9-29-2002
On April 17,
1945 I was a Naval fighter pilot from VF-24 leading the second section
of a four-plane division of
F6F Hellcats. We were from the USS Santee CVE
29, an aircraft carrier of the Sangamon Class keeled originally to become
an Oilier.
Our mission
was to fly to Ie Shima and report to a Ground Director for his selected 
assignments.
The call came to attack just ahead of a ground Marker sheet to quiet a group of Japanese who were mortar firing our troops just fifty to
75 feet away.
I recall saying
to the director that he would get our links and casings on
the troops heads as the terrain allowed only a run over his position.
He responded that would not be as bad as he was getting now.
A shallow run
would surly increase his danger and a steep run would offer a better
angle but would require a higher altitude break-off to effect a recovery
from the dive this would also increase the range and shorten the
time of firing. I chose a 60 degree angle which was routine for dive-bombing
but slowed well below the usual 320 Knots. The close proximity of our troops obviated the use of bombs or rockets which we carried. After two delicate runs we got a thanks and goodbye. When I landed
back on the Santee around midday I heard that
Ernie Pyle had
been killed on Ie Shima. No particulars were available.
My god! I did it.
It wasn't until
early evening that we heard that he was killed by a sniper
while in a Jeep. Years later I heard of the machine gunning.
Hope that this
helps complete your picture.
Contact Irving "Cowboy" Mayer-
irvmayer@cox.net
Incidentally
I was searching for info on Jack Singer a War Correspondent
who was also killed in action. He was a cousin to my first wife, by marriage. During
World War II, INS correspondent
Jack Singer was among the 193 men who died
when the
aircraft carrier USS Wasp sank in the Pacific in
September 1942. He was awarded the Purple Heart and a liberty ship was named
after him, the
USS Jack Singer.
In the search
I ran across
Raymond Clapper another war correspondent. He was killed in
front of me on Jan 29, 1944 by a fellow pilot of mine in a pre-dawn
launch into a storm and post launch midair collision from the Belleau Wood CVL 24. but that's a story for another day.
Because of the fight-to-the-death policy of
the
Japanese Superiors and the Bushido Code plus the high casualty rate among
the enemy on the large island of
Okinawa, I suspect the
survival rate on Ie Shima -- a relatively small island --was Zero.
Corona Air Show
F6F Hellcat -- Logged 149 Carrier Missions from
Kwajalein thru Okinawa with
VF-24 On the
Belleau Wood CVL24; Jan '44 thru July '44 and Santee CVE29; Jan '45 thru
May '45
Irving and his wife Linda in 2002
Go
to the 34th Fighter Squadron Home Base
