V1992RU19BG

50th Anniversary of 1st Flight of a B-29

            I finally make contact with my old outfit the 19th Bomb Group.  When in my home town for high school alumni banquet my friend Melvin Simpson asked if I was going to attend the B-29 get together at Boeing?  I said I knew nothing about it.  After follow up conversations I made contact through his outfit the 6th Bomb Group on Tinnian with the 19th BG Association and arranged to attend the affair held in Seattle WA as part of the 6th BG, then rented a car to and drove to where the 19th BG Association was located.  The first person I saw was Vern Chandler whom I recognized after 47 years.  

50th Anniversary 1st Flt of B-29                          20th Air Force Reunion

            Boeing had invited all members of the 20th AF to attend.  “Boeing Day” began at Aug 14, 1992 at Boeing Field Seattle, the site of the Boeing Museum of the Air, ending with a dinner for all.  Following this was a second gathering the next day at the Convention Center in down town Seattle where then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney was the main speaker.

            My wife Mary & I had left Tuesday, 08-11-92 from Garden Grove, Ca out of John Wayne airport in Orange county with a stopover in San Francisco enroute to Seattle. At the Seattle baggage terminal we met the first of the old Baker-29ers, Mr & Mrs Carl Taasedhal an ex-pilot from the 499th group Saipan.

            Wednesday 08-12-92 we took the “Cruise to Victoria Canada” where we met Mr & Mrs Clem Heddleson, Navigator, & Mr & Mrs Frank Powell, Tail Gunner, of the 29th group Guam also there as part of the 6th from Tinian. Mary, eagerly took in the Buchardt Gardens.

            Thursday, 08-13-92 Mary went on the Tour of the Boeing 747 Plant while I looked up those from my outfit the 19th group.

            Friday 08-14-92 Mary had to stay in bed till about 2:00 pm to rest her back, she'd lost feeling in her left leg, while I went on to the airfield.  There between Boeing Museum of the Air and the runways of the adjacent field were Confederate AF planes: FiFi the only flying B-29, a B-17, a B-24, a P-51, a Zero, & a Refueling tanker version of the B-29 used after WWII.

            Masses of people were moving about, each festooned with badges and caps which displayed their name and Bomb Group affiliation. They were accompanied by wives and in many cases children and grandchildren. Boeing had anticipated a large crowd but were overwhelmed by the numbers. They ran out of Box Lunches.

            Time and health problems had caught up with many. Boeing had provided small tents and chairs for shade and comfort but these were inadequate for the huge crowd.  Many in wheel chairs stayed, but some, tired from being in the sun and on their feet for so long, they gave up on the evening’s dinner provided by Boeing

            Nostalgia was ever present as persons visited the Museum and the outside aircraft on display. Priorities were torn between looking at aircraft & finding-visiting with prior comrades, seeking information of friends of the past, some lost during the war, some passed on since.

            My visit with FiFi focused on two features: the engines and the aft bomb bay. I wished to refresh my image of the obstructions on top of the engine between the propeller and the engine cylinders

            A few moments later I was aware my memory was flawed. Another fellow and I were at the aft left looking into the back door. He said, "the door should be further forward!" I found myself saying, "Yeah, it seems too far aft?" I peeked in and could see the V-2 put put auxiliary power supply, then the entrance to the aft pressurized compartment. The internal view looked familiar. I stepped back and smiled saying, my memory says it's wrong too but I can see I'm wrong and the airplane’s right. Others nearby chuckled as they too had been trying to fit 47 year old images with the reality before us. The view through that aft door fell into place as my thoughts placed the Radar Operator on the left side aft of the left & right scanners and CFC, Central Fire Control, in between them aft of the bomb bay bulkhead. What really clinched it was remembering the modification of anchoring the V-2 APU, Auxillary Power Unit, to structure with a steel cable to keep it from ripping loose and slamming into the Radar operator in the event of a crash landing. The Air Inspector had written us up on that one, he claiming we were negligent and us telling him we couldn't get the modification kit cables. We'd gone round and round on such items till I tossed a stack of current requisitions for parts in front of him. Objects triggered recollections of those times, I'm sure each there relived many personal experiences.

            As I looked at the entrance from the aft pressurized compartment to the bomb bay a young woman with two kids of grade school age entered the bomb bay and asked, "was this the plane that carried the Atomic Bomb?" I said, "No, but it is similar, the one used to carry the atomic bomb was specially modified, a standard B-29 could not carry the bomb." She had been told this was the plane that carried the Atomic Bomb, my answer seemed not right to her. So I explained again, "the Atomic bombs would not fit in a standard bomb bay, the center wing section had to be redesigned to connect the two bomb bays as one. They had to place the special B-29 over a pit equiped with a hoist to load the bomb, there was not enough clearance otherwise." She was impatient with my answers but her kids caught up on every word. As they left they were explaining it to her. I smiled at how fast kids catch on! Then I took a few moments to look at were I'd been 47 years ago, a very foolish kid then.

            I'd been out in the bomb bay over Japan without a parachute on, trying to lift parachute straps out of the way of the bomb bay doors so they could be closed. We'd dropped supplies to PW's right after the war ended, and for the first time I was permitted to go along. The straps opening the supply chutes were too long and kept the doors from closing. Being responsible for maintenance on the ground, I figured it was my job to fix it. Being very inexperienced and foolish I'd gone out into the bomb bay, something often done every day on the ground, and tried to lift the straps clear. Lacking about 3 inches of making it, I lowered my grip on the rib and reached further down. I was caught in the slip stream and damn near pulled out of the plane! For the first time I looked down, fear overwhelmed my feeling of being stupid. I knew I had to pull myself up the first time before my fingers-arm became too tired. Adrenaline enhanced strength lifted me back up. Later on the ground I'd tried to pull myself up from that extended position the wind had thrust upon me, I couldn't lift myself back up! I'm a full believer in special strength under special circumstance. Thus I revisited the place I was & the strut I'd grasped, where I'd said a prayer of thanks, holding on till I felt in control so I could proceed. It was a personal experience, I didn't feel like telling others; I'm sure all there had their own special moments they relived.

            I had proceeded to move about the crowd looking for name tags of the 19th Bomb Group on Guam and 73rd wing on Saipan. Every time I'd see someone who'd been on Saipan I'd ask if they had ever known a fellow named Bob Nelson. During the days there I must have asked some 60 persons and each said NO. Each time I had to explain that Bob & I had been room mates in college before the war, that he'd become a Lead Crew Navigator when he'd written me from Saipan. Later when I got to Guam and tried to find him he was reported as shot down. His wife had heard from a sailor to whom Bob had given her name and address. Bob and a Gunner had got out alive and were taken prisoner. However, Bob never returned with other prisoners. Bob had been beheaded! The only source of information was evidence from the War Crimes Trials held in the Philippines. I had intended to go to Boeing armed with all my information about Bob then found I'd left it at home. It would have helped, perhaps, if I'd remembered he was Navigator on Maj Robert Fitzgerald of Ridgewood NJ crew. However there was a large turnover of personnel, we often knew faces and were good buddies with many known only by nickname or another face in a briefing or chow line. I had not thought it would be difficult to find someone who knew him. I'm now aware there were 8800 B-29 crews for the 3965 B-29s produced, also aware one person can evaporate and not even be missed except by crew mates who may also have been killed or classmates who were moved about and perhaps never know you were missing. What happened to him could have happened to any of us.

            I wonder how many Carrier pilots would remember my cousin Vincent Landau who was shot down just off Japan after a softening up raid on a Jap airfield the same day they dropped the second Atomic Bomb. He'd surived almost a years worth of flying an F4U against Kamekazis off Okinawa. I was two weeks older, we'd been through school together, & were like brothers.

            Since my return I found a listing of those who qualified for a bronze star to be added to the Asia-Pacific Theater ribbon. There are 769 persons on the 28th Sqd list of which only 9.3% are Association members who knew about the get together at Boeing.

            I had selected one of the Box Lunches and continued my search. I ate my lunch while seated on a curb by Lawrence Mayer, a Navigator out of Saipan in the 497th BG, 870th Squadron. He'd been attentive and sympathetic to my inquiries. As we munched we looked at FiFi and he made the comment, "those engines were always leaking oil." I said "yeah", it didn't seem a proper time to tell him why. He gave me his card and offered help if he could saying, "lets keep in touch." Navigators seemed to feel a special bond with another Navigator. I noticed his card said he was a Professional Engineer. I had an engineers license for Kansas & California but let it drop, it wasn't of any use in the aerospace industry. I wondered what Bob would have become, we were taking Mechanical Engineering and I'm sure he'd have been very good at whatever he'd choose to do.

            The last day we rode the bus from the hotel to the airport with Richard L Sharp and his wife. Richard had been an AC in the 6th BG on Tinian. As part of our introductions I'd said I was with 19th BG on Guam, a Sqd Eng Officer. He asked what our biggest maintenance problem had been. With out hesitation I said "Engines". He expected me to elaborate so I told him of what I hadn't said to Mayer. I told him the statistics, of the need to change an engine after every 7 take offs, that all the damage occurred during takeoff, that many crews never knew a valve head was being peened into a ball, hammered by each stroke of the piston. I continued that the crews often only wrote in the Form 1A: #3 Running Rough, or Oil Leak on #2....they sometimes didn't know they had burned off a valve. 17 good cylinders were making up for the single bad one, they hadn't been sensitive to the lack of full power after take off. The oil leaks Mayer referred to were in all likelihood from a broken cylinder head, not just an oil leak. I never knew of any other kind of oil leak; other than a sump plug falling out during ground slow time, having been put in finger tight as the oil was to be drained and replaced a few minutes later at which time the sump plug would be safety wired in place. Nacelles often become dirty looking from many causes mostly due to the constant demand for Maximum Effort missions leaving no time to clean off the exhaust leaks and maintenance oil smears. Fixing things essential had top priority, pressing ground crews to keep the planes safe if not pretty.

            Richard found this of considerable interest and told of his method of sustained low level flight on take off, keeping just above the water till gaining sufficient speed, then setting power for a slow climb. He replayed the motions of reaching for the throttles telling of how he would sense the status of an engine by feeling for smoothness or a buzz feedback on the throttle linkage if the engine was running rough. Richard became a Dentist.

            After finishing the Box Lunch and the visit with Mayer I searched more and found a fellow who'd been with the 19th in the Philippines. I said, "then you probably knew Roberts?" He said, "Oh yes I knew Jack." I asked, "how did he come by the name Jack, the records show his name to be John?" The pleasant conversation digressed and I never received an answer of Jack vs John; it seemed to be Jack to old friends and Brig Gen John Roberts for records and correspondence. Jack is a common nickname for John.

            A few paces away and I came upon Wilbur Koltz whom I'd met the day before for the first time since Guam. I had rented a car, which was hard to obtain as they were in short supply, and had gone to Renton from our downtown hotel to see persons from the 19th Group staying at a Holiday Inn Motel. During this time Mary, my wife, went on a tour through the Boeing Plant. Most of the 19th personel had gone on a tour of Seattle but Vern Chandler was there along with Wilbur neither of whom I had seen since Guam. Vern remembered ground crew members M/Sgt Dan Sidelko & M/Sgt John Supko who had flown over with him, neither of them were there. After returning I was able to make contact with Dan Sidelko, in the letter he wrote back he said our Col Roberts had been his CO when they were operating B-24's out of England, equipped with British Radar to find and destroy German Submarines. I've also since found via Bud Fletcher that Roberts had been his CO while flying out of Australia against targets like Rabaul.

     

28th Sqd Staff 1945: Wilber Koltz, back row left; Darrell Landau, second row third right; Vern Chandler, front row second from right. Van Parker, right photo (Van was in Hawaii when staff photo was taken)

 

            This was my first contact in 47 years, a most interesting & wonderful occasion for me. I had sent a letter to Vern and others with a photo of 28th Sqd staff officers taken at the close of the war. Being a Ground Crew replacement I had not been part of the original organization, I knew all by sight but could not remember their names. Vern had brought the letter with photo incorporated, which included those shown here, and had shown the staff photo to Wilbur the day before. Wilbur still had his copy of that photo and had written the names of the persons either in his memory or on the back. When I introduced myself he smiled and said he'd just mailed me a letter with the names of the persons in the photo. Thus via Wilbur, Vern I began the process of becoming aquainted again.

            I wish I'd been there to meet the AC who had crashed near the tower returning from a engine test hop. Vern said he was there, remembering the time and those lost. The fellow I replaced, whom I never knew, was killed in that crash; I had a feeling of empathy for him.

            At this time I also met John Karr who had started as a Flight Engineer and stayed in service becoming an Engineering Officer and Navigator. We were on Guam in the 19th Group at the same time after the war ended but never knew each other.

            I had lunch & a good visit that day with Glen E Spieth who's father was one of those flying B-17's intended for Philippines, landing on Hawaii about the time of the Japanese attack. He works for Boeing and is trying to piece together the story of what happened to the B-17's in his father's flight.

            I returned from the Boeing Museum site by Laidlaw School Bus to the hotel to pick up my wife Mary who'd been resting her back from her trip to the Boeing plant. We returned by School bus back to Boeing Day, she cringed as the rough ride jolted her back but she said nothing. We'd missed out on the speeches but I was able to show her the old airplanes and she watched and took photos of FiFi's fly by.

            When walking to see the Museum of Flight Mary saw the name tag Van Parker and called to me saying, “here's Van!” Van had been a name I'd recognized in the association’s list and I'd written to him. I was delighted to receive a letter from him and a copy of his book titled Dear Folks.  I had looked forward to seeing Van, though I had no recollection of seeing him while on Guam. It was typical that flight crews and ground crews never came in contact except in the isolated pockets of hurried activity at takeoff time. We could have talked many times and have no reason to remember. From Van's book I felt the bond reach back all those years and looked forward to thank him for the letter and a copy of his book. I had mailed him a copy of the book I'd written from the vantage point of an airplane mechanic.

            Van pointed out James Kiracofe who was president of the 19th Association. He'd been very helpful, but contact had been too late for me to be with the 19th, arrangements had already been made to go with the 6th out of Tinian.

            Mary & I went to the Museum and to the book store first. I'd already purchased some things on B-29's from the Confederate AF and for some strange reason purchased the book to Fly & Fight by Bud Anderson a P-51 pilot. I had trained as a mechanic for fighter aircraft before going into through the Engineering Cadet program at Yale University and eventually assigned to North Field Guam. I'd never seen a B-29 untill I arrived at North Field. The book was a good choice because Bud told not only of the P-51 but also of attributes of the P-38, P-39 & P-47. I'd often wondered how their performance compared, his comments were readily understood by me as I'd worked on and checked each of these planes out many times. He also told of coupling F-84's to B-29 wing tips, and picked up and released from B-36's.

            As we moved into the museum I saw Clem Heddleson who had been a Navigator on O-8 of the 29th Group North Field Guam. We'd taken the cruiser to Victoria two days before & found we had mutual acquaintances. He had gone back to school, also finishing in mechanical engineering, and had gone to work for GE, was in guidance avionics and a GE rep at the Pentagon in Washington DC. I grinned telling him I'd also worked in Avionics, going to work for what was then North American, later Rockwell, and had been part of the Autonetcs Division in Anaheim. He asked if I knew a Gene Andrioski or a John Gasper. I smiled, "what a small world, we were in the same part of Autonetics at one time."

            As we proceeded into the museum I pointed to one of the airplanes saying to Clem the first airplane I'd worked on was a P-12, that one looks similar. It was suspended as if in flight, not on it's tail wheel on a hanger floor. I inquired & the Boeing person said yes they had a P-12, and pointed to the one I'd showed Clem. My minds eye transposed the plane back to the Missouri Aviation Institute hanger in KC, MO, we'd started our training of necessity on then obsolete airplanes. The technical gulf between the P-12 and a B-29 was immense, yet the span of years was not that great, we'd experienced a big jump in technology.

            Clem called out to me, a photo of the plane they had crashed when landing on Tinian was on display, the nose gear had come up through the floor. The pilot misjudging his altitude.

            I had been afraid the pilot had misjudged the altitude when I was riding in the bombardier's position when we landed on John Rogers field, Hawaii. The runway had grown larger in size till I could see the white line in the center. Then the white line became larger and larger, my reflexes wanting me to climb out of the nose, it seemed the nose would hit the runway before we flared out!

            Clem had found the text to go with the photo to be in error and was telling the Boeing lady how it should read. About then he saw a fellow he called to; "Hey Red, they have the wrong words about your plane, come tell the lady how it should read."  I'd seen the photo of Red's plane before streaming smoke from one engine, a classic often-used B-29 photo. I thought my gosh it isn't often they have the fellows who flew the planes shown in a museum, correcting museum displays!  I continued on, looking for 19th Group photos. I saw one of the Slick Chick with photos on each side of M-12 which they also were calling the Slick Chick. Van Parker had told me that most of the time he flew M-12 of the 28th Sqd. I believe Col Roberts, CO of the 19th, had flown the Slick Chick and that it was maintained by the 93rd Sqd. They were not the same plane but it didn't seem worth a trip back to tell the lady. Then I saw Saipan photo's. There was a plane with an associated text saying it was John Cox's crew. John & I had worked together at Autonetics and at the Aircraft B-1B division at El Segundo. I knew that was not John's plane, John's plane was the Mary Ann and the one in the photo was Daisy Ann. Looking some more I found John & Crews photo by Mary Ann, I went back and told the lady they had the captions and photo's mixed. Later we found they change the photos for every new group for a Boeing Day so these photos would not be a part of the museum for more than a few days. It didn't really matter but it seemed to at those moments of discovery.

            We soon joined the line of people taking the bus to the hanger used by Boeing for the Salmon Dinner. Those waiting tables said they had just fed 4500 people before we got there and we were of similar size. My gosh 9000 people! The dinner was wonderful and we as usual enjoyed conversations with those about us. But the loud speaker system was absolutely terrible, you couldn't make out a thing the speakers said. It was too bad as all wanted to hear. Finally people began to get up to go to the busses, this permitted us to get up closer to where we could hear what was being said. We hoped the speakers realized people were not walking out on their speaches. The sounds were simply annoying garbles. I wish we could have had the text of what was said.

            The morning of Boeing Day I'd gone to the Roosevelt hotel from the Vance hotel to see Melvin Simpson and meet his AC, John Jennings, who was leading arrangements for the 6th BG out of Tinian, Melvin was Navigator on Jenning’s crew. Melvin was a year behind me in high school and he made a point to look me up at the Alumni Banquet asking if I was going to the 20th AF get-together at Boeing? I said I'd never heard of it? Melvin made arrangements for me to contact Jennings and I became part of the 6th for the Boeing get-together. Jennings also gave me the name of James Kiracofe as the contact for the 19th. I was sorry I couldn't go as part of the 19th but certainly enjoyed meeting 6th BG people I would not otherwise have known. Melvin wanted me to meet his Pilot, Harry Strasler, again small world! Harry had hired into what became Autonetics division of Rockwell about the same time I did and we'd been in adjacent groups-buildings from 1955 till he retired about 1985, I retired in fall of 1990 after 37 years, more than enough for the gold watch.

            When I first arrived to sign in I met Virgil Morgan of the 6th who had been back to Tinian and taken photos from the air of the old runways. Enroute he took photos of North Field, Guam and I studied that photo to see how it had been changed to accomodate B-52's. Later I found that Van Parker and Vern Chandler had been back to fly off their same old home field during parts of the Korean and Vietnam wars. Fellows from the 6th had been back to Tinian two years before and had memories of trying to find their old hard stands now grown over, the runways being avenues between trees.

            I discovered some of those on the bus tour of Seattle were ground crew & subsequently learned their names: Joe Yankowski, Harry Turner, Glenn _____. For the 20th AF dinner we had to put our names down for what tables we'd be seated at. Unaware we were to put our names in for tables I found few options remained. I signed up for a table not yet full. Before we were seated I just knew I'd be with ground crew personnel. Flight crews’ tables were full with ground crew filling the gaps. Ground crews were a homogenous collection who numbered over 200 persons to a squadron. However few were part of the Associations as there was no Christmas Card Bond that linked them in the way of a close bond between a few on a given flight crew. I was delighted to be with and visit with these fellows. I wished we'd become aquainted before our last day there.

            These ground crew electricians from 6th BG did not remember having to work on distributors, yet when I think of an electrician this is one of the first things that comes to mind. We had many electricians but reserved two as hot shot specialists. As engines got old, rebuilt and recycled, it became difficult to adjust mag drops at the magnetos to an acceptable range. There were crews who'd prefer not to fly, sometimes loading up plugs with too rich a mixture which was sure to put a marginal mag drop beyond limits. Our hot shot electricians found that if they reindexed a distributor a magneto could readily be set. Thus when crew chiefs said they had a marginal mag drop I'd call in the hot shots. It took them 2 to 4 hours to reset depending on if it was one or both distributors. It was not a fun job but it could make an old engine look new and eliminated the sometimes tensions at take off. The fellows from the 6th also recalled that some crews looked for any excuse not to fly, a counter to most all too eager to take a plane not ready.

            "Mag drop" was a slang term for a quick test of the status of an engines ignition. It was used for both V-12 inline and Radial engines. Each cylinder had two spark plugs and two ignition systems for redundancy in the event one system was shot out. Looking into a Radial engine there were two valves Intake on one side and exhaust on the other. Between, one in front and one in back were the two spark plugs. Unknown to many, the plugs were installed at an angle so the point of spark was closer to the exhaust valve than to the inlet -- the exhaust side being contaminated with spent fuel needed a head start for the flame front across the piston to achieve maximum ignition while the connecting rod pushed the crank shaft just as a leg pushes a bicycle peddle. The spark plugs were set to fire 20deg before-top-center (BTC) on a Radial engine. (Magneto Points were set 28 and 30 degrees for a V-1710 Allison and 45 and 50 degrees for a V-1650 Rolls Royce.) The engine driven Magneto, generated the high voltage electricity for the spark plugs, it also contained the points which opened and closed to time the start of ignition, a single magneto fired each of the 18 cylinders via a high voltage rotary switch called the Distributor which was also mechanically driven in sync with crankshaft motion. The many moving parts would wear with use or mix of used and new and a rotary adjustment of the Magneto permitted re-tuning an engines ignition. A way for ground crew and flight crew to test each of the redundant ignition systems was to run on the left, then the right then on both. (The left & right had to do with the cockpit switch as seen by the operator and not the location of the mechanisms.)  A flight crew flying a well maintained airplane seldom experienced any problem with a mag drop, this is because the crew chief had always taken care of necessary adjustments before they ever came to fly the plane. Ground crews knew that if they had been having problems with and engine which caused it to load up with soot, they would often have bad mag drops till they cleared the plugs by running the engine on a lean mixture till they got hot and burned off contamination. At times when maintenance people had been over burdened with problems they did not have time to fine tune the magnetos. There were also times when they ran out of magneto adjustment and needed to re-index the adjustment designed into the distributors which served the purpose of resetting the magneto adjustment. Many maintenance people and few of the flight engineers knew of the distributor adjustments as they were normally performed at engine build up. A classic reason to have flight line specialists who's contribution was often unknown to others.

            The 20th AF dinner at the Seattle Convention center went well, we could hear the speakers and there was an abundance of people to meet. John Jennings was installed replacing John Misterly who retired as president of the 20th Association. Cheney gave an excellent speach telling of how he has General Marshall's photo on the wall behind his desk. He addressed the problems the nation and in particular the task of the Secretary of Defense during these times when many are eager for a peace dividend. During his talk I felt certain he'd read the book General of the Army about Marshall by Ed Cray published in ‘91 by Touchstone Book section of Simon & Schuster, also the book As I Saw It by Dean Rusk published in ‘91 by Penquin Books. I highly recommend these books also. They convey better than anything I know the problems Dick Cheney now faces in dealing with a reluctant congress and public in maintaining our national defense.

            On the Seattle tour I also became aquainted with Harry Hancock a Radar/Navigator now living in Clearwater FL.

            In line for our Harbor Cruise and Dinner we met Don Stuewe and wife both of whom had gone to Kansas State, overlapping the time I was there. Don was taking Chemical Engineering and became a Navigator. Later he finished and worked for Mobil. They now live in Casper, Wyoming and knew the Cheney's when he was Senator from Wyoming. Don made a point to get Cheney's autograph on his program before leaving.

            After the final dinner Hancock, Stuewe & I visited at length of how times have changed with the current generation facing problems much different than we, Stuewe & I feeling concern of what’s happening to our Defense Industry. As I write this 08-22-92 there was an article in the paper that during this period of layoffs they cannot find experienced engineers for important jobs in the defense industry. Stuewe & I were part of those from WWII who finished school on the GI bill. Until recently aerospace industry was staffed by those persons. Now that huge pool of talent has retired and the effects of many years when few took engineering and technology moved to other nations we are now facing a serious national problem. Persons need on the job experience which means contracts to sustain the technology for our national defense. The 20th AF generation sustained a high level of technical advance which will be hard for the current upcoming generation to maintain. We could have talked all night but decided us old folks should get some rest.

            While on the Harbor Cruise & Dinner, we sat with Melvin and his wife Dee Simpson also Jaquiline & her husband Dave______. There had been a mix up & Mary's airplane ticket was under the name Jaquiline Landau, thus she was able to meet the real Jaquiline. Dave had been a prisoner of war & I'd liked to have talked with him but it was almost impossible to hear above the noise. Those who served were also the entertainers. They were quite good and very personable but we would have prefered being able to visit with others at our table. Dave was a school administrator.

            The ladies were quick to make friends. All there desired to know each other, there were so many wonderful persons and simply not enough time.

D. Landau & Floyd "Mac" Maupin Aug '92

            Mary commented that you can pick out 20th AF persons from a half block away, they seem to radiate an air of confidence even if handicaped by ailments. I guess each of them was a bit charged up as was I. There was a feeling you could never put such a group together again Unless it's for the 50th aniversary of the end of the war in the Pacific. That would indeed be great if word could reach the 90% of those not part of the association. Of those, 60% are probably still alive and 50% would like to come.

            At the very last I met Floyd Maupin who had flown M-11, given the name Tulsa, remembering McCall was the crew chief. I asked for and he said he'd send me information on their crew. Floyd died of cancer a few months later, having told Van his ex wing man that this was his last reunion.

            The day after our return the phone rang and it was Merrilyn Alkire the travel agent who had done such a wonderful job for all. She had arranged all flights via United Airlines and in return they offered a Free ticket for a drawing Merrilyn would hold. Merrilyn said she had gone the day after the 20th dinner and gathered those of the 6th BG about for the drawing for the Free Airline ticket. She said Surprise... You won the ticket!  I don't know for how far the ticket is good for & we are quite pleased, but I feel a bit guilty that someone from the 19th along for the ride should win what should go to someone from the 6th who bought 99% of the tickets.

I extracted the following photos from a “20th AF” video of the Boeing Day gathering

 

Darrell Landau left Van Parker right unaware they were being filmed

Of 19th BG 314th Wing North Field Guam

 Ex 28th Sqd Engineering Officer & Ex 28th Sqd Lead Crew AC (Airplane Commander)

Landau recently retired Research Engineer (North American) Rockwell

Parker recently retired Brig/Gen Air Force

 

50th Anniversary of B-29 at Boeing Seattle 1992

They chatted again at reunion in Philadelphia 2004

 

B-29 FiFi Engine start to take off.

View as often seen by Van from Airplane Commanders window

 

From same film clip