W-1923-VLDP.DOC

	1923 Landau-Paddock
born	1923-01-23 Vincent Landau, Kanona Ks	1922-01-22 Doreen Paddock, Oberlin Ks
married	1943-__-__ Oberlin Ks
died	1945-08-09 WWII off Japan
father	1888 Wayne Landau	Jay Paddock
mother	1889 Corna Kirkendall	Fay Dean
child	none

Vincent Landau, Class of 41' Doreen Paddock, Class of 41'

Marries High School Sweetheart:

Vince and Doreen Paddock were in the same class in high school. Doreen's father was a partner in business with Vincent's uncle Forrest Redman. Mrs Suzy Redman was his father's sister.

Doreen had followed Vincent's career as football and basket ball player. It was no surprise to her or any of the other classmates that Vincent would have a desire to fly and excel at it.

Doreen accompanied Vince during the remainder of his training.

Vincent was born in Kanona Ks, probably at the farm that had been his Granddad William Landau's or at the place where he grew up across the road from the COOP Elevator his father Wayne operated after his Granddad moved to Oberlin.

Wayne Landau with team at Kanona Ks homestead

Vincent and Lemoin were well acquainted with horses and scooping wheat. They knew the teams shown with Wayne.

Vivian, Vincent, Lemoin, Lucille – Wayne and Corna in front

Above family photo was taken just before Vincent & Lemoin went into service. Seated are Wayne and Corna, standing is Vivian, Vincent, Lemoin & Lucille. Lemoin & Lucille, the oldest, were in the same class in high school. Vivian arrived ten years later & Vincent two years after Vivian.

Accepted. but on hold, for Pilot Training:

Vince signed up for training as a Navy Pilot. It took time, after the written and physical exams he had to wait until called to report. Large numbers of persons were in the pipeline and Vince impatiently waited and waited.

In the meantime brother Lemoin was in Army Air Corp as an instructor of aerial gunnery, he was flying...

Finally Vince was called up and went into training. The following press release was received at the start of his flight training:

Vincent L Landau, son of Mr & Mrs Wayne O. Landau, of Kanona, was recently appointed a Naval Aviation Cadet and was transferred to the Naval Air Training Center, Pensacola, Florida, for intermediate flight training. Upon completion of the intensive course at the "Annapolis of the Air" Cadet Landau will receive his Navy "Wings of Gold" with the designation of Naval Aviator, and will be commissioned an Ensign in the Naval Reserve or a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve.

News release photo of Ensign Landau Vince & Dwayne Rushton, Kanona pal’s HS classmates

The photo of Ensign Landau was received from the U.S. Naval Training Center, Pensacola Fla, and was taken during the week following his completion of the prescribed flight training course at the "Annapolis of the Air", when he won his navy "Wings of Gold" and was commissioned an Ensign.

The release noted that Vincent is a son of Mr and Mrs W. O. Landau of Kanona.

The Kanona Kids Make Good!

Vince and Dwayne Rushton both grew up in Kanona and were in the same classes through grade and high school. The photo was probably taken in 1944 when both were home after completion of pilots training. Dwayne was graduated as a Marine pilot and Vince as Navy pilot. It was most surely a proud and happy time for both of them. Dwayne survived the war and finished a career as a commercial airline pilot, last known address: 26 Longview Rd, Sparta, N. J. 07871.

Doreen & Vince

Flying Corsairs:

The Corsair was one of the most famous of the Navy fighters being one of the last to be retired after WWII. It was equipped with an R2800 engine, the same as used on the P-47 & B-26. The Corsair was readily recognized by it's Gull Wing, a solution which permitted the use of a large diameter propeller. Originally it was used only by Marines from land based fields. The British qualified it for Carrier Operations and the US Navy followed. It was pressed into carrier use for the Marina's Turkey shoot and later to fend off Kamikaze's attacking carriers off Okinowa.

The plane was originally equipped with a large diameter 3 blade prop, and later with a four blade prop. The versions used in the Korean War had four blade props but it's not known about the version shown here. Four blade props with cuffs provided better engine cooling and thrust; they were probably chosen when modified for carrier use.

at right Dorren (Paddoc) Landau & Vince Landau with Navy friends

Vince seated on his Corsair

Vince by Curtis Hell Diver, a dive bomber

Note: These photos were loaned to me by Lemoin Landau and scanned on an early model HP scanner. I no longer have the originals, and thought even the scanned image had been lost. I found these on a “retired” back up tape, got the tape drive and software to work and got the files on a hard drive. The originals had been in a primitive .TIF format which would not show up on a monitor. I called up the files in ms photopaint2000 and was able to resized, to remove “beat” patterns, then freeze them in place with .mix and .jpg format. Once inserted in this document I was able to resize them to fit. This was done for our Class of 41 reunion.

Curtis Hell Diver:

This is probably the kind of plane Vince was flying the last of the war. Once Japanese fighters had been reduced after the Mariana's Turkey Shoot, there was a shift to the use of this new Dive Bomber in going after ships and ground targets. This plane used the R2600 engine, same as used on the B-25, and was equipped with Cuffs on it's four blade prop.

News Letter

Vincent Landau was killed on August 9, 1945 just five days before the cessation of hostilities, was a pilot with the U. S. Navy, serving with Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet, near the Japanese homeland. His plane was shot down during a softening-up raid on the Islands. Vince left the States in March and spent two months in further training at Pearl Harbor before he joined the fleet.

News Letter

Mrs Vince Landau, (Doreen Paddock) has received a letter for Lt. R. P. Ross who served as Vince's skipper for seven months preceding his death on August 9. It reads in part: "Vince, in company with others from the squadron was assigned the mission of neutralizing airfields north of Tokyo. On the way to the airfield they noted a cove with a destroyer and a destroyer escort anchored there. They accomplished their mission on the airfields and came back to attack the enemy vessels. On the first attack Vince was hit by anti-aircraft fire from the Japanese ships and dived into the water.

It is my personal opinion that he was hit in the cockpit and killed instantly. The point of the crash was closely searched from low altitude. It was obvious to all witnesses that Vince could not and did not survive the crash.

Lemoin said Vince had remarked to him when they last visited that he didn't expect to survive the war, it was not an uncommon thought.

Vince was two weeks younger than I, Darrell Landau, and were almost like brothers being in the same class, staying all night with each other. My father gave me the middle name of Wayne after Vince's father. Vince applied for Pilot's training after trip we shared with classmates Bob Jorn, Vergil McKenzie and Joe Ridgeway and Paul Nitsch Jr driving used trucks from KC MO to Oberlin Ks for John Nitsch. I never saw Vince again, though we exchanged letters. That last trip was typical of our relations, we'd always contested, that time racing our trucks way ahead of the others at full speed late at night. I knew he'd be a good & effective pilot, he could & would always push challenges to the margin. I was to learn that about a weeks before Vincent was killed, Bob Nelson my room mate in college was beheaded in Japan after surviving a B-29 crash.

These are the ones we pay tribute to on Memorial Day.

Vince, Lemoin & Wayne Landau Wayne, Corna & Vince Landau

The family took the news hard. Vince was always a happy member of any group. All the Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Classmates and Friends felt a very personal loss. Photo's such as these were most certainly reviewed, then put away till the hurt could be tolerated.

Doreen remarried and has two children her last address was Mrs Dr Frank Ashley 101 W. Van Buren, Elmhurst, Ill.

The High School Alumni book indicates Vince died at Onagawa Wan, Honshu, Japan. Recommended awards were DFC, AM, & PH.

The above photo's were provided by Lemoin, who named his first son Vince Landau.

The following is the last letter received by Mr & Mrs Rell Landau from Vincent:

UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET

AIR FORCE

BOMBING FIGHTING SQUADRON ONE

Dear Landau's: July 1 1945

Received your letter a few days ago, the one you sent May 17. Mail is very slow and especially when you sent it other than by air mail. Received the birthday card some time ago and I'm pleased to say that all the clan remembered the day I began to see the light. I can't hardly write ever one of them to thank them, that is just an impossible. I have decided the best way to write letters is by V-mail, because in those you can just write so much and that is that. There is very little out here you can talk about and by the time you can tell it the newspaper or radio has already scooped you on it.

It surely seems impossible that Phyllis could be graduating from high school. Time has fare-the-well flew by. I suppose now she'll go off to college and sooner or later become Mrs.-somebody--. How about that Phyllis? Then will come Marg. Tell Darrell he'll have to get to work and keep this Landau clan going. Looks as tho we've got a job ahead of us getting the quota back up. All the gals getting married and that leaves us guys the only ones to fill the vacancy.

Have being spending most of my time seeing what makes up 88% for the world. It all looks about the same. We have our own little radio program over the Public Address, some news, some music and son on. We are unable to have movies when at sea. Movies get every one in one spot which is very dangerous. Our living conditions aboard our carriers are very good, much better than any of the islands.

Must close for now, tell everyone hello and I'll try to make it for Christmas. Tell Darrell to drop me a line.

As Ever

Vince

(Vincent died 38 days later)

V-Mail (air mail) envelope of the type used including censors stamp

The following sequence of events has been prepared for the Oberlin Museum.

The time scale shows the events during Vince's time in the Pacific.

July 44 Navy has biggest day; 369 Japanese planes shot down by Hellcats

Feb 45 McArthur had become re-established in the Philippines

B-29's had being set up on Siapan, Tinian & Guam.

Mar 45 Vince left the states and started final training in Hawaii.

B-29's fire bomb Tokyo destroying 25% of the city.

The Marines took Iwo Jima

April 45 Roosevelt died

Okinowa Invasion begins

May 45 Vince joins 3rd Fleet, destination probably off Okinowa

Waves of 900 B-29's each hit Japan

Army & Marines heavily engaged on Okinowa

Kamakasi's hitting Navy off Okinowa.

June 45 Kamikaze raids peak, Navy announces loss of 19 ships to Kamikaze's, full story is not revealed to public.

July 45 Okinowa Falls July 2, Vince's letter was written July 1, he could not yet tell of the beatings being exchanged in battles with Kamikaze's.

The Navy and AF cooperate in maintaining a 24 hr per day offensive in support of each other.

I was on Guam as part of a B-29 Group during June, at the time the Navy was being heavily attack off Okinowa. B-29's were diverted to bomb Kamikaze bases on Kyushu & in general try to relieve the pressure being applied against naval forces. At the time it was said the Navy is really catching hell from the suicide attacks. The navy admitted loosing 19 ships, including lost carriers. History was to reveal that we suffered the lost of about 7 aircraft carriers in those operations, perhaps as much as 1/3 the total there. Off Okinowa there were 1900 kamikaze attacks which sunk 26 ships and damaged 176 others.

Aug 5 The first atomic bomb was dropped on Heroshima. Bob Nelson was beheaded.

Aug 9 The second atomic bomb was dropped. Vincent Landau was shot down off Honshu coast.

Aug 10 Japan offers to surrender with request to keep Emperor

Aug 14 Terms resolved the war ends

In his letter Vince alluded to there having been significant events he couldn't write of because of censorship. When telling they could not congregate for movies it was for good reason. They were on constant alert, video records show the suddenness and intensity of battle they were enduring.

When writing the letter Vince was enjoying one of the first periods of relief for some time, almost like in the story All Quiet on the Western Front; he felt he could relax, think of home and future events. All knew it was ending. Vince would have known about the first Atomic Bomb, was probably close enough to have seen the flash as it could be seen from 39x miles away. The Japanese were still fighting tenaciously when Vince was hit, such softening up was still rationalized as being necessary. The second atomic bomb was dropped the same day Vince was shot down. It became obvious too late that Vince need not have been ordered to attack the ship that shot him down, they agreed to surrender the next day.