Honor Flight the Movie is a heartwarming documentary about four living World War II veterans and a Midwest community coming together to give them the trip of a lifetime. Volunteers race against the clock to fly thousands of WWII veterans to Washington, D.C. to see the memorial constructed for them in 2005, nearly 60 years after the War, at no cost to the veterans. The trips are called “Honor Flights” and for the veterans, who are in their late 80s and early 90s, it’s often the first time they’ve been thanked and are taking the last trip of their lives. The 24-hour journey is full of surprises that deeply move all who are involved. It’s uncommon for World War II veterans to talk about the war. But the Honor Flight experience brings their stories out.

There will be two showings of this movie in Arizona:

AMC Arrowhead 14
(7700 W. Arrowhead Towne Center, Glendale, AZ)
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
5:30 pm

AMC Mesa Grande 24
(1647 South Stapley, Mesa, AZ)
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
5:30 pm

Admission: $10.00

We are required to sell a minimum number of tickets for these two showings to happen. Tickets MUST be purchased online (no tickets available at the door) by Tuesday, May 21. Don’t delay!

To purchase tickets, to go:
Glendale: http://www.tugg.com/events/4050
Mesa: http://www.tugg.com/events/4051

Honor Flight Arizona has completed three of eight flights scheduled for 2013 and there are approximately 300 WWII veterans on our waiting list. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. A portion of the film’s admission fee will be donated to Honor Flight Arizona. Please support Honor Flight Arizona’s mission in assisting Arizona’s WWII veterans to visit their memorial at not cost to them. http://honorflightaz.org.

Honor Flight the Movie: http://www.honorflightthemovie.com

In the spring of 1942, over ten thousand American troops arrived in Alaska to take on what was described as “the biggest and hardest job since the Panama Canal.”  Their assignment was to build over 1,500 miles of highway out of an uncharted wilderness across Canada.  This highway would connect Alaska to the lower 48 states.

Insurance salesmen, shoe clerks, farm kids and other workers were put behind the wheels of bulldozers and dump trucks even though they had no training.  They were told to clear their way through a frozen forest wasteland.   Time was of the essence.  Pearl Harbor had just been attacked.

There had been talk for years of building an Alaskan highway, but fears by Canada of American dominance and finally the depression, squelched any plans.  That position changed on December 7, 1941.  As Japan quickly took over Guam and Wake Island, Americans feared they would attack the west coast next.  The Alaskan territory seemed particularly vulnerable.  The Aleutian Islands were only 750 miles from a Japanese base.  Military resources were stretched thin in the north.  Twelve medium bombers, 20 pursuit planes and just over 21 thousand troops protected an area larger than Texas.

It was apparent that the ability to transport troops and supplies to the Northwest Staging Area was imperative.  Of the first 38 American warplanes moved up to the region, 27 crashed before arrival.  The need for a more secure military route over land was obvious.

On January 16, 1942, President Roosevelt appointed a commission to study the feasibility of an overland route across the forested mountains of Canada to Alaska.  Twenty-six days later, FDR issued a directive to the Army to build the highway. On March 5th, the Canadian War Cabinet also approved construction.

The job of building the highway fell to General William Hoge, a West Point graduate with a degree from MIT in civil engineering and 26 years experience with the Army Corps of Engineers.  He had earned the Distinguished Service Cross for courage under fire in WWI.  He had built roads in the jungles of the Bataan Peninsula and designed flood control on the Missouri River.  His new assignment was to build a massive primitive road through swamp, ice, forest and mountains from Dawson Creek, British Columbia (the last stop on the Northern Alberta Railway) to Delta Junction, Alaska.

Because of the rough terrain, the Army planned to build the road twice.  First they would cut a rough road and then the Public Road Works would follow up and pave it.   The Army only had eight months to build the road before the Alaskan winter would begin, so Hoge began construction in three more easily accessible areas at the same time: Dawson Creek, Delta Junction and Whitehorse.  Each of these areas was hundreds of miles apart and only the sketchiest plan was drawn up for construction.  No plan had yet been drawn up for how to get through the Rockies.

Construction teams arrived in March 1942, bringing more than 11,000 pieces of construction equipment.  Massive tent cities sprung up overnight in previously tiny hamlets.  Dawson City grew within weeks from 1,000 to over 10,000 residents.

With most of the Army Corp engineers deployed to the South Pacific, the Corp took the unusual step of assigning engineers from three all black regiments to work with the four all white regiments already deployed in Alaska.  At first, the black men were given “pick and shovel” work, but it was soon clear that every soldier would have to be put to work on machines if the job was to be finished on time.  Often subject to contempt and humiliation by their white officers, the black soldiers of the 93rd, 95th and 97th regiments more than equaled the work output of their white counterparts.  The result was a practical lesson in racial equality.

Working in the sub-arctic conditions was a challenge.  Simply getting men and equipment to where they had to be could prove overwhelming.  Many units became stranded, waiting for their equipment to catch up with them.  Convoys of four-wheel drive vehicles got stuck in the mud – some for the duration of the project.  Half-thawed lakes made it impossible for supply planes to land on skis or pontoons.  Men and supplies had to be dropped in by parachute.  Radios would not work across the Rocky Mountains.

Living conditions were harsh.  With supply trains running erratically, soldiers lived on a diet of canned field rations.  Frozen ground made tent stakes useless.  Yet, the warmth of the sleeping bodies transformed the frozen ground into mud by morning.  Campsites washed away in the rain.  Black flies swarmed the troops and black bears invaded the camps at night.

Equipment breakdowns occurred hourly.  Engines ran continuously because they wouldn’t re-start if turned off.  Engineers waded waist deep into freezing rivers and lakes to build bridge trestles.  Mud and bogs were everywhere and frostbite was common.  On the northern end, the battle was with permafrost – ground that had been frozen for thousands of years, but when the trees were knocked down, it melted in the sun, creating a quicksand which enveloped bulldozers.

The melting of the permafrost brought construction to a halt for several weeks while engineers searched for a solution.  It was obvious they needed to insulate the roadbed.  Finally, Hoge borrowed an idea from the past: log roads.  The bulldozers were abandoned and men were sent into the forest with axes to cut trees.  They covered the roadbed with a layer of vegetation and then paved the way with logs laid across the roadbed, a technique called corduroying.  This was a technique used in Roman times and most recently in the Civil War.  The logs succeeded in keeping the roadbed frozen, but progress was slow.  Construction went from 14 miles a day to one.  They were running out of time.

Construction gained a new urgency when the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor, a military base in the Aleutian Islands.  Several days later, the Japanese occupied the islands of Kiska and Attu.  Fears of Japanese on American soil had come true.  For the rest of the year, B-24 Liberators bombed the islands hoping to force the Japanese into retreat.  It was believed that Japan would soon gain control of the sea-lanes in the Gulf of Alaska.  Urgency set the tone of highway construction

Slowly the gaps began to close in the far-flung construction zones.  The sections of Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson came together.  By the end of September, the highway went as far as Whitehorse, just 166 miles from the Alaskan/Canadian border.  Now the toughest part of the highway over the mountains remained.

At the beginning of October, the temperature dropped severely.  What would be the coldest Alaskan winter on record had arrived with temperatures approaching minus 50 degrees. Many of the all-black 97th engineers who were assigned to the northern-most section had grown up in the deep south and had never seen a snowflake.  Now they worked in Arctic winds cold enough to kill a man and construction slowed to a crawl.  Drifts were often 20 feet deep.  Soldiers made jackets from their sleeping bags and heaters from fuel drums.  It hurt to breathe and metal eyeglasses froze to men’s faces.  According to Staff Sgt. Clifton Monk, “Your breath froze your face to your blanket at night.  Anything metal you touched with your bare hands would freeze to you instantly.”

With the end of construction relatively near, two regiments, one black and one white, struggled to finish as conditions went from difficult to impossible.  On October 25th, the two regiments met head on in the forest near Beaver Creek, 20 miles east of the boundary between the Canadian Yukon and the Alaskan border.  A bulldozer technician named Sims with the all black 97th Engineers was driving his machine when the trees in front of him toppled.  He slammed his dozer into reverse just as a second dozer driven by Pvt. Jaluka of Texas in the all white 18th Engineers broke through the trees.  Both men leaped off their dozers to run and shake hands, a moment that was captured on film.  The photograph of the grimy soldiers flashed across America and Canada, unintentionally demonstrating the first step toward desegregation in the U.S. military.

In less than eight months, Hoge’s men, working in horrific conditions with minimal training and inadequate supplies, had laid 1,523 miles of rough highway through dangerous wilderness.  Although it was never used for military purposes, the Alaskan Highway helped unite a nation and connect a continent.  At a time when the U.S. military suffered multiple defeats across the Pacific, the highway’s construction was a powerful wartime success.  The men who built it, black or white, were seen as war heroes who battled the harsh conditions of the North to protect their country against invasion.  Today, the Alcan Highway remains the only route from Alaska to the lower 48.

Your lowly Honor Flight AZ editor needs to apologize.  I am just recovering from a miserable bronchitis/pneumonia.  I have also had my USCG son home on pre-deployment leave with his girlfriend.  Sorry, somehow he just took priority!!  As a result, this newsletter is coming to you much later than usual. A photo of mom and son can be seen above.

Enough of the personal stuff.  Let’s review what is happening at Honor Flight AZ.  First, those of you on Facebook may have notice a marked increase in postings.  This is thanks to the work of two volunteers, Nicole and Ginger.  They have enthusiastically filled this much-neglected niche for us.  We are thrilled to have them on board!

Other wonderful folks that have stepped up recently include Maureen and Lisa who have taken on Mail Call for our veterans.  Also, Les is calling our veterans for trips as well as contacting all veterans when we receive their applications.

We have a golf tournament coming up in Prescott at the beautiful Antelope Hills Golf Course on June 22nd. There is going to be an amazing silent auction at this event.  A team of volunteers is currently scouring the state for donations.  Bob K. has been working harder than anyone else to procure a number of wonderful prizes. Please check out the golf tournament page on our website for information on dates and how to register to golf.  Speaking of, I want to thank Larry Levenson of Sigma Web Marketing who is our volunteer webmaster who keeps our website timely and great looking.

We have just completed our third trip of the spring season.  This was an interesting trip for more than one reason.  One is that PBS joined us.  While the date is unknown at this point, they will be broadcasting a special on little ole Honor Flight Arizona that is tentatively scheduled for viewing on Memorial Day weekend. Check your local TV times for show time.

Something else that is happening on Memorial Day is a day of support coming our way from Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers.  Started by a WWII veteran many years ago in Kansas City, there are now six restaurants in the Valley.  On Memorial Day, Freddy’s will donate a percentage of all income to Honor Flight AZ.  Last year this came to more than $4,000!  Dining out?  Check out these wonderful old-fashioned diners for lunch or dinner and support Honor Flight AZ!

Finally, for the last couple of years, this newsletter has been packaged and distributed under the care of Jessica, a wonderful lady who has been supporting me since I took on this job.  Due to other obligations, Jessica is stepping down.  She will be replaced by the guiding hands of Ginger and Nicole.  Jessica, I cannot thank you enough for your guidance!

From all of us at Honor Flight AZ, hope to see you soon!

Speaking of donors and sponsors, we have a correction to make from our previous newsletter. While we have an outstanding golf tournament coming up, the date has changed. The new date is Saturday, June 22nd. The location will be at Antelope Hills Golf Course in Prescott. Just in time for those hot days in the valley, so come on up! There will be Stay-and-Golf packages for you out of town folks. Lunch is included and there will be a raffle, silent auction and more! Golf and lunch are only $85 and $25 comes to Honor Flight AZ. The details will be on our website soon – www.honorflightaz.org. Don’t golf? Come out for the auction and raffle. You can also join us as we form our committee to make this day a success. Have some fantastic item for the auction? Call Nancy at (928) 713-8475 or email info@honorflightaz.org for more information.

We have had some changes happening around here. First, Tony Martinez who has served as our president since the beginning of Honor Flight AZ, has decided to step down. Thank you, Tony for your years of dedication! Board Member, Rick Hardina has agreed to fill those rather large shoes. Another new board member has joined us – Bill Morgan. Bill has been on a number of flights with HF and has spoken various groups on our behalf. Bill is recently retired from the medical arena and we are thrilled to have him on board!

Stay tuned – we have two more trips booked and ready to launch in April. It is going to be a crazy but fantastic spring!!

“Why do you fly the flag today?”
My grandson wants to know.
I fly it for the graveyards
Where the countless crosses grow.

I fly it for the children
Whose fathers are a name
A half-remembered memory of a face within a frame.

I fly it for the families
Of sons and daughters lost.
They know the price of liberty
How terrible the cost!

I fly the flag for veterans who lost their youth in blood.
And saw their comrades slaughtered
In the carnage and the mud.

I fly it for the ones who marched
In cadence off to war
To close their eyes forever
Upon some foreign shore.

I fly the flag for grief poured out
Upon a granite wall.
The laying–on of hands that heal
The scars within us all.

I fly it for the sounds of Taps—
That melancholy tune
That lays to rest those honored dead
Who always die too soon.

Last month I told the story of Tarawa, a battle for an atoll that demonstrated the need for underwater surveillance and demolition. On November 20, 1943, many of the landing craft became stranded on submerged reefs, leaving the Marines stuck 1000 feet from shore and trapped under withering crossfire. Many Marines were killed before even reaching the shore.

It was obvious that submerged fortifications could prove disastrous for troops, landing craft and an entire military operation. In this same time period, plans were being finalized for the invasion of Normandy where it was known the coast was heavily fortified with underwater mines and obstacles designed to gut a landing craft. A new strategy was needed.

The idea of Frogmen was certainly not a new one. The Italians were well known for their underwater commandoes in WWI nicknamed “Uomini Rana”, Italian for “frog men”. The name stemmed from the unique, frog-like kicking style used by the commandoes. The idea of UDTs was also conceived in the U.S. long before Tarawa.

The first major U.S. amphibious operation of WWII was launched in November 1942 when 400,000 men landed off of 890 ships in North Africa. This landing met with limited resistance as the British were already fighting the Germans. However, the military minds realized that there might be a need for operations to clear beaches in the future. Admiral Turner approached LCMR Draper Kauffman about the development of Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs). At that time, Kauffman was in charge of the Mine Disposal School in Washington.

Kauffman was a graduate of the Naval Academy in 1933. He was captured by the Germans in Europe and later escaped. His first major assignment in the Pacific was to disassemble a 500 lb bomb that had hit Schofield Barracks during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He later set up the Navy’s first bomb disposal school.

Kauffman mulled over the idea of UDTs for quite a while and finally decided the best way to rid the beaches of obstacles was to send in men trained in handling explosives, thereby blasting the beaches clear for the landing crafts. He began to look for volunteers in the Navy Construction Battalion or CBs (later remained the See Bees) who were used to handling explosives. He later sought out Navy and Marine personnel who were rugged and had previous swimming experience. It was understood that all UDT members were volunteers and they could resign at any time.
The men were brought together in the summer of 1943 at Fort Pierce in Florida for six weeks of training. Additional training in Hawaii followed this. The theory was that a man is capable of about 10 times as much physical output as is normally assumed. Grueling exercises were conducted in the ocean and the swamps with the alligators and snakes. The focus was on demolishing the obstacles that were expected at Normandy. Training was extensive and exhausting. Timing and teamwork were critical for each mission.

One former WWII UDT member told of his occasional encounter with sharks in the ocean during training. “One day while swimming in very deep water, I happened to look up to see a six or seven foot shark coming along. I reached for my knife and it wasn’t there. For some reason I had forgotten it. I tried to act calm, saying over and over again that most sharks never bother anyone. Boy was I relieved when it disappeared into nowhere. I never forgot my knife again!”

He went on to describe how they would practice cruising in toward shore on rubber rafts loaded with explosives and then blowing up a reef. “Let me tell you, that when two or three tons of TNT goes off, it makes Old Faithful look like a pot of boiling water!” As a result of their training, the men were soon at home in the mud, noise, water and exhaustion.

The UDTs always functioned in small teams. Their apparel consisted of a pair of swimming trunks, fins, mask, a lead line to measure depths, coral shoes to walk on the sharp coral, a slate for taking notes, a life ring and a Hagansen pack. This explosive pack was for destroying a selected obstacle with limited shrapnel, hopefully protecting the diver. Later, when diving in colder oceans such as at Iwo Jima, the only insulation was a layer of grease applied to their skin.

This group worked hard but was never called upon. Then came Tarawa. From then on, the demand for UDTs exploded. Various training programs were developed at different bases, each with a different focus. Some teams trained extensively in reef and obstacle explosives while other became experts in reconnaissance, where they would sneak ashore and determine resistance levels of the enemy prior to an invasion.

This second group was not without their sense of humor. It has been said that UDTs would come ashore and doodle the famous “Kilroy was here” symbol on structures found ashore. I asked one of our WWII veteran frogmen about it and while he denied knowledge of that story, he replied that his friend in another UDT unit was known for posting small signs on the beach stating, “Army, USO that way”, with an arrow pointing up the beach! The teams also discovered that due to the slowing of bullets underwater, they could catch them in their bare hands. Many were brought back as souvenirs.

The UDTs were later involved in most of the subsequent battles of the Pacific as well as Europe, and Normandy. They were key to the success of Kwajalein, Tinian, Guam, Peleliu, Saipan, Philippines, Borneo, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, among others. Their mark on the success of WWII can never be overstated. On Guam, they removed over 930 obstacles in six days. A very small piece of the Navy, they never numbered more than 32 units and 3000 men. Thanks to the success of the UDTs, the Navy took the skills and team concept of an exceptionally well-trained small unit and developed the highly regarded Navy Seal program.

LCMR Kauffman was later promoted to Admiral for his work with the UDTs. He is today considered the father of the Navy Seals. Kauffman’s team was the first successful reconnaissance frogmen when he and his team swam onto Tinian in advance of the invasion. He passed away in 1979 at the age of 68 while at a Naval Academy alumni event in Budapest. His legacy stands firm in the history of Naval warfare.

-N. Page

One of the truly enjoyable parts of my volunteer job at Honor Flight is the opportunity to talk with WWII veterans and listen to their stories. Recently, I called a veteran to schedule his trip and asked him about his service. He was what he described as a Frogman, or an early Navy Seal. His job was go in and blow up underwater obstacles prior to an invasion in places like Iwo Jima. He went on to explain how this role had been developed after the debacle at Tarawa. This caused me to realize how little I knew of this critical battle, so off to the books I went.

Tarawa is an atoll located about 2,500 miles southeast of Hawaii. Located in the Gilbert Islands, Betio is the largest island in the atoll. It is a small island, ringed with a high underwater wall of coral reefs. The island stretches in a hook-like fashion so it appears something like a bent rifle. Only 2 miles long, it is just 800 yards wide at its widest point. There was a long pier that stretched out from the north shore where cargo ships could unload in the lagoon. The northern coast was the protected, leeward side of the island.

The Japanese were very aware of the strategic location of Tarawa and worked for one year to fortify it with a tremendous number of pillboxes and fire pits that had excellent range to fire onto the beaches. The command post was located in the center of the island. The island was also protected with four large Vickers 8-inch guns secured in concrete bunkers that overlooked the lagoon and pier. There were trenches connecting all points of the island, allowing the enemy to move about unseen. An officer stated to his men that “it would take one million men one hundred years” to conquer Tarawa Atoll.

The U.S. realized that it would be critical to take the Mariana Islands if they were to advance toward Japan. However, the Marianas were heavily defended. The nearest islands that could support a large attack on the Marianas were the Marshall Islands. The difficulty was that the Marshalls were cut off from direct communication to Hawaii by the air base on Betio. Thus, the invasions would have to start with Tarawa Atoll.

The American invasion of the Gilbert Islands was the largest ever assembled at the time. It consisted of 17 aircraft carriers, 12 battleships, 8 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, 66 destroyers and 36 transport ships. On board was the 2nd Marine Division and part of the army’s 27th Infantry Division. This totaled about 35,000 troops. As the sun rose on November 20, 1943, the island’s big guns opened up on the Americans. The Colorado and Maryland returned fire. One shell found its mark in an ammunition storage dump. As reported by an imbedded reporter, ”Within minutes, the sky filled with the orange-red flash….There was a tremendous burst on the land that was Betio. A wall of flame shot 500 feet in the air….Hundreds of awestruck Marines on the deck …cheered in uncontrollable joy….That was only the beginning. First one battleship took up firing, then another and another…..Surely, we thought, no mortal man could live through such destroying power.”

The Marines started to move ashore at 9:00 AM, but found the tide had not risen as expected, blocking their shallow draft Higgins boats from crossing the reefs. The normal rise of the tide, expected to come up five feet above the reef, would have allowed these boats with a draft of 4 feet to cross. But, on this day, there was a neap tide. The neap tide occurs twice a month when the moon is near its first or last quarter. This causes the moon to have less pull on the tide and creates less tidal action. “The ocean just sat there,” it was later recalled.

All Marines had to be moved onto LVT “Alligators” to get to shore. Equipped with tractor treads, they could climb the reefs. This delay, caused by the shifting of troops, allowed the Japanese to re-group and set up a withering fire. The amount of shells being shot at the little “gators” grew until many were knocked out of service via their un-armored skins. Hundreds of Marines were left unprotected in the water on the reef.

Still 1000 yards from the beach, one recalled, “No sooner had we hit the water that the Jap machine guns really opened up on us. There were 5 or 6 concentrating on us…..It was painfully slow wading in such deep water (up to our necks). And we had several hundred yards to walk slowly into that machine gun fire, looming into larger targets as we moved into shallower water.” Those that made it to shore were pinned down behind a sea wall.

Colonel Shoup took charge of the landed forces. Although wounded, he cleared the pier of Japanese snipers and rallied the first wave of Marines who were pinned down. During the next two days, under constant fire, he directed attacks, pushing forward despite daunting odds. For his actions, he earned the Medal of Honor.

Attempts to land tanks failed as they were blown apart and sunk in tank traps. By the first day’s end, only one tank was still serviceable. However, by noon the same day, the Marines had taken the beach as far as the first line of Japanese defenses. By mid-afternoon, the line had moved inward in spots. The communication lines that the Japanese had installed were destroyed, blocking the Japanese commander from directing his troops. By day’s end, a high explosive shell landed in the Japanese headquarters, killing the commander and most of his staff.

As night descended, chaos reigned with the leaderless Japanese, and the Marines held their beachhead allowing reinforcements to move in. By the end of the first day 5,000 Marines were ashore and 1,500 were either dead or wounded.

Gradually, the battle spread across a number of beaches around the island, some meeting with heavy resistance. By the afternoon of the second day, they had crossed the island’s airstrip and occupied abandoned defensive positions on the south shore. Then word came in that Japanese were sneaking off the island and making their way across the sandbars to the small island of Bairiki. Portions of the 6th Marine Regiment were sent in to block this exit. By the end of the second day, the entire west end of the island was in Marine control.

The third day dawned with marked progress made against the enemy despite heavy resistance. By evening, the Marines were organized and ready to take full offensive. Despite multiple Banzai attacks, it was clear the Americans now had the upper hand. Hand to hand combat raged along the lines, but the end was in sight. By mid-afternoon of the third day, the Marines had reached the eastern tip of the island. The island was theirs.

For the next several days, the Marines moved up the atoll, island by tiny island, to clean up remaining pockets of resistance. By November 28, 1943, the atoll was in complete U.S. hands. Of the 3,636 Japanese that made up the island’s garrison, only one officer and 16 enlisted men were willing to surrender. Of the 1,200 Korean slave laborers on the island, only 129 survived. All told, 4,690 of the islands defenders were killed. The 2nd Marine Division suffered 894 killed with another 84 later dying of their wounds. A further 2,188 men were wounded in action. Nearly all casualties were suffered in the 76 hours of the initial battle with most casualties occurring in the waves before reaching shore.

Many lessons were learned from the battle of Tarawa, but the greatest was the force and obstacles of nature. Hundreds of men died simply because of the high walls of reef and an intermittent tidal phenomena. While we could not control tidal changes, the importance of overcoming underwater obstacles was recognized. Hence, the development of the Frogman program that became a prequel to all subsequent invasions in both the Pacific and Atlantic. The blowing apart of reefs and man-made obstacles were most certainly a critical tool in the saving of many American lives.

Next month, the story of the WWII Frogmen.

~N. Page

Some great things have been going on around the ole OK corral, also known as Honor Flight AZ. We just had our 2nd annual golf tournament out at Gold Canyon Golf Resort where 104 golfers spent a chilly but sunny day tooling about in the shadows of the Superstition Mountains. This is truly a magnificent setting. Ryan, the Tournament Coordinator for GCGR and Rick Hardina, President of Honor Flight AZ chaired a great event. There were wonderful prizes, contests and a silent auction, offering a huge variety of items gathered together by our dedicated Gold Canyon volunteers. A special thank you goes to Jelly Belly Candies for once again being our Gold Sponsor for this event and to all of our wonderful volunteers for helping more of our WWII heroes travel to Washington, D.C.

Another, rather different kind of event was attended by a few of our board members, volunteers and vets who caught up with the beautiful “Spirit of 45” statue that was en-route to San Diego. This iconic 25-foot image of the sailor kissing the nurse during the VJ celebration on Times Square in 1945 was on a flat bed truck traveling from New Jersey to its new home in front of the USS Midway. The dedication of this statue occurred during the Spirit of 45 celebration on the weekend of February 16th. A few of the HF AZ board were there to attend this event. It was truly an honor to be invited to the celebration of a memorable day in 1945. Visit www.spiritof45.org to learn more about this new event happening around the country.

Looking ahead, keep an eye on our website, www.honorflightaz.org, for information on our up-coming golf tournament in Prescott! This will be held on Saturday, May 25th, which is Memorial Day weekend at Antelope Hills Golf Course. It should have some great golf and lots of fun. We are looking for sponsors, silent auction items, raffle items, volunteers and of course golfers! Call (928) 377-1020 for information on how to get involved.

As we get ready to blast off for our first flight of Spring, 2013 on March 19-21st, I look forward to seeing you at the airport!

Claire Chennault was a modest man from humble beginnings. Trained as a teacher, he later said that he had been a teacher his whole life, although he spent little time in a classroom. Chennault joined the Army in 1917 and completed flight training in 1919. However, the open cockpit and heavy cigarette smoking caused him to be medically retired as a Captain after 20 years of service.

After he had been discharged, it came to his attention that Madame Chiang Kai Shek of our ally, China, was trying to build an air force to resist Japan’s aggressive stance against China. The Chinese had allowed the Italians train their air force and the results were disastrous. In 1937, Chennault accepted the contract to come to China. It was the start of a long and productive relationship.

Chennault found the conditions in the Chinese air force to be appalling. While records indicated the Chinese had 3000 planes, only 91 were airworthy and none of the pilots had been adequately trained.

Chennault worked with the pilots and built air bases and maintenance facilities. Slowly Chinese kills increased against the increasingly aggressive Japanese.

Chennault returned to the USA briefly in early 1940. He had been asked to investigate whether the United States would provide 500 American pilots and planes to assist the Chinese. Chennault managed to secure 100 of the older models of the P-40 from Wright Aircraft that had been being built for the British. Not included were spare parts or guns that would need to be scrounged up later.

In response to Chennault’s request, FDR gave verbal orders to start recruiting American pilots for the secret mission about to take place in China. Volunteer airmen from the Marines, Army Air Corps and Navy had to resign their commissions with the promise that after one year they could return without loss of seniority. Three hundred pilots, mechanics, propeller specialists, radiomen, a doctor and a few nurses joined what was to become known as the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Many of this group were hard partying, fearless and adventurous, but inexperienced in war. They signed a contract to become a mercenary air force for China against what was now a relentless Japanese invasion. Their mission was to keep open the Burma Road, the only supply route for American goods being delivered to China.

In 1941, these men and women came from all over the nation and boarded ships in San Francisco bound for China. Their passports stated that they were farmers, missionaries, planters and even circus performers to hide their true purpose and FDR’s secret effort to keep China from falling into the hands of the Japanese.

Salary was a big draw for these ex-patriots. Salaries ranged from $250-$750, three times that of the regular military. The Chinese also supplemented this generous pay with a $500 bonus for each plane shot down. Despite the potential for substantial income, the Americans proved to be a challenge for Chennault to work with. “(Personnel) would be subject to summary dismissal for insubordination, habitual use of drugs or alcohol, illness not incurred in the line of duty, malingering and revealing confidential information. Before the end of the AVG, I had to dismiss at least one man for every cause except revealing confidential information.” Fines for offenses were a daily occurance.

Every pilot received 72 hours of lectures in addition to 60 hours in specialized flight training. They learned the geography of Asia. Most importantly, they learned all Chennault had gathered in his previous four years of combat in China. Captured translated Japanese flying manuals served as textbooks. “From these manuals, the American pilots learned more about Japanese fighting tactics than any single Japanese pilot ever learned”, he recalled later.

Then came the attack on Pearl Harbor. The AVG joined up with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the defense of Burma. Their first battle began on December 20, 1941. Nine out of ten Japanese planes were taken out with the loss of one AVG plane. This set the tone for battles to follow. On December 28th, 20 Japanese bombers and 25 fighters hit Rangoon. The AVG shot down 23 of them with six more believed shot down over the nearby gulf. In 11 days of fighting, the AVG officially took out 75 enemy aircraft with many more unconfirmed planes taken out. In 30 days, more that 300 Japanese planes were destroyed. The AVG losses were two pilots and six aircraft. The specially trained AVG pilots consistently out-performed the RAF pilots.

In January 1942, the AVG began a strafing war. Multiple runs over Japanese air bases in Thailand sealed the reputation of the AVG. During one run, the AVG destroyed 60 Japanese aircraft on the ground. This tiny force of fewer than 25 serviceable planes ultimately met over 1000 of the enemy. In 31 encounters, they destroyed 217 planes and probably 43 more. Sadly, Japanese ground troops were eventually able to penetrate Burma, pushing the AVG into the interior of China. However the AVG kept the critical Burma Road open for a crucial two and one half months when supplies were rushed into China. The reputation of the AVG alone kept the Japanese from advancing into Chungking.

The battle continued across western China and finally eastern China. By then, the Japanese had 14 air regiments with almost 500 planes in the region. Against them, 30 AVG planes fought on gallantly. The lack of spare airplane parts and serviceable guns were an endless challenge. Chinese laborers had to craft spare parts from scrap metal and standard tools. The tail numbers on the serviceable P-40s were regularly painted over with a different number to make the Japanese think their fleet was bigger that it was.

In describing the genesis of the name “Flying Tigers” and the famous shark teeth on their aircraft, Chennault told how he had asked friends back home to send him news clippings about the AVG. He was swamped as the media hooked on to the story of the small but mighty air force. In the press, they were being called the “Flying Tigers”. The name stuck. The shark’s teeth were copied from the photograph of an RAF plane in Libya. Soon they were stenciled onto each of the AVG’s P-40s.

The AVG was disbanded on July 4, 1942. The Chinese government decorated most of the group. Ten pilots were awarded distinguished Flying Crosses. Chennault wrote in his final report, “In the Burma campaign, the main brunt of the fighting was borne by the P-40 squadrons of the American Volunteer Group. They were the first in the field with pilots well trained and with good fighting equipment. The great majority of enemy aircraft destroyed in Burma fell to their guns. Their gallantry in action won the admiration of both the American and Chinese services.”

Author’s note: My interest in the Flying Tigers began as a child when my Uncle flew with Flying Tigers Airlines after the war. Many years later, I was given a silk “Blood Chit” and a silk map of French Indo-China. I understood that the AVG Americans carried the blood chit (shown above) and its purpose was to give them safe passage while in China. I have frequently brought these along on my trips to Washington, D.C. to share with my vets. The role of the blood chit has been known by many, but during my last trip, a vet named Henry approached me. He was an American-born Chinese pilot who was shot down over Germany and taken as a POW. He read fluent Chinese and translated my blood chit for me. This was a gift I will never forget. Thank you, Henry.

-NP