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1-11-2009 A reply to the letter below
from the webmaster.
Dear Bob,
Thank you very much for your letter.
This better explains a lot of historical facts that were never
told. I never knew that the merchant marines were this involved
in the war. I need to talk to my friend Harry McFetridge, who
was a merchant marine in the war and is now the mayor of Prairie
City Illinois. He too may have photos and would like to share
his stories. He told me some of how they were shot up after
passing Hawaii, but he never got into the details. The one
thing that he told me is that the merchant marines were never
treated as soldiers. The more I learn, the more I realize that
the merchant marines were soldiers just as much as anyone else
in the war and should be recognized as such. |
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There is one part that I would like to
hear more about and that is about what happened and your
experiences and feelings about when when you were sunk and how
long before and how you were rescued. This is talked about very
little and is something that everyone needs to know.
At the Museum of Science and Industry,
in Chicago, the U-505 Exhibit shows several men floating on a
piece of wood after their ship was sunk. This is not a picture,
it is mannequins on a piece of wood with simulated water, so it
was very realistic. The new U-505 Exhibit is very fantastic to
see.
Jeff |
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1-11-2009
From Bob Shackles
Dear Jeff; Yes I do have pictures of me in uniform
and in my senior years but unfortunately they are at my home in
Missouri. My wife Norma of 62 years and I are now living in the
Villages Florida during nine months out of the year. I will see
if I can get copies from my kids and forward them to you. I did
not know Major Braxton but I witnessed the activities of the
fighter groups stationed at IeShima and Okinawa. There were
times when the Japanese Zeros were escorting the Betty Bombers
to bomb the Island especially the airstrips and I witnesses the
P-47s taking off to engage the Zeros. Here again it would be
impossible for me to explain the action I witnessed during these
dog fights except to say I believe the kill rate was about ten
to one in our favor. I could see some of the Japanese Zeros and
the Betty bombers that were shot down hit the Islands in a huge
ball of fire. Some credit is also due the Army anti-aircraft gun
crews who were also downing some of the bombers. The night time
raids that required our ground anti-aircraft crews to use the
huge search lights to locate the bombers were frightening to
witness but very impressive. I was a 17 year old Merchant Marine
who was a 20 mm Anti- Aircraft gunner stationed aboard a supply
ship that was hit by a Japanese suicide plane. We were loaded
with high explosives and that was the end of our mission. Those
of us who survived were rescued at sea by the Navy and taken
ashore at
Okinawa. I volunteered to join the 1st. Marines
fighting on Okinawa, When the Atomic bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima I was sent home and discharged but not before we had
to weather a terrible Typhoon at sea. I found it difficult to
adjust to civilian life and I joined the Army and went through
Airborne Jump school and sent to
Germany where I was assigned to the 508 Parachute
Infantry Regiment of the 82 Airborne Division stationed at
Heddernheim Germany. That's a brief history of my WW2
activities. However I will mention the Air Force landing strips
at Okinawa were also used for
emergency landings
by our B-17 and B-29s returning from
Japan that
were crippled and unable to make it back to their base at
Guam. It
was always a relief to see them land safely but I saw a couple
that landed in a big ball of fire and we knew the crew had
perished. This was sad! It made us angry and we fought that
much harder. Okinawa was a hell hole and according to our
War Department
we lost over 14,000 of America's bravest but we accounted for
117, 000 enemy dead during this three month battle.
Bob Shackles |
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1-12-2009
Cyndy this is not
what you are looking for but I have something to say about the
instructors who trained our fighter pilots that fought the Japanese
at Ie Shima and Okinawa in WW2. I was stationed aboard a supply
ship that was anchored close enough that we could see the island of
IeShima. We were at our battle stations constantly because we were
being attacked by the Japanese suicide planes. I witnessed the
pilots of the P-47s the P-51s-and later the P-38s as they returned
from protecting our bombers during missions to Japan. When a pilot
was credited with a Zek kill he was allowed to put his fighter plane
through aerobatics before landing and it appeared there must have
been competition among these pilots. I say that because it would be
impossible for me to describe to you how great these young pilots
were doing their thing above the Island of Ie Shima and Okinawa and
they seemed to want to out do each other. I often wondered how
their fighter held together. They had to be well trained to down the
Japanese Zeros and also to get that kind of performance out of their
fighter planes. They put on a great exhibition and we always enjoyed
watching them. I know they were a credit to their country and also
their instructors. Well trained pilots had a greater chance of
staying alive.
A WW2 Veteran
Bob Shackles
Click Here to to read the Best WW2 Story that I have
ever read about Geckos, by Bob Shackles |
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Hi -
My Dad, Major William C. Braxton, was an instructor
pilot for the P-47 back in the 1940's. He was stationed at Naha AFB in
Okinawa in 1957 as that is when I was born. I would like to find some of the
men he trained and flew with that may still be alive. My Dad is now
80 and takes great pride in the fact that he trained many men and flew many missions
on the P-47. His name and rank at the time he was an instructor pilot
was Major William C. Braxton, he retired as a LTC.
If anyone recognizes his
name, please send me an e-mail.
Thanks,
Cindy
Click Here to Write to Cindy
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