat drawn from Rikihei Inoguchi and Tadashi Nakajima,
The Divine Wind: Japan’s Kamikaze Force in World War II
, 3–11.
Tail End Charlies1Erickson profile and the descriptions of flight training at Pasco, Washington, Corpus Christi, Texas, and Atlantic City, New Jersey, are from Erickson’s
Tail End Charlies!
19–40 and 49–63.
2Details of carrier qualification aboard USS
Core
are from interviews with James South, Charles Schlag, and Wesley Hays, and Erickson recollections in
Tail End Charlies!
54–61.
3Partying was as much a part of squadron life as flying: interviews with VBF-10/VF-10 pilots, and Erickson’s
Tail End Charlies!
51.
You Are Already Gods1“You are already gods without earthly desires”: Inoguchi and Nakajima,
The Divine Wind
, 19.