Carlos 'Dan' Dannacher 40th Squadron - Port Moresby - Tsili Tsili - Nazdab - New Guinea 1942/43
..1942 and 1943 were dark days for Americans. The Axis powers were still on a victorious march and the Army Air Force (AAF) aircrews in the Pacific had to make do with limited shipments of supplies and aircraft considered unfit for the airwar over Europe. What their crews did not lack, was the courage to take the fight to the Japanese. By utilizing the superior traits of their aircrafts more rugged construction, firepower and tactics of teamwork, pilots and air crew like Dan Dannacher held the line and ground down the Japanese combat veterans of the skies over China, Java and the Phillipines.

*************************************
Carlos 'Dan' Dannacher lived as a young man in Anderson Indiana just north and east on Indianapolis.

He was born in 1918, in Greensburg, Indiana and lived there until he completed the 8th grade at St. Mary's grade school.

Dan; "My mother died when I was 11 years old, and my great-grandmother took me and my sister to live with her while my Dad went to a job in Connersville, Indiana. When he remarried we went to live with them - one year in Fort Wayne, one year in Richmond, and then to Anderson. I got a good liberal arts education and a strong love for the faith in my parochial education. I can't remember details of grade school classes, but I have my copy of The Gael, the yearbook for Class of 1936, from St. Mary's High at Anderson.

All of this says that I was blessed with a good education and that I was as ready as the next person to do what needed to be done when WW II arose. My high school class totaled 15, 7 of which were males. Six of us were in the draft.Dan was a pretty active athlete though sidelined on occasion by injuries. Dan says: (Primarily a broken right thumb from playing baseball put me out of action for most of the following basketball season)

The 1930's year books are different from those we have today, they are much more personalized. For example:
from the Senior horoscope:
The movie star Carl reminded his classmates of was Charlie Ruggles In the class make-up of the ideal boy, he had Carl Dannacher's smile.
The song that reminded his classmates of Carl was "Sleep, come and take me"
In the Senior Class will, he bequeathed his morning and afternoon naps to William Davied
Senior horoscope: Carl Dannacher:
Nickname--Carlos
Saying--Join the Army
Pastime--Sleeping
Wants to be--a millionaire
Will be--Bronco buster


[FDR signing the draft legislation September 16th 1940.]

*************************************
Dan was in the first military draft in 1940. President Roosevelt had signed the measure on september 16th 1940 as the fall of France and the potential defeat of England spurred the congress in a still heavily isolationist America to give him the power. It was a controversial move that pulled men aged 21 to 36 into the draft pool.

Dan on the draft: " It was for a one year period, so I thought it was a good time to get it behind me, and then try to get some college education. I was single at the time, my father was well and earning good income, so I had no big worries. In November 1940 me and two other young men were the first draftees to march down Meridian St. in Anderson, Indiana for a train ride to Fort Benjamin Harrison for induction into the U. S. Army. I may have handled a rifle one time, but none were ever issued.

A picture post card for 1930's Andersons Meridian Street.

The only flight I had before entering the Aviation Cadet program was one in a Ford trimotor type plane flown by Clarence Chamberlain out of the little air strip at Anderson, IN...[ Chamberlain (above) flew the Miss Columbia from New York to Berlin after the Lindbergh flight establishing a new record for long distance flight] I was more impressed by a P-39 which flew over Fort Benjamin Harrison and when it got to my position he seemed to pull straight up and disappear. I thought that was for me. A few months later I qualified for the Cadet program. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I can't remember all the details, except that all the vacinations really made me sick. Soon we were at Fort Thomas, Kentucky for basic infantry training. We camped out on the parade ground, pup tents, and mess kits. Cold and wet for about a month.

[Note: In the late 30's and early 40's Americas men were training with woodden sticks for mortars, and artilery pieces]


*************************************

Dan: "Soon I was summoned to return to Fort Ben along with one other man. The most we had in common, I learned, was that we could type. So for another six months I typed clothing issue forms for all the other inductees coming into the draft. Then the draft was extended, by one vote in the House, but that was enough for me. I decided that flying was my aspiration, so I took the Aviation Cadet exam, passed it, and was at Kelly Field, Texas when Pearl Harbor occurred. I flew the PT-19 in primary at Chickasha, Oklahoma, ..The BT-13 in basic at Enid, Oklahoma, and the AT-6 at Moore Field, Edinburgh, Texas. I think we had link trainers Moore Field.
The best thing was that we got to fly the AT-6 with guns for ground and aerial gunnery at Matagorda, TX on the Gulf. No one was very good at this, but it was a start. Now the P-39 was another matter, and I knew this would be a real test for me. I tried to be real gentle with this bird until my sense of feel and judgment increased. I only made one hard landing in the airplane, and this was my second landing. After my checkout ride I thought I thought I was a real hot pilot. When that bird hit the runway on my second landing I thought the struts would go through the wings. After that I never quit flying the airplane until it was parked and shut down. People talked about the P-39 tumbling, but that only happened when someone was horsing the airplane around. Center of gravity might have been a problem, particularly if the weights in the nose to offset absence of ammunition load might not have been rigged correctly. In the combat zone I never heard of any one tumbling or spinning in and we never broke up any airplanes on landing. We never flew at night or on instruments if we could help it, the airplane was not designed for that kind of operation. We had .30 cal. guns in wing pods, .50 cal guns in the nose firing through the propeller, and a .37 mm cannon firing through the propeller hub.

By June of 1942 I was in the Aviation Cadet Program, graduated in Class 42-F at Moore Field in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas Advanced Flying Training was performed at Moore Field. I received my commission as a 2nd Lt. I don't recall any big issues in the flying training program. Just listened and tried to do what the instructors said and did.

Home town newspapers kept track of their service men. The Anderson news ran a photo of Dan and an article that said. "He had won his wings at a Gulf coast air force training center, Randolph Field, Texas."


*************************************

Dan: I was about 5'8" and 140 pounds then, and just right for fighter type airplanes. So I went to Tallahassee, Florida for check out in a P-39 Aircobra. I got about 60 hours in 2 months. We fired the guns on strafing missions, but never had any air-to-air gunnery
.. Then a long train ride to San Francisco, and a bomb bay seat in an LB-30 with 20 other guys including Frank Dubisher, Marshall Younkman, headed for Australia in a LB-30 flown by civilians. At that time Frank had more flying experience than the rest of us. To me he was a superior aviator and I think he proved it later on.

I went immediately to the 35th Fighter Group headquarters at Port Moresby, New Guinea. My squadron was the 40th, so in a few days I went to their location near Townsville Austrlia... ..
The 40th FS Red Devils -----Townsville Australia was on the peninsula opposite Port Moresby
*************************************
The 40th had just completed two months of combat flying at Port Moresby and were on rest and recuperation. There I got in some good flying time, including high altitude formation and tactics involved battle with the Japanese who controlled the air over New Guinea. Unfortunately, we never had the resources to do air-to-air gunnery. In November 1942 we returned to Port Moresby and took up combat flying again. The 35th Group had two squadrons of P-39s and the 8th Group had two squadrons. These were the only units to defend the Port Moresby area during the April to September 1942 period. . In November we were back in New Guinea at 12-mile strip (Berry Field). We had a mixture of P-39 Ds and P-400s, the Aussie version of the P-39 originally sent to the RAF. Early on the whole group had P-39s, but the 39th were able to get into P-38s in Sept 1942. That left the 40th and 41st to fly P-39s, which we did until Dec 1944. We flew mostly air alerts, escort for bombers and troop carriers, and a small bit of ground support. We only flew in the day time, night time was too hazardous in the mountains of New Guinea. Everything was in short supply - parts, fuel, food, etc. but we managed to fly those old P-39 airplanes into the ground. We could barely get to 20,000 feet altitude because the engines were way beyond change time.
.
The P-39s did not have the legs to reach the Japanese base at Lae, but the Japanese with their (Zeros) could accompany their (Betty) bombers to Port Moresby. The Japanese usually had the advantage of altitude in any battle because there was no air warning systems at the time. If the P-39s could anticipate the arrival of the Zeros and get up to their level, then the P-39 could out-dive and outrun the Zeros. Some air to air fights where a P-39 could get behind a Jap bomber made the cannon a good weapon. Otherwise, it was difficult to use manuevering against an enemy fighter and the machine guns had to do. The gunsights were rudimentary, so judgment was in vogue. The best bet was to get a good airspeed, get behind your opponent, and fly right on through their formation firing as you go, and peel off and down to break off contact. I shot at several Oscars but never hit any that I know of. I may have flown two missions with a 250 lb.bomb under the belly, and I destroyed one bridge from an excellent dive bomb run. On one mission we scrambled 12 P-39s to intercept a Japanese formation over Wau, New Guinea. Wau was about 180 miles north of Port Moresby. About 20 minutes out we were at 20,000 and ready to drop our empty belly tanks as we approached Wau, the site of a 2000' strip along side a 5000' foot mountain which was used by the C-47 Troop Carrier units. Just as we passed over Wau, my engine backfired and the manifold pressure dropped to minimum and PRM was about 1200, near to idle. The backfires continued whenever I advanced the throttle. So I dropped out of the formation and circled back toward Wau. I could see the C-47s taking off for the return to Port Moresby after unloading supplies for the Aussie infantry units. I could not see where the enemy lines were so I decided not to bail out.

[Authors Note: For good reason as the Aussies were still beating back Japanese attacks at the far end of the runway. The Japanese were close enough to mortar the field and the Aussies had to use grenades to pushe them back and allow the c-47 to land.]

Dan: " I figured with a clean airplane that I could make a good wheels up landing if I could just get into the correct position for a good base leg. I had to make a perfect touchdown. The peak in front of me was about 8000' so there would be no 2nd chance, and I did not want to slide into the C-47 operation. In all I had about three circles of the landing site, losing about 5000' feet per circuit.

(From Dans Letter to Ted Parks on the landing)With a little maneuvering, slipping around and adding some backfires now and then, I managed to hit it just right and hit the ideal spot in some shallow kunai grass. When I contacted the ground my body moved up against the straps and my hand squeezed the grip and each gun fired one round. I had forgotten to de-arm the gun switch and I guess the gunsight wasn't one of my worries.

*************************************

Anyway, it was a beautiful landing. I jumped out onto the ground and looked around, there was no fire, no fuel leaking, and no sparks flying around. In a few minutes a jeep from the offloading area came to pick me up. I was back to the squadron and flew again that afternoon. The P-39 was resting in the grass about a 1500 feet from the C-47 strip and I realized that my gunfire only hit into the uphill slope not anywhere near the C-47s. That evening in the mess hall my C.O., Mike Moore,chewed on me for not bailing out. I explained to him my reasons for not doing it was because I didn't know the state of things around that strip, and the trees and bush looked most unfriendly. Besides, the engine was at least idling and I wasn't gliding like a rock. The circumstance favored me if I made good flying judgments on the base leg and final approach. Also, I was Lee Taylor's wingman in March 1943 when he wrapped up a P-39 trying to land wheels down at Bulolo. I watched him do it. He looked real good all the way but suddenly became a mass of metal and fire. He didn't know, none of us knew, the Aussie's had trenched the strip to ward off Jap air invaders. I never heard any more about the escapade. I doubt that many 40th pilots knew about it. It was not in any of the operational reporting in the squadron history. To me it evened out - no fame, no blame.

Really, it wasn't a wreck, the airplane was in fairly good shape, no real structural damage. At any place besides Wau, New Guinea it could have been lifted and put back into operation soon. This airplane was a P-39D with the squadron number "4" painted in white on the armament access door in front of the pilot. I couldn't find the tail numbers anyplace. I know that a crew chief went to Wau to look at the airplane and verify the cause of the backfiring. Shortly after the incident, we moved northward from Port Moresby to Tsilli Tsilli and Nadzab and I forgot all about it until Ted Park raised the question in his book Angels 20.



*************************************


During these days the home town press kept track of Dan and his other small contingent of graduates that marched down the street with him in 1940. The following are two excerpts from local papers (courtesy of Beth Oljace Anderson Public Library.)

ANDERSON DAILY BULLETIN, Nov. 26, 1943
Dannacher gets third citation
First Lt. Carlos E. Dannacher, age 24, Army pilot, this city, recently has been awarded his second Oak Leaf Cluster to an Air Medal, his third citation for service in the Pacific area. He received the medal early this summer and the first Oak Leaf two months ago. he has never written his parents any information about his citations, but in a letter received last week, said that he was in Australia, resting, following active service. He has been in the Army since 1940 and has been on active flying duty in the Pacific area for sixteen months. He is a son of Mr. and Mrs. C. N. Dannacher, 1316 Central Avenue, and is a graduate of St. Mary's High School.

"Somewhere in New Guinea, Lieut. General George C. Kenney, commander of the Allied Air Force in the South Pacific, has awarded a second Oak Leaf Cluster 'for meritorious achievement' while participating in 25 operational flights in the Southwest Pacific Area during which hostile contact was probable and expected to First Lt. Carlos E. Dannacher.

The Cluster is in addition to a previous award of the Air Medal and Oak Leaf Cluster and is equivalent to having won that decoration a third time.

These flight missions included escorting bombers and transport planes, interception and attack missions, and patrol and reconnaissance flights as part of the co-ordinated air land and sea offensive Gen. MacArthur is making against the Japanese in the South and Southwest Pacific. In the course of the operations, strafing and bombing attacks were made from dangerously low altitudes, destroying and damaging enemy installations and equipment. He is with a fighter squadron of the Fifth Air Force.

*************************************

ANDERSON DAILY BULLETIN, Oct. 25, 1943
Dannacher Gets third citation: Lieut. Carlos M. Dannacher, age 24, of the U.S. Army Air Force, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dannacher, 1316 Central Ave., recently was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in ceremonies in New Guinea. It is the third decoration for Lieut. Dannacher, one of Anderson's outstanding young war heroes among flyers in the Pacific Zone. He received the Oak Leaf Cluster to an Air Medal in the spring for exceptional bravery and participation in 25 battles, according to word received some time ago by relatives. Graduated from St. Mary's High School in 1937, young Dannacher was working for the Fred E. Brown firm when he enlisted in 1940. He was at the Forst Harrison induction center for a year and later became an aviation cadet, receiving his wings early in 1942. He has been in the South Pacific since May 1942 and has participated in much activity as a fighter pilot. In a recent letter, Dannacher informed friends that he had been fortunate thus far, and despite much action, his only injury had been a bruised finger in a softball game.

*************************************


[Note: on February 6th 8 P-39s of the 40th Squadron were escorting transports into Wau and intercepted a formation of 24 Zekes (Zeros probably Oscars) and 6 Ki-21 (Sallys). In the ensuing battle they brough down 11 of the Zekes and one of the Sallys. It was the first time the P-39 had won such a lopsided battle.]

Dan: "The P-38s came upon the scene and they could control the air battle then. The P-38s and the B-25s knocked out the big Japanese air bases around Wewak on August 17th and that is the big reason we managed to survive. .. *************************************

Dan: "We continued to fly escort missions for the troop carriers C-47s and patrolled the approaches to our bases. Any air engagements we had were about 150 miles north of our bases, and for most pilots it was the first time to fire their guns. We knew that if we could maintain our formations and keep up our speed, we could manage to hit the Zeros and the bombers and still outrun them at low altitude to break away. We lost some pilots, but we also got our share of victories. In August 1943 the 5th Air Force was moving north, and the 35th Fighter Group headquarters with the 40th and 41st Fighter Squadrons and their P-39s moved 200 miles to a place called Tsili-Tsili. [a P39 named Grace under the cockpit escorting a number of C-47's.

Tsili-Tsili (pronounced Silly Silly)] The place carved out of a plateau in the mountains. The runway was dirt, and the nearest Japanese base was Lae about 80 miles away. Our survival depended upon the C-47s to carry our fuel, food, and ammo in every day. It rained a lot, but somehow we got the P-39s into the air and we began to control the area.

Overhead a Japanese recon plane observed the move. On the 15th as the ground echelon was flying in with the C-47's the Japanese came in with Ki-21 (Sally) bombers from Wewak with fighter escort. Dan "At that moment, the 41st Fighter Squadron escorting the C-47s arrived from Port Moresby and engaged the Japanese bombers and fighters. Tsili Tsili wasn't quite ready for our P-39s on Aug. 15th, but we kept P-39s in the air above the C-47s at all times flying from Port Moresby." From Steve Birdsals Flying Bucaneers. "One C-47 was shot out of the sky, another dissapeared into the jungle and the second flight turned back for Port Moresby. 11 of the 12 Sallys were brought down as well as several fighters. 4 P-39 went down but three of the pilots survived. Since the February fight at Wau it was the best showing ever by the P-39 but more was to come."

Other adversaries of 1942/43 the The Ki43 (OSCAR) and the Ki61 (TONY) of the Army
..
The Japanese Navy's Zero's & Bettys were flown from bases at Lae and Rabaul and the Japanese Armys KI43 (Oscar) & KI-61 Hien (Tony) were encountered around Wewak and other bases on the North Central coast of New Guinea as the advance out of Morseby began.
Dan: "About the Japanese Tony's. The only time I saw one was when he was strafing me in January 1944. I was on the first mission after we had received our new P-47s and had just slung my parachute onto the wing when two of them slipped into Nadzab and sprayed the area. The Tony would have overwhelmed our P-39s, but it was no match for the P-47. Later on when we were up against the Japanese Frank and Georges, which had radial engines, it was an even fight.


Dan: "In September we covered the landings of the Aussies at Lae, and staved off the Japanese air forces whenever the troops were threatened. In October we moved to the new base at Nadzab, just 50 miles north of our first base. Here we had a stabilized runway, but we were in almost daily contact with the Japanese fighters who strafed us and the bombers trying to mount a counter-attack. By December the Japanese forces no longer threatened Nadzab. We turned in our P-39s and transitioned to the new P-47 Thunderbolts. *************************************

In the entire period from June 1942 to December 1943, the 40th Fighter Squadron flying P-39s shot down 55 Japanese aircraft including both fighters and bombers while losing 15 of our own. We lost many others due to weather, and some due to accidents. The 41st Fighter Squadron had a similar record. The P-39 is often demeaned as an ineffective fighter, more to be used as a cannon firing destroyer of enemy tanks. It is true that the Russians earned that reputation. (Russian Lend Lease P-39) But for the USAAF, the P-39s in the Southwest Pacific theater were the first and only aircraft to relieve the Aussies in the defense of Port Moresby in 1942. This was a major battle in WW II annals, but our air historians have neglected it. I am not a good one to assess the skill of enemy fliers. I know from others that the skill of the Japanese Zero pilots was extremely high. They had a good airplane and a lot of combat time when the US fliers finally met them. In the course of the war, it was more difficult for them to produce a lot of highly skilled pilots and so we finally overcome them. In the 1943 era the P-38s really ate up the Nips and turned the war around for us. The Oscars which I saw were flown by the Japanese Army Air Force and I think they were not, as a rule, as well trained and ready as the carrier pilots. In fact, I think that the Japanese Navy pilots really did not care to fly jointly with the Army fliers. I got hit once in WW II, but not by the Japanese. My no. 4 man hit me in the rudder of my P-47. We were on the way home from Wewak, doing some rolls to loosen up. He must have left his gun switch on. I saw the 20 mm. cannons on Japanese fighters blink at me several times, but never took a hit. And I was never able to tell if any of the firing I did was effective. As to which were the toughest missions, it seems to me that all of them were that way. Mainly because we did not know what to expect. And then when I least expected it, I had to land a P-39 wheels up near enemy territory 180 miles from home. Some were more exciting than other, as for an example on Okinawa, four of us in P-51s made a night time takeoff in order to hit the Korean coastline just at daybreak in July 1945. But we did not find any airplanes flying, only water and rail movements which we shot up easily. And a long trip to Shanghai, China made us apprehensive for awhile, but nothing ever came of it.


*************************************
Second Tour of Duty: The Philippines
(partly from the Ted Parks letter)

I had a second tour in the Pacific, coming back to 35th Group and 40th Squadron again at Clark Field in May 1945. Johnny Young, my tent-mate at Gusap, had become Group Ops. I believe he convinced Ed Doss that I should be the next 40th C.O. So I had another batch of 40th comrades to relate to and P-51s to fly. When we got P-51s we had the advantage. I never engaged any Japanese fighters during my second tour in WW II in P-51s. The air battle was ending and we were doing direct ground support for the U.S.Army troops in northern Luzon.

In WW II the battle for the Phillipines raged from October to March 1945. The 40th was on Morotai so it flew long distances to engage the battle flying fighter sweeps over Los Negros and Mindoro in P-47D28 models which had the range for it. In January they went into Lingayen Gulf landings and from there they primaily flew sweeps over Formosa. In March the tactic shifted to dive bombing missions and the 40th lost five airplanes and crews over heavily defended harbors. In April the 40th traded for P-51Ds, and scored 3 victories on one mission around 6th of the month. After that the Formosa defense sort of evaporated and the 40th took up dive bombing in close support of the 6th U S Army chasing the Nip groundforces up north past Baguio. We lost some airplanes doing that, but it was due to stupid flying, not enemy defenses

On July 1 we were on Okinawa and ready for an air war in the Japanese home area. On July 5, 1945 the 40th downed four Nicks over Kyushu and that was end of aerial combat for WW II. We landed our P-51s at Irumagawa base near Tokyo in Oct 1945.


*************************************
The Anderson press still kept the home town informed on Dans whereabouts.
ANDERSON BULLETIN.

Dannacher in Japan Major. Carlos E. Dannacher, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dannacher, 1316 Central Ave., is now stationed in Japan as a member of the occupational Fifth Air Force Fighter Command, headquarters of which are in Tokyo. Maj. Dannacher served nineteen months in New Guinea earlier in the war and after a leave at home returned to the Pacific five months ago. He is with the 35th "Spearhead" Fighter Group.

I returned to the USA in November 1945 in a troopship. I stayed in the Reserve after WW II and attended St. Louis University. In 1948 I graduated with a B. S. in Commerce just in time to be recalled in the Berlin airlift crisis. Later, while in Europe I entered a special program sponsored by the University of Utah and received an MBA degree.
*************************************

When I visited the Air Force Museum in 1997 I heard a docent tell her group that "the P-39 was largely ineffective, but that it did fly in Alaska". That certainly is a gross insult to all the airman who put the P-39 into battle. The P-39 and the P-40 were all that the USAAF had in early 1942, and we made the best of our fate for a year and a half in New Guinea. I would like to tell and retell this story until the record can be refreshed, but I fear time is beating us. I flew the P-39s and also flew 200 hundred hours in the P-47. What a thrill to get in that big Republic monster after struggling with the Airacobra. Whenever I entered the area over the Japanese bases in a P-47 I was always above 20,000 feet, never to give away the altitude advantage again.

*************************************
Korea


In his USAF career Dan flew one-hundred missions in the F-80 Shooting Star jet fighter bomber in Korea in Aug 51 to May 52. Dan: " In F-80s over Pyonyang, Korea in 1951 I was hit by .50 cal ack-ack on a dive-bombing mission,but made it back to base o.k. I still have the projectile which penetrated the airplane and ended up just under my right heel. Luck was with me, though. Tangled with some Migs over the Yalu river area and got credit for a damaged Mig-15.
During the Korean War we knew that the F-80 was much more maneuverable than the Mig fighters. But we did not have the speed. Therefore, we kept to the medium altitudes and spread our formation to cover our tails. If we saw any Migs tailing us on a high speed run, we would time a sharp break, left or right,and the Migs would break away and climb for altitude. And we never saw them at all after the 86s got to their altitude. We lost two tailend Charlies to Migs when the last man off the target had to fly as fast as he could as quick as he could in order to catch up with the flight headed for home. No respectable flight leader would allow this to happen. Migs nailed both of them, they bailed out, were POWs and both returned after the war.
No question, the Mig-15 was clearly a better airplane than the F-80. But the F-80 was lighter, with better aerodynamics. If a Mig was gaining on you, you had better dodge or break, else he runs right up your tail. So the F-80 is in survival mode right away. Any serious Mig pilot leading three earnest wingmen should at least be able to knock off one or two out of eight F-80s. My guess was that in my case, they were not too serious. They just flew in trail , follow the leader, right through our formation which was turning as they passed. Admittedly, the weather was in our favor at the lower altitudes, maybe they iced up a bit on the windscreen, who knows. At any rate, in my turn I ended up flying parallel to the No. 3 Mig so I just edged over and gave him a burst or two hitting him in the wingroot. He pulled up immediately and I could not catch him. But No. 4 Mig should have been able to get me, or my wingman. We reformed and kept heading south, using the cloud cover. If these had been Russians, I am sure the outcome would have been different. So I think there were a lot of neophyte Chinese flying those Migs chasing the F-80s while the Russians primarily kept after the F-86s. I was the C. O. of the 35th Fighter Bomber Squadron of the 8th Fighter Bomber Group from August 1951 to May 1952. We were primarily engaged in Operation Strangle, an effort to cut off the supplies coming into the Chinese ground forces deloyed along the 38th parallel. We bombed the railroads and bridges from Pyongyang to the Yalu river, over and over. The F-80Cs and the F-84Gs did the daylight bombing and the A-26s did the night work. The P-51s did the close support, operating at low levels in steadily increasing anti-aircraft defenses, and suffered the heaviest losses.



*************************************

My best assignment was as a squadron commander of F-100Ds in the P. I. in 1957-59.


*************************************

Later I flew the F-105 in the 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing when Vietnam came upon us.
...
In the Vietnam War I flew two missions out of Tahkli, Thailand in F-105s in 1965. These were strictly bombing missions, but I was not in the Hanoi area. I was the Director of Operations for the 23rd Wing at McConnell AFB and I accompanied one of our squadrons replacing another squadron on temporary duty in Thailand. So I wasn't on a combat tour then. I did serve a year in Saigon with 7th Air Force Ops staff in 1966-67. The F-105 was a tough bird, bird it was no match for the SAMs. What was difficult was the concentration of ground to air defences around Hanoi with only one good approach to the target. In the end the B-52s saturated the defences,and got the negotiators back to the table in Paris. The F-105 was built to be a supersonic airplane which could carry a nuclear weapon internally running at low altitude. When that requirement faded, it was loaded with conventional bombs externally. It carried more bombs than a B-17 did in WW II. In a dive bomb run the pilot could go supersonic off the target and make a good escape. It had a powerful J-75 engine with afterburner and air-refueling capability and a Gatling gun firing forward. Even in the 1960s we could fly the F-105 from McConnell AFB in Kansas to Thailand with the help of the KC-135 tankers. I was responsible for 75 of those birds and it was an awesome task.

Vietman 23rd Fighter Wing flying the F105
23rd Tactical Fighter Wing, McConnell AFB
561st Tactical Fighter Squadron at Korat RTAFB from March 1965-July 1965.
562nd Tactical Fighter Squadron (Feb 1964-July 1972) from Aug 1965-Dec 1965, at Tahkli RTAFB
563rd Tactical Fighter Squadron (Feb 1964-July 1972) from Jun 1964-?, at Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam from March 1965-Aug 1965, at Tahkli RTAFB
There were other command and staff work roles in the Vietnam War in 1966-67, in Usaf in Europe in 1968-71, and at the Air University in 1972-75 when Dan retired.


*************************************

For the record, I had 319 combat missions in WW II, 100 missions in Korea, and two in Vietnam. I never lost a wingman. It looks like a lot, but I know many of my contemporaries who can match them. We did what we had to do.

I retired in 1975 after 30+ years in the Airforce and now live on the east coast. My wife and I have two children and four grandchildren who we visit often. I compiled the 35th FG & 40th Sqdrn unit histories on the 35th FG website from the official records kept on file by the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell AFB, AL. In the near future I hope to add interesting photos which our webmaster can use to enliven the text. My other activities include filling in the missing parts of my family genealogy files as well as, volunteering in the community.


*************************************

I always go back to the lessons and experience I gained from the Airacobra. I flew it for five hundred hours and would dearly love to get one hour more in that little bird.

A 40th squadron aircraft in markings of the period. Red Spiner, tail and wing tips.

Dan was recognized for his services to his country in three wars and during peacetime. Below are a few of the Combat medals and campaign decorations
.....
Dan was awarded the Air Medal 7 times (Est 1942) Criteria: Heroic actions or meritorious service while participating in aerial flight
Dan was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Medal 3 times (Est 1926) Criteria: Heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight
Legion of Merit Medal (Est 1942) Criteria: Exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the US. Dan recieved this award 3 times for command and staff work in the Vietnam War in 1966-67, in Usaf in Europe in 1968-71, and at the Air University in 1972-75.

WWII Campaign Ribbons
...
Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal - WWII (Est 1942) Dates: 1941-46 Criteria: Service in the Asiatic-Pacific theater for 30 days or receipt of any combat decoration.
World War II (WWII) Victory Medal (Est 1945) Dates: 1941-46 Criteria: Awarded for service in US Armed Forces between 1941 and 1946.



With thanks to: Cissy Wong...web master for the 35FG web site for assistance and a recent photo of Dan and his wife at the last reunion.

Beth E. Oljace (and the staff of volunteers) Indiana Room Librarian Anderson Public Library for her invaluable assistance with Carls story and photos from the 30's. Anderson Public Library. Click Here


E-Mail Me @ worldwar2mem@yahoo.com


Copyright © Ken Arnold 1999. All rights reserved.



*************************************

Links: WWII MEMORIS HOME PAGE FOR MORE PROFILES A profile on members fo each of the AAF units and NAval units in WWII
Links: Bob Hornbecks WWII Experiences in the A20 312th BG A geat page by a veteran.
5th AF Web Page The best overall reference on the 5th on the web I found
Red Raiders 22nd Bomb Group
35th Fighter Group History of the 35th FG from WWII to today
475th Fighter Group NEW WEB SITE!!! History of the 475th FG from WWII Old Link is down. some one has accessed it to direct it to another site, will try to get a new one established.
P-38 Association museum web site (the one at March Field) NEW WEB SITE!!!
9th Fighter Squadron 9th FS 49th FG

---

This page hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page