Good afternoon. My name is Paul Zarbock. I'm a staff member of UNCW's Randall Library. Today is the 9th of September in the year 2002. We are interviewing today Mr. Fred Crane. Mr. Crane, let's start off by asking you the question I usually ask. When did you go into the military? Where did you go into the military? Why did you go into the military?

Alright. I- I went into the military upon graduation from high school. I had been working in the grocery business all- all through high school. But I knew when I graduated from high school I didn't want to do that the rest of my life. But I had a sister that was working at Prudential Insurance Company and I- I thought maybe I'd try to get on with them. But uh.. my father had worked there when I was- before I was- before I was born, and uh.. he had worked there. And uh.. but uh.. anyway, uh.. I decided uh.. this uh.. grocery business, I- I'm gonna try something else. So I saw an article in the paper, in the North Star Ledger, I believe it was, or North Evening News, said there was 25 vacancies, U.S. Army Air Corps. Travel. And it said right on the bottom learn aircraft mechanics and Hawaii. I said, that's for me.

What year was this?

That was uh.. July 25, 19 uh.. 39. Yes. And then uh.. I uh.. told my mother about it. She- she thought it would be a good idea, but she didn't like that uh.. me leaving home and going over to the Islands, but uh.. uh.. I told her it was just- I'll be- I won't be gone long, you know. But uh.. it was just for three years and then I'll come home. But anyway, uh.. make a long story short, uh.. I went and then, of course, uh.. during the time uh.. up until 1941, I uh.. we- I'd seen the change in the air craft from the old B-18 bombers. And we were starting to get into the B-17s there.

Well, let me take you back. Where did you do your basic training?

Ba- the basic training, I had was uh.. basically only about three weeks of it. At first I got my three uh.. shots with one- one shot a week up there at Fort Slocum, New York. And then from there we- we got on a- the boat and went all the way down through the Canal Zone up to California, and they took us off the boat there.

Was it a troop ship?

It was a- a regular troop ship, yes sir. And uh.. it uh.. uh.. then uh.. we landed at uh.. Fort McDowell and I don't know why they'd taken us off the boat there, but uh.. we stayed there for a couple of days and uh.. then we went back on the ship and then uh.. uh.. we went right to Hawaii, and I arrived there in uh.. in September. Yeah. Somewhere in there, July, August.

And that's where you learned the Air Force mechanic?

Yes. Yeah. And uh..

Air Corps in those days.

Yes. Uh.. Army Air Corps, yeah. They had a school there at- at Hickam Field, and- and gave us uh.. a basic uh.. aircraft maintenance course.

Was it on the job training, or was it..

Oh,..

Classroom?

Yeah. It was mostly uh.. uh.. on the job training. Uh.. Specifically, of course, we learned more. And back in those days, uh.. i- if you uh.. once you uh.. uh.. along with your grade, we had what we called uh.. Second AM and First AM. Well, mind you, my- my pay at that time was $21 a month. And you could get even as a private, you get a Second AM and it would jump from $21 to $72 a month. And then if you were a First AM, $84 a month, which was equivalent to a staff sergeant back then.

What's an AM?

Air Mechanic. AM rating is the air mechanic rating. Uh.. And shortly after December 7th, they- just before June, they came out and they made you- I jumped from a private to- up to a- a uhm.. Well, first off, I had been uhm.. from private. They had specialty ratings along when I was a First and Fourth. You got uh.. uh.. one was the highest. Two, and then three, and then four, five and six. Well, I got down as high as- as four. And then uh.. I passed uh.. the AM rating test on aircraft mechanics and I also took it on uh.. on instruments. And uh.. and I passed that. But uh.. when the- when the opening came, uh.. I got an A in the aircraft, the aircraft me uh.. rating.

And you got that salary then?

Then I went- uh.. I- I went to buck sergeant, right- right from private to buck sergeant, yeah.

In those days buck sergeant stood next to God.

Of all men, yes. But then, of course, and then you got your staff sergeant and then tech sergeants and master, you know. Uh.. I- I retired as a senior master sergeant. Uh.. Of course that was several years later.

Well, then you were on the Islands when the Japanese attacked.

I was there uh.. that's right, at Hickam Field, which is adjacent to Pearl Harbor, and..

Tell me about your observations.

Well, uh.. it was a Sunday morning, and uh.. I had- I was going to go to church, 8:00 o'clock mass. And uhm.. I was dre- I already had dressed. And I didn't go to breakfast. I was going to go ahead into town and have breakfast in- in Honolulu. Well, anyway, uh.. I was combing my hair uh.. uh.. in- in front of this mirror which was a large one. You- you- you'd stand in front of it and adjust your uniform, you know, by the whole length of the- of the mirror, you know. Anyway, uh.. then I heard these planes, and it's Sunday, mind you. Mmmmmmm, like diving, you know. And always it- it was a good sight to see one air- aircraft after another diving like that. But then, ahummmm. I heard the bomb hit over there at Pearl. And he pulled out of his dive. He came right over our barracks and he was, I would say, probably about 300 feet above our barracks. That- that low, and I saw the old, red insignia on, and I immediately said, I- some guys were still laying in the sack, 'cause they, you know, it was Sunday morning. I- I got some of the fellows up that were still late, and I said, what happened? What happened? I says, look, that somebody dropped a bomb over there at Pearl Harbor. And I says, it's the Japs, 'cause he just flew over.

Anyway, they- I- I mean, of course, from the- the concussion you could hear it. We were uh.. See uh.. Hickam Field is separated by a fence at Pearl Harbor. And you can look over there. In fact, you could hear when the submarines would take out. They'd have a certain sound, and you can hear 'em going out. That's how close we were to 'em. I- I venture to say uh.. from the barracks about two miles. That's how close. If you were walking it like that, it'd be about two miles to the fence separating them, you see.

But uh.. and then all hell broke loose and I- I was in civilian clothes, so I- I- at first I ran out of the barracks and then I uh.. got myself together and I said, what the heck am I doing? I ran back into the barracks and I took off my civilian clothes and uh.. slapped on my coveralls and I grabbed my gasmask. Our weapons were down in the hangar locked up. So anyway, in fact, some guys were even ahead of us that broke into it to get the weapons in there. I- I managed to get a 45 caliber pistol, and also my rifle, which is the old, the 1903 Springfield at that time, anyway, a 30 caliber. And uh.. I grabbed that and uh.. we were- we were parked wing tip to wing tip. And the reason why we were parked wing tip to wing tip because one man could guard aircraft uh.. mu- much easier, you see, uh.. rather than have them uh.. spread out. And then you'd have to have a man on up there like that with their airplanes, you see. So, anyway, but that was a mistake. I don't want to uh.. get ahead of my story.

Unbeknown to us, but a midget submarine had been hit before they- that first bomb hit outside, close to Pearl Harbor, but we couldn't hear it because they were firing from a- a destroyer they had. But it was uh.. roughly about maybe 30 minutes or two an hour. I couldn't tell you. But- but anyway, they, Navy knew about it, but they didn't report it to Fort Shafter uh.. to alert the army on it. You see what I mean? Plus the fact is at Opana [ph?] Radar Station, George Elliot and Bill Lockhart, two fellows were up there, and they were picking up blips. The first mistake was not reporting about the submarine. The second mistake was that the boys at Opana picked up blips, and they called Fort Shafter and said we're picking up blips. But the uh.. lieutenant answering said, well, we're expecting 12 B-17s from the states. And, he said, disregard. So the boys disregarded. Had they said I'm picking up numerous blips, you see what I mean? Just the word numerous, that would have given us a half hour to get down there to that, and get our planes dispersed. But boy, when we started getting. See, when they hit. I- I'd have to show it to you. Uh.. We had- the p- planes were destined to hit Pearl Harbor.

Open up that, hold it up so the camera can see it.

This is a picture of the Starward Bulletin from Hawaii announcing that- that the war was starting. Uh.. Anyway, had we had that, we had- we- we could have uh.. got some of them dispersed, because there was planes destined to hit Wheeler Field. They hit uh.. Wheeler Field before even hit actually Pearl Harbor coming in, uh.. 'cause they came in that way. And- and they were coming down that way. Then uh.. uh.. the ones destined for Hickam Field were coming another way, you see. But it was all simultaneously, you see what I mean? And I could hear uh.. the first hit down there by the uh.. what they call the Hawaiian Air Depot, where some of the civilians worked down there, too, you see, along with uh.. military personnel. But uh.. all hell broke loose. And uh.. I'm telling you, but- but I- my time was dedicated to just- to get my airplane out of the way like that, and I was helping others get theirs out. Uh.. uh.. Get 'em dispersed like that.

Uh.. We had men that were uh.. we had- see, we had some sandbags out there on the- on the parade field with a- a ground 50 caliber machinegun out there. And so some fellows raced for that, you see. But- but they- they were- where I was- I was concerned about my aircraft, to get that, you see. And- and that's where I- what I was doing mo- most of the time. One- one of the B-17s that was coming in, o.k., in between the attack, before the second wave hit, uh.. they came in and we would disperse them out in the fields. Uh.. uh.. I dispersed one of them and- and when they got out of the airplanes they said, what is this? One, uh.. pardon the expression one hell of reception. And uh.. uh.. I said, yeah, this is the real McCoy. I says you'd better take cover. But there's no cover. We're out here in the middle of a field. There's no- no uh.. foxholes or anything.

So, anyway, and I knew when they- they- you could see all strafing started. And they were coming in treetop level. And I had this one. He was coming right at that B-17. And I was right next to it, right out in front, and I hit the ground uh.. laid right like that. And I could see the bullets hitting, strafing like that. And I was just waiting for the pain. And I said, Lord have mercy on me. Lord have mercy on me. Went right by me. Same thing at Guadalcanal when I was down near the Sommes. We- we were bombed night and day, and this one time they hit our camp and- and a train of bombs were coming like that. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Ha. Uh.. That really makes a believer out of you in uh.. in a hurry. As the old saying, there's no atheism in foxholes. You know what I mean? That's the way it is. I mean that.

But uh.. I never heard of so- so many doggone uh.. warnings about hey, the- the Japs have landed on the other side of the field, and they- they had some of the troops uh.. uh.. up against trees and they were bayoneting them and everything like that. They had saying that there was a- a Jap uh.. in a truck and he was going down the flight line with a machinegun and just doing everything. But that was just uh.. uh.. you- you hear that stuff, you know, propaganda. Uh.. But that night, that night it was- it was something. But uh.. uh.. you never seen guys that they uh.. it was strafing and- not- not strafing, but uh.. everybody was just uh.. I wouldn't say uh.. uh.. pistol happy or anything like they were gun happy. Anybody that moved they'd uh.. they say hey or challenge. They would challenge 'em, you know what I mean? And I- I- I would do the same thing.

Uh.. But uh.. I've never seen such a- the way everybody got together. Uh.. The officers' wives, people from Honolulu came out and- to help. And they- they- they were uh.. you- you uh.. uh.. later in the day making sandwiches for us, you know, and all that, uh.. It was a- uh.. firemen from town, they came out and they were fighting the fires. Uh.. Our hangars were on fire. And uh.. we lost, I think, I'm not too sure, but I think it was two firemen, civilian firemen from downtown. But uh.. we got it together. Got it together pretty good after that, and uh.. but it- it uh.. oh, you could. I could tell you stories. Golly. One fellow that we had that was, you know, you had one guy in a squadron you thought was a- I wouldn't say a meatball or he just- he just didn't have it or anything like that. But he's uhm.. I don't know what the word we call 'em, but anyway, that guy was a true hero. He was picking up dead off the field and carrying them to safety, or those who were wounded. And he had one guy that was shot right off his back. And what uh.. after- after they hit us on the 7th, they asked if- if anybody had noted anybody uh.. that did any true heroism, you know, and they would put him for the silver star. And he- he got the silver star. But uh.. there was uh.. there- there was a lot of guys that recommended uh.. their own people like that. And they weren't doing anything more than what I was doing or anybody else. But- but it uh.. it's amazing. And if you- if- if you got uh.. There was a case of a guy. He's, I think he cut himself on a- on a bottle, or, yeah, like that, and uh.. a Coke. And- and he went to the hospital for the cut, and he got the Purple Heart. You know what I mean? It just so happened that uh.. his name was in the- in the hospital and if anybody was wounded they got the Purple Heart, you know.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Yes, sir.

Did you go back to your barracks at night, or did you..

No.

Did they put you on a canvass?

Oh, no.

Or what?

No, no. We were, oh, we were- everybody was sleeping out. No. We wouldn't go back to the..

Did you dig in?

No. We didn't dig in, but we were- we were- we were uh.. we were out in the boondocks, so to speak. Yeah. But uh.. no. Uh.. We- we weren't too far from our aircraft, either. But uh..

You mentioned your aircraft. Was this a single engine or multi engine aircraft?

Uh.. Du- the ones that I was working on is double engine, uh.. two.

And what kind was it?

B-18. But- but we were just starting to go into. In fact, we even had one of the B-17s. Now, the B-17 D model, didn't have the- the man in the tail. Uh.. What they had- they had- they had the waist guns on each side, in- in the ball turret. Uh.. And- and of course, there was a gun up there where the bombardier uh.. uh.. he- where he sits. But uh.. no, uh.. uh.. let me see what happened here. Uh.. I'm losing track. You- you're talking about the- what type aircraft.

Yeah.

O.k. Now, uh.. we were getting- we were transitioning into the E model. The E model came out with- with the guns in the tail.

Yeah.

The tail turret.

Well, we..

Yeah.

Let me take you along here. The attack on Pearl Harbor has taken place.

Yes.

When and why did you get shipped off the Islands?

Oh, well, the Midway battle started in June, and uh.. at that time my- I was an assistant crew chief on- on December the 7th. And- and- and my crew chief had gone to town, Honolulu. And we came out to the airplane and s- and they asked us uh.. we were- we were already loaded up anyway. But uh.. ju uh.. we didn't know where we were going to go. But I had heard- I had heard that Midway had been hit the day before. And they asked me how many men I had. I had two others with me. And uh.. they- they said, well, grab your gear. I says, where we going? We can't tell you until we get airborne. Anyway, they told us we were going to Midway. And uh.. and so I went through Midway during the battle and- and, of course, uh.. that's another story. I mean, 'cause I- I lost an engine over there. Not- not from battle damage, but uh.. a doggone goony bird got in and it ruined the engine. But I had to change an engine there, and with the help of a flight crew, I- I changed the engine. They- they flew in uh.. a new engine for me. And uh.. but uh.. that was good. Uh.. That was pretty good. I mean, they uh.. that was the first time that they uh.. When you didn't have the proper equipment out there, it's amazing what you can do, you know, I mean as far as uh.. uh.. you know you had to have a- a- a lift for it, you see. But we managed to get under it and so forth and we did it (inaudible).

How long were you at Midway?

Uh.. About uh.. we stayed there about probably 14 days, or something like that. But that's all. In fact, General Tinker came in and he had an LB-30. Now, an LB-30 is a B-24, but built to uh.. British specifications. And they call it, in other words, they uh.. our propellers they call 'em airscrew. Uh.. Your- your landing gear, we would say landing gear. They'd call it lighting gear, you see when they? Uh.. We had a maintenance manual that we had to- that DS-1 was the f- flight, uh.. you- you know, oh uh.. how the instructions. And then uh.. the- the maintenance part on everything uh.. is run in that- that DS-2 book, which we, as the mechanics, use. But uh.. uh.. General Tinker, he was a- an Indian from Oklahoma. He was a major-general, and lo and behold, they disappeared. No one ever knew whatever happened to 'em. They disappeared. And they couldn't find the wreckage. Couldn't find the airplane. And half of the crew were members of my squadron. Was made up from my squadron that were on that plane. Uh..

Midway was used. It was a solid aircraft carrier, wasn't it?

Uh..

I mean, they used it as a..

Yeah. But uh.. Midway Island i- is- is two islands right next to each other, just about adjacent. And it was just a short, probably maybe going out to College Road f- from each other. You see, you had- we had to go by boat to get over to it. But uh.. uh.. it was Eastern Island and Sand Island. But the- the- the runway is uh.. around this one island, you see. And uh.. anyway, now you got me confused, because I've for- forgotten now which- if it was Sand or Eastern. I- but I kind of think it was Eastern Island that I was on.

But you were there for two weeks.

Yeah, two weeks.

And you were doing aircraft.

Yeah.

Maintenance and repair.

Yeah. On repair, we would repair the aircraft after battle damage and so forth.

Well, who told you, get on the next aircraft? How did you leave, by airplane?

Yeah. Well, uh.. they- they said, now I told you how they came out to the field and told me that uh.. we- we were going- we're- we're leaving. I says, where are we going? He says, I can't tell you until we get onboard the airplane. And like I say, I had heard that Midway was hit the day before. So.

But how did you leave Midway?

Uh.. Oh, I came back with my airplane to Hawaii. But, uh.. then I didn't go uh.. see the Marines went into Guadalcanal in August of '42. Now, uh.. the Midway battle started in June- June, I believe on June 5th uh.. in 1942. But in August of '42, Marines went into uh.. uh.. uhm.. Guadalcanal. And uh.. they all- they- they had already had uh.. captured. The- the Japs had taken over Henderson Field. But Henderson Field was nothing uh.. back then, anyway. They- that when the- the CBs went in there, after they- they put that steel matting in there, everything on there, you know, and. But uh.. I uhm.. we went from- from Hawaii by ship, two ship, to uh.. we landed at uh.. Fiji. We thought our orders were changed, and we knew we're gonna be the ones stationed in- at Fiji. But, no. No. Then they went all the way down to New Hebrides, which is uh.. the island uh.. Spiritu Santo. Uh.. That, incidentally, name's been changed to- I can't think of the name. That's another name. But that's all French territory. New Caledonia.

We landed at New Caledonia and then uh.. New Hebrides. They came out one day and they asked for volunteers to go on an advanced party up to Guadalcanal. And already uh.. we uh.. Henderson Field was captured by- by the Marines. So uh.. here I go. Uh.. I went up there and that was uh.. December, December the 13th. They says, they went in there in August and uh.. it took a couple of months before they get tu- tot- totally. The island was not taken, 'cause uh.. the- the island was still- there- there was Japs on the island when I was there, you see what I mean. Uh.. And uh.. the- uh.. the- the last ba- battle, you probably heard about Bloody Ridge. Uh.. That was the- the last really main one that they had there. But uh.. then the Battle of the Metanical [ph?] which is a river. That- that was the last- that was the last, bottom battle. But the- it took- the one before the battle was Bloody Ridge. Yeah.

Were you maintaining only U.S. Army aircraft, or did you...

No.

...work with the Marines too?

No, no. Uh.. The Marines had uh.. at that time, they had uh.. Wildcats, and uh.. then had SBD's, too, uh.. there, also. Uhm.. At that time, let's see, uhm.. oh golly. Trying to think of his name right now. Chuck Yeager? No, no. Yeager was Air Force. Uh..

Pappy Boyington.

Pappy Boyington. Pappy Boyington, he was over there at the same time I was. And uh.. s- so was uh.. another ace there, fr- he- he uh.. eventually became a governor of uh.. uh.. out there in Idaho. I can't even think of his name right now. Joe Foss. [ph?]

Oh, yes.

Joe Foss. They were aces, I mean, boy the- they- I forgot how many airplanes they..

Well, where'd they have you billeted under, canvass?

Uh.. No. I tell you. When I- when I went up to Canal [ph?] the Second Raider Division- the Raiders, were moving out. They were gonna go up to another island up- up the chain, Russell Islands or Farburg I- but, anyway. But they're uh.. And that was old uh.. oh, my gosh. I- I can't- I can't even think of his name now. Big Red- Big Red. He was- he was in charge of those- the Raiders. Yeah. Anyway, uh.. and, of course, Chesty Puller was down there, too, you know. He was in the Marines. And he made- he made a name for himself down there also. And uh.. he was one of the greatest generals they'd ever had. Uh..

But the Raiders pulled out. Did you occupy their bivouac then?

Yeah, yeah. And in a mo- when I went up there in the advance party, he told us to spread out and- and see if uh.. we could come up with a- a- a- a pretty good uh.. you know, sight to put our tents, you know. And, well, this- this camp that left, just so happened to have a little tent over there by four coconut trees, and they were cut off at the side like that, and had the canvass going over the top. And it was just right for three guys. And it just so happened we- we managed to go ahead and get that one. And- and that was the best one in camp, because when the rest of the squadron came up, they had to be in the- the canvass tent with about three or four guys. You know what I mean? Or more. There were more than that uh.. in- in a tent.

How long did you stay at Guadalcanal?

Uh.. 'Til February.

Of what year?

Uh.. Of uh.. '43. And uh.. I, at that time, I had roughly, well I used to- I- I left in '4- at '39, and I had to go to- I had a chance that you take a- a leave to Auckland, New Zealand or go home. So I- I owed it to my mother. Uh.. uh.. Ju- I had been away for four years and uhm.. they- they even tried to get me be- be- before the war even, after I finished uh.. just about almost getting ready to leave anyway. Uh.. Well that- well, no. It couldn't be. They asked me if I could get a transfer, and the only way you'd get a transfer back to the states is a- was an emergency. And mine wasn't classified as an emergency. So I- that's the reason why I- I- I owed it to my other to go home. So I went home. And like I say, about that, catching that malaria, I got the bug there and- but it didn't come out on me until I was back in the states for a whole year.

But you were still in the military when you..

Oh, yes.

..came back to the states.

Oh, yes. I- uh.. I went to Pueblo, Colorado, and I- I joined a bomb group there, and uh.. they were uhm.. B-24's. Uh.. uh.. They eventually uh.. were staring to switch to B-24's anyway, even my outfit, they were- they- they made a change over later on. In- In 1943, they were making the change, because the B-24, even though it wasn't as- as- and, of course, you're gonna hear different fellows. Uh.. If you were a B-24 man, they swear by their airplane, whereas we would talk about the queen of- of the skyways, the old B-17, Flying Fortress. But uh.. uh.. the reason why we went to B-24's, 24's could carry a bigger bomb load, plus they had more range. So you could- you could see that, why we did that. But I- I still had to go to a B-24 outfit when I went back to the states. And then it was strictly on the job training, even though the job I got when I got back there was an aircraft inspector. So I- I- I worked as an aircraft inspector there, as a squadron inspector. Yeah.

And were you there when the war ended?

Yes. Yeah, I all- uh.. uh.. like I say, the bomb group moved from- from uh.. Pueblo up to Westover Field in Massachusetts. They were in what they call third and fourth phase training. After they finished up at Westover, they were sent overseas, the- the flight crews were. Yeah, the airplanes. Yeah.

Do you remember where you were?

Yes.

At the..

I remember that night distinctly. Uh.. I didn't get- I didn't get stinko, so to speak. I wasn't drunk. I wasn't much of a drinker anyway. But uh.. anyway, I had a good time, and uh.. everybody was just- uh.. you went to town, of course, which was Holyoke and Springfield, Mass. And uh.. everybody was out on the street. I mean, you were kissing everybody and, oh, uh.. uh.. everyone's having a big time, and it was just- uh.. you never seen anything like it. I- I can imagine how Times Square was, because I've never seen how it was when they said that- that, you know.

But this was not the end of your military career.

No. Oh, no. No. I got out. I got out. When I came out with the points, so I had enough points to get out.

And you were what, a buck sergeant at this time?

No, no. I went uh.. I went from uh.. I- I- right after the Midway battle, I made staff sergeant. And then- then from- from staff I uh.. when I got back to the states, I was made tech sergeant. So I- I stayed at tech sergeant. I got discharged in August of '40- '45, August of '40, right. Au- Au- August or September of '45. And uh.. yeah, I went back- uh.. I went home for awhile, and uh.. of course, you know, you would get that- for 52 weeks you'd get that 20 bucks, you know. And for a week, you know, and. Anyway, what they call 52-20. But I was still looking for a job and this buddy of mine, he had- uh.. he uh.. he was living in New York State, and I was so- I- uh.. u- used to listen to his stories about the hunting and fishing up there, and how nice it was. And so I went up there and I got a job with Remington Rand as- as a- uh.. an inspector, as- in the tabulating division. But they dropped their retirement from 20 year- I mean, 30 years to 20. So when they dropped it down to 20, I- I reenlisted. And uh.. without even joining the res- reserve I went back in as a tech sergeant what I got discharged as. And then I didn't make master until uh.. 1950, du- during the Korean. From- from '40 uh.. '46, when I reenlisted, uh.. your rank was frozen. But when the Korean War started, bingo. I- I made master, I went right to master, yeah.

Did you serve in Korea?

Uh.. Not per se, because I was with B-29s then. And I was a squadron inspector in this uh.. 28 bomb squadron.

What is it when you say you're an inspector?

Yeah.

What was your..?

Aircraft inspector.

But what was your span of control? What did you have to do?

All- all aircraft uh.. in general. In other words, you inspected the engines if they- if they changed engines you had to- you checked the engine over and- and see that, if there was any- any kind of little small discrepancy, you'd write it down, you see.

But nothing about instruments or the electronic.

Uh.. No. I..

Strictly..

No. No. They- there was an inspector for electronic equipment.

But yours was strictly engine.

Strictly aircraft- aircraft in general and- and engines. Yeah.

Well, the Korean War conflict came and went.

Yeah. That's right.

And you were in service all of that time.

Oh, yes. During that time. And uh.. uh.. they told us that uh.. uh.. uh.. the Korean War was winding down, if you had your wives on Guam. Incidentally, my wife got uh.. got to Guam in 1950, two weeks before the Korean War started. And we were the only B-29 outfit in the Pacific, so when the- the squadron uh.. uh.. went to Okinawa, and uh.. we had one aircraft that was out of commission, so being a- a squadron inspector, I- I stayed there for a couple of days uh.. 'til they finished uh.. the engine, you see.

How many aircraft in a squadron?

Oh. Uh.. About 15. Yeah, yeah. That was..

Does each aircraft have its own inspector?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah.

And you reported to whom?

I reported to the engineering officer, and he's- most times he was either a captain, his lowest rank was a captain, and he was- he- he had a mo- or major, you see. Yeah.

Well, did that end your military career?

Oh, no. No. I stayed in and uh.. then in uh.. when the uh.. the Vietnam War started, they were seeking volunteers for that. So I volunteered for that. In the meantime, I was married at that time, too. But uh.. I figured I'd just go over to uh.. to Okinawa, you know, and uh.. that's where I- I went to because they formed this uh.. tanker outfit, which is KC-135. And we would refuel all the- all the bombers, the B-52s, and the- and also fighters in Southeast Asia. So uh.. in between being in Okinawa and Thailand, I went to Thailand also on uh.. on temporary duty uh.. about four- three or four times. And uh.. so we operated out of there at Taklee [ph?], which is up country. And uh.. of course, we would refuel all the 105's, their fighters, and uh.. and our '52's. Our '52's were stationed down in Sadaheep [ph?], which was uh.. down in the south end of uh.. uh.. of uhm.. uh.. uh.. Thailand.

What was the name of the place?

Uh.. Sadaheep. Sadaheep. Don't ask me to spell it.

Mr. Crane, you were not on flying status.

No. Uh.. No. I didn't- I didn't go on flying status. Uh.. The only time I was on actually flying status was when I reenlisted in 1946, uh.. they sent me to Fort Bragg and- and uh.. I was a crew chief on a uh.. a C-47, but then we started getting C-82s, and so I went up to Fairchild, planning to pick up a C-82 up there and- and we come down. And I even pulled the- the service test on the- on the C-82, which was the original flying boxcar. The- the later models were the C-119's, which we used in Korea, over there in Korea. Uh.. But I already had gone uh.. do you know, back to the- I went to the B-29 outfit uh.. when uh.. uh.. Viet Nam was going on. So I uh.. had- had I stayed in the squadron, I would have found myself uh.. right in Korea, because my outfit was in Korea as- as a troop carrying squadron. Yeah.

You mentioned something earlier on tape that if you were a B-24 person.

Yes.

That was the aircraft. If you were a B-17.

Yeah. So everybody..

That was the aircraft.

Everybody took pride in their own aircraft.

Well there's another argument, I think that's presented, and that is, is it the design of the aircraft that's more important.

Oh, yes.

Or is it the engine that's more important?

Well, both, actually.

But if you got to pick one.

Uh..

Chicken or the egg.

Oh, no. I'd say- I- I believe uh.. uh.. that when you speak about it, because the fact is the B-24 wouldn't stay afloat. You wouldn't think so, as- as long as uh.. uh.. the B-17 would. They'd stay afloat if it went down in the sea. But uh.. that..

But is it the engine?

And- and I don't believe, I honestly don't believe that the 24 could take a beating like the B-17 did. I mean, you'd be surprised uh.. uh.. how those planes came back. I saw a picture one time that actually, that landed over there in- in uh.. England. From the waist gunner, back, there was on each side- I don't know how the airplane was holding itself together, was that much of an opening. And that- that pilot brought that thing in. They had rudders cut right in half like that, and they made it back. It's- it's unbeknowing. I s- like I say, I think the B-17 could take more punishment than- than the B-24. And..

Were the engines..

And even, if you crash landed in the ocean, you would think that as- as funny as the way that the- the 24 is, you'd think it would stay afloat. But, no, they wouldn't. It wouldn't stay afloat as long as the..

Were the engines the same engines?

No. Uhm.. No. Uh.. I believe, good, God, no. Oh. We used Wright Cyclone engines uh.. on- on- on the 7- 17. And uh.. I believe that they were Pratt Whitney's on- on the 24.

What'd you have on the 29?

Pratt Whitney's.

Big.

Yeah. Yeah.

What was that, 36 cylinder?

Yeah. Oh, my God. I- geeze. Ha. I'm getting forgetful now in my old age. Yeah, but uh.. I couldn't tell you now as much as.

How has the air- I'm gonna use old fashioned language.

Oh.

And we'll try to get into the modern stuff.

Sure.

How did the air- the U.S. Army Air Corps differ from the U.S. Air Force of today? What are some of the big differences? You were a kid when you started off.

Yeah. Eighteen years old.

And you're a mature adult now.

Yeah.

You've seen the sweep.

Yeah. Yeah. Uh..

What were the big differences?

Well, uh.. really, when you became a- a separate uh.. branch, when you became Air Force, you- you felt like you- you were something. You see what I mean? Ra- rather- and then- I don't want to take away from the army because, I mean, I've got army instilled in me. You know what I mean? And uh.. even when I go to any particular military event, I stand up for the army, and I stand up for the uh.. for the Air- Air Force. You see what I mean. Plus I stand up twice. And- and if I was uh.. in the Navy, I'd stand up three times. You know what I mean. But uh.. uh.. no. Uh.. Equipment wise, uh.. I- I was very fortunate. We uh.. every aircraft I worked on.

But speed increased.

Yeah. Speed.

Enormously.

Oh, yes. Yes, yes.

Design changed.

Oh, yes. Yes. Design changed, yes.

When I was a kid, I still remember fabric covered airplanes.

Oh, sure. Sure, you do. Yes. I re- I do, too.

Now they're made up of stuff that doesn't even have a name.

Yeah. I know it. Yeah.

Speed increased.

Yeah.

What about armament?

Good. Good. You- you- oh, my gosh. You- you had- oh, my. I- I think the B-17 had 12 guns, 50 calibers. I have forgotten what the 24 had. Course they had- they had uhm.. and they get- in the- the front, and the waist. Yeah. They might have had the same. I- I- I- uh.. my heart's more with the B-17 even though- even though I was on 24's for a det- for about two years anyway.

Did you ever fly the 29?

Never did. But I was on- on- on 29s. Yes.

Sure.

Yeah. I think that- I think it'd be great to fly on that thing. I think it would be something. I uhm.. I uh.. I loved every aircraft. I mean, uh.. the 17's, and, course, uh.. and- and troop carrier, every time we flew, I had to fly with 'em. I pulled up a lot of hours. When I went on the airlift in Germany, 1948, they were asking for volunteers for that. And uh.. heavens, I was- I went from- from the- the C uh.. the C-82s to C-54s. But an airplane's an airplane, you see what I mean? And uh.. at that time I was a tech sergeant, so uh.. I was a- a- a flight chief on the flight line. And uh.. but..

Where were you stationed?

Uh.. In- on the airlift?

Yes.

Fassberg, which is about oh, golly, uh.. just- just south of uhm.. Hamburg, up in the northern part of Germany.

And you hauled whatever had to be hauled.

Yeah. No. We were hauling coal. Yeah. We were hauling ten ton of coal in '54. Yes siree. They had that- those- those bags stacked up and about three feet high, and- and about twelve feet long, or more, stacked up. And uh.. they would fly 'em in there, and- and what I was going to tell you is that uh.. since I was on flying status when I left the states, in order for me to get my flying pay over there, uh.. I was only over there on temporary duty, uh.. so, but anyway, I had to fly. And doggone if on the very first mission that I had gone on, uh.. a doggone Russian Zepp [ph?] Yak fighter came right on our wing tip just like this, and he wasn't- golly, I venture to say he couldn't have been more than 20 feet away. That's- I can see- I can still see him today look- looking right out on the- look- looking right over at him. Yeah. And uh.. if uh.. uh.. what uh.. when you're flying uh.. on a C-54, it's just like if you flew as engineer. So my job was a- a hand on the flaps and- and also the landing gear. I did that. And uh.. keep- keep my eyes on the engine and so- and what you can, you know, do with the- what has to be done uh.. in the aircraft (inaudible).

The flying distance from Hamburg to Berlin is not very..

Oh, no. Oh, no. As soon as you got airborne you were over.

Yeah.

Uh.. The zone, so to speak. 'Cause I- our uh.. our area, Fassburg was classified as a British zone, you see, a British zone. But then you- you're- you're going in uh.. uh.. at that time, at least uh.. Temple- they had Temple Hoff. Uh.. God. I can't think of the other one. Time's just slipped by me. Yeah, but uh.. But, boy, that- uh.. they had uh.. German trustees unloading the coal by hand, these guys. We had trustees at- at Fassburg helping us, and uh.. uh.. a guy- one of the older men, he- I noticed one time, he had a pouch, and he had a little pipe. And he'd break off that and- and uh.. fill his pipe up from this pouch. I asked him, what kind of tobacco are you smoking? He told me Sky Master tobacco. Well, Sky Master is the C-54. And what he was doing, he went up in the cockpit, he was up there- the ash trays where the guys smoked their- their butts, and he was just crumpling the- the tobacco in his little pouch. Well, I- I changed that a little bit. I- I used to pick him up a pouch of real tobacco. But when I left there, the old boy, he- he- he used to call me a honcho, and he said, uh.. I'm gonna give you something. He spoke pretty good English. And he- but- but he was an older gentleman. And- and he could have been in World War II. And he- he said I'm gonna give you something. And I don't know what it meant to him, but he gave me his Iron Cross. And what degree it is I don't know, but they are given in degrees like a Iron Cross 2nd degree, and so forth. But.

Did you fly into Temple Hoff?

Yes. Uh..

I was trying to.

Gap Town. Gap Town. That's it. Uh.. Gap Town was the other one. Yeah. I- I- I went in both.

How long were you on the ground?

There? Oh..

How long did it take to unload?

Oh, my gosh. It- it didn't take long, but boy, by gosh, uh.. hey. Those airplanes were running right around the clock. You'd never seen anything like it. It was just fantastic. See, Rhine Main, we- we'd fly in something different. Rhine Main. They'd come up with food, uh.. 'cause see, that's right, you see. And- and coal, the coal was coming from Selly [ph?], which is right uh.. we were only about 25 miles away from Selly. But we were in competition. We were with Fassburg beat- got- got tallow. And uh.. and they had boards. Boy, they had for competition of how many- of uh.. but, boy, I'm telling you right now, very few planes that uh.. didn't make it. I mean, on taking off, you know what I mean. When they were ready to go, they went and uh.. and they came by. We had only one airplane that crashed over there. And the only thing I could figure out is that that- that that particular base was closed in at the time. And he- he might have said, oh, damn. And he might have just whipped that around like that, and he ripped it around, he just slid somehow. I don't know what happened. No ones knows how- what happened- happened 'cause they- they were killed. Yeah. That's the only one that- that we lost.

How much time do you have on active duty?

Twenty eight years, and then I'm- I put the two years in active reserve. But they give you another discharge when you- when you complete 30. And so I can say thirty years. But I say I put 28 years active.

In those 28 years, all the experiences that you had.

Um hm.

And thinking that this tape is going to be seen by people when you and I are gone.

Sure.

What did you learn from all of that?

Oh, a tremendous experience. Not only from a- a standpoint of traveling, but it- it- it- it- it's the camaraderie of meeting friends and- and being with 'em at times like when you were strictly under fire. It was- it was like I told you, I said there's no atheists in foxholes. I mean, I don't know of but one. I don't know of but one that uh.. was an atheist. And uh.. and uh.. they- they- the ones that I know, they- they were real good about their own- good Christian boys.

Does anyone ever win a war?

Yeah, I can. I uh.. in- in a sense I can say yes. But uh.. in the way you put it, I- I- I- I- I- I- it is a doubt. There is a doubt there.

You could win it militarily.

Militarily you win it, but when you think of the amount of the losses, even uh.. even if you won the war, you- you starting of the people that you had in there and the amount- amount of losses. You see what I mean? People don't realize like the uh.. I- I don't know the figures, but, you know, you take- you take World War II, and you take the Viet Nam and- and also uh.. Korea, we lost a heck of a lot of people at Korea. A lot of people don't know that. You take that Choson [ph?] Reservoir, oh, those guys, and I mean, of course, that even matched that- that time when those fellows over there and uh.. with Patton, when they- when they had that uh.. McCauliff [ph?] uh.. was surrounded there by the Germans. Uh.. Up there at the Battle of the Bulge. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

And uh.. uh.. there was times, it- it was- it was snow on the ground and they were freezing like everything. The same thing in Korea. One of those guys right here in Wilmington that were over there, and they said that that- you take that uh.. out there at that Jeramma [ph?] Choson [ph?] Reservoir, how cold it was? Uh.. I don't know how anybody could take it.

But the war doesn't stop when the shooting stops.

No. No. That's right. Exactly right.

Do you have anything else you'd like to say, Sergeant Crane?

Oh, I- I tell you. I could tell you a lot of stories, but I was going to tell you. I wouldn't take a million dollars for my experiences.