The Scuttlebutt Official Publication of Air Group One Commemorative Air Force

January/February 2012

1905 N. Marshall Ave. Hangar 6 * El Cajon, CA 92020 * 619.259.5541 * www.ag1caf.org * [email protected]

Fort Rosecrans December 7 commemoration; see article page 8

Notes from the Cockpit...... 2 Air Group One Election Results...... 7 Maintenance Officer Report...... 2 Fort Rosecrans goes to war...... 8 Letter to the Editor...... 3 What a woman!...... 9 Colonel Don Dibler Passes...... 3 Playing games in WWII...... 9 I Didn’t Know That...... 4 Historic years in the U.S...... 10 Great Web Site!...... 4 Air Group One Dinner Presentation...... 10 American Aces of WWII...... 4 Normandie... Before and After...... 11 Little-known Christmas facts...... 5 AG1 Membership Application...... 12 Early U.S. Marine Corps Aviation ...... 6 Laff Trak...... 13 2 The Scuttlebutt January/February 2012 Notes Maintenance from the Officer Cockpit Report

Col. Bob Simon, Wing Leader Col. Howard Merritt

Winter weather is here! We are wearing the old Leather Flying Jacket just to keep warm in the hangar. Our at- What can you do for fun when you’re just sitting around tentions are turned elsewhere as the end of the year the house? Why you could mosey over to the Air Group approaches. Pancake breakfasts have turned into One hangar and visit with your friendly Maintenance BBQ’s to avoid the morning chill. Flying activities have Officer. He might even find something you might enjoy slowed appreciably. We still manage to talk about the helping with. Maybe fix that silly old wire that broke ongoing maintenance of our airplanes and how we can and parked the Bomber on the side of Interstate 8. get the L-5 back in the air. Maybe that should be our Then there is the joy of painting the new signboard for New Year’s resolution! the hangar door. We can find lots of creative things to January is just around the corner and offers some excit- have fun with. ing happenings. Fly out to an air show. Another dinner The L-5 wing project has had the plywood cut to cover presentation. Stay tuned and help out by volunteering. the spars. As soon as the spars are run through the Go to ag1caf.org and put your name on the list. planer the plywood can be applied and the spars will And now, I would like to thank you all for making 2011 be complete. Then there is the feel of smooth, clean a successful year. I’m looking forward to a bigger and metal wing parts after the old paint is removed. Gosh, better one in 2012. May you all have a Blessed and I bet you can hardly wait to have fun with us! Safe Holiday and New Year. Well I must be jumping off the old couch and heading See you at the hangar. over to welcome you to another fun filled day with your friendly Maintenance Officer. Carry on and keep the blue side up!

Air Group One Staff Members

Wing Leader Bob Simon Maintenance Officer Howard Merritt [email protected] 858.254.3036 [email protected] 619.820.5359

Executive Officer Jim McGarvie Safety Officer Warren Thomas [email protected] 619.890.7340 [email protected] 858.382.9919

Finance Officer D’Marie Simon Scuttlebutt Editor Jim McGarvie [email protected] 858.829.4736 [email protected] 619.890.7340

Adjutant Linda King Assistant Scuttlebutt Editor Bob Constantine [email protected] 951.966.4090 [email protected] 619.546.7080

Operations Officer John Telles Webmaster Rich Kenney [email protected] 760.458.4230 [email protected] 8 5 8 . 8 3 7 . 2 0 6 8 January/February 2012 The Scuttlebutt 3

others back home of what a tremendous job the men and women that I am so very honored to serve with Letter to the and support from the overhead, many of whom aren’t even old enough to legally drink alcohol, are doing on Editor a daily basis. These are the men and women, husbands and wives, I wanted to drop you a quick note to say that I appre- brothers and sisters, and mothers and fathers that allow ciate hearing about the latest news and events of Air us to continue to live the good life back in the states. Group One through Jim’s e-mails. Ever since Al Riker, These are the men and women that I pledge allegiance Jack Draper, Bob Simon, Howard Merritt and a few to and the individuals that I believe you and Air Group other gentlemen originally introduced me to the CAF One have so well and faithfully worked hard for so and took me under their “wings” back in 2006 or 2007 many years to honor and ensure that they are not for- at the El Centro Air Show, I have felt a sense of pride gotten. Whether it is from World War II, Vietnam, The every time I receive an e-mail from your unit. As you Gulf War or Operations Iraqi or Enduring Freedom, you may or may not remember, I am currently deployed to allow the torch to still burn in honor of such heroes. Camp Leatherneck, a joint military base composed of mostly U.S. and British troops, located in the southwest It is because of this that I offer my sincere gratitude of . and heartfelt “thank you” to you and everyone who may read or be on the receiving end of my words. It My squadron mates and I have been taking the fight is also because of this reason that I feel so much of a to the enemy and capitalizing on their every mistake. sense of pride in being able to call myself one of the Every day out here, we are witness to either Improvised members of the Commemorative Air Force. Explosive Devices (IEDs), small arms fire, indirect fire (mortar rounds and unguided rockets) and the Semper Fidelis. occasional heavy machine gun and rocket propelled Sincerely, grenade fire. If we are not on the receiving end of these munitions from them having been fired at our helicop- Major Dan “Magnet” Groeling ters, then we are seeing the gruesome devastation HMLA-369 “Gunfighters” that these horrible acts are taking on our boys on the UH-1 Huey Pilot ground. The is getting better at their tactics but CAF Col #32960 believe me, so are we. Each day, on average of about three or four times a day, we are sent sprinting out to our UH-1Y “Huey” and AH- 1W “Cobra” helicopters by the unmistakable “Troops Colonel Don in Contact” horn. We use this horn to signal the pilots and aircrew of our helicopters that the Marines, Army, Brits, Georgians, or Afghan forces are in need of over- Dibler Passes head cover because they are currently being engaged Long time CAF and Air Group One member Colonel by enemy forces. Many times, when we are arriving Don Dibler passed away in June from complications overhead, the bad guys cowardly hide their weapons from a fall from a ladder. Dibler, a WW-II army soldier in and disappear into the local populace of innocent Europe, sustained frostbite wounds during the Battle of locals, women, and children and live to fight another The Bulge in 1944. He was air lifted to England where day. Occasionally, however, our ground forces are able he recovered. to gain (and maintain) Positive Identification of these individuals and relay to us overhead the enemy’s firing Following WW-II, Dibler trained to be a radio and positions. Once this happens, we are able to almost television repairman and made this skill his life-long surgically remove them from the battlespace with one profession. Dibler was a member of AG-1 for many of our many tools designed for just such an occasion. years and prided himself as the best O-Club Officer the wing ever had. Woe to the member who partook Please understand that I didn’t write this email to de- of the malted brews without paying. Almost everyone press or anger anyone that you may choose to share liked Don. He always had a funny story to tell and didn’t it with, but instead to make aware or simply remind like people who bragged too much. He’ll be missed. 4 The Scuttlebutt January/February 2012 I Didn’t Know American Aces of

That WWII By Bob Bruce Submitted by David Hanson This month: Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, USMC Ace ERNEST BORGNINE served 10 years in the U.S. navy and Medal of Honor Recipient before starting his acting career. EDGAR BUCHANAN was a real-life dentist before becoming an actor. GENE BARRY, who played Bat Masterson on TV, was a vocalist with Ted Powel’s dance band in his early years. NEVILLE BRAND, a popular supporting actor, was a highly decorated soldier in WWII. WILLIAM BENDIX, who starred in the Babe Ruth Story, was a batboy in his youth for the N.Y. Giants and the N.Y. Yankees. Gregory Boyington began his military career in the FRED MACMURRAY, the actor, once played saxo- mid-1930’s, and became a 2nd lieutenant in the Marine phone in dance bands. His face was once used as a Corps in July of 1937. After completing flight school model for comic book hero Captain Marvel. and serving with the 2nd MAG in San Diego he was promoted to lieutenant in 1940, and went to Pensacola TOM POSTON, in his early 20’s, was a professional as an instructor. acrobat with the Flying Zeblies circus troupe. Boyington resigned his commission in the Marine MICHAEL LANDON, of Little House On The Prairie, Corps on August 26, 1941 to accept a position with the once held the national high school record for the jav- Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CAMCO). elin throw. CAMCO was a civilian organization that contracted to ZELBA SCHINSNAUSER wrote one of the nation’s staff a Special Air Unit to defend China and the Burma most popular books on children’s names. Road. The unit later became known as the American Volunteer Group (AVG), the famed Flying Tigers of China. During his months with the “Tigers” Boyington became a flight leader. He was frequently in trouble with the commander of that outfit, Claire Chennault. As a member of the AVG 1st Squadron, Boyington was officially credited with 3.5 Japanese aircraft destroyed in the air and on the ground, but AVG records suggest Great Web Site! that one additional “kill” may have been due to him. (He You might want to check out this great aviation mu- afterward claimed six victories as a Tiger, but there is seum: http://collectair.com/Museum.html. The Friend no substantiation for that figure.) or Foe? Museum of Aircraft Recognition is located in In the spring of 1942, he broke his contract with the Santa Barbara. Visit it online. It might be worth con- American Volunteer Group and returned to the United sidering a trip to see it in person. States, where he was eventually re-instated in the Marine Corps. Boyington wrangled a major’s com- mission in the Marines, which were in great need of experienced combat pilots. He was assigned to of the , where he became Executive Officer of VMF-121 operating January/February 2012 The Scuttlebutt 5 American Aces of WWII (Cont’d.) from Guadalcanal. Later, he became Commanding President Harry S. Truman. Following the receipt of Officer (CO) of Marine Fighter Squadron 214, better his Medal of Honor and Navy Cross, Boyington made known by its nickname, the “Black Sheep Squadron.” a Victory Bond Tour. Originally ordered to the Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, he was later directed to The CO earned the nickname “Gramps” because, at report to the Commanding General, Marine Air West age 31, he was a decade older than most of his men. Coast, Marine Corps Air Depot, Miramar, San Diego, It became “Pappy” in a variation on “The Whiffenpoof California. He retired from the Marine Corps on August Song” whose new lyrics had been written by Paul 1, 1947, and because he was specially commended “Moon” Mullen, one of his pilots, and this version was for the performance of duty in actual combat, he was picked up by war correspondents. promoted to colonel. Boyington is best known for his exploits flying the After years of hard living and touring the airshow cir- Vought F4U Corsair in VMF-214. During periods of cuits he died in his sleep, in 1988 at the age of 75 in intense activity in the Russell Islands-New Georgia and Fresno, California. He was buried in Arlington National Bougainville-New Britain-New Ireland areas, Boyington Cemetery on January 15, 1988. added to his total almost daily. During his squadron’s first tour of combat duty, the major shot down 14 enemy fighter planes in 32 days. By December 27, his record had climbed to 25. A typical daring feat was his attack on Kahili airdrome at the southern tip of Bougainville on October 17, 1943. Little-known He and 24 fighters circled the field where 60 hostile aircraft were based, goading the enemy into sending up a large force. In the fierce battle that followed, 20 Christmas facts enemy aircraft were shot down while the Black Sheep By Bob Constantine returned to their base without loss. Monoply was the must-have present for Christmas in Boyington’s squadron, flying from the island of Vella 1936. Lavella, offered to down a Japanese Zero for every Silent Night was written on a guitar because the organ baseball cap sent to them by major league players in was broken. the World Series. They received 20 caps and shot down many more enemy aircraft. Scrooge had a sister named Fan. He tied the American record of 26 enemy planes The N.Y. Rockefeller Center tree has five miles of lights. downed on January 3, 1944 over Rabaul, but was Nutcracker figurines debuted in the 1700’s. shot down himself later the same day. Following a determined but futile search, Boyington was declared The first school for “Santa Claus” was opened in 1937. missing in action. He had been picked up by a Japa- Christmas trees were first used in homes following nese submarine and became a prisoner of war. He Queen Victoria erecting one in the palace in 1848. spent the rest of the war, some 20 months, in Japanese prison camps. Santa was depicted as an elf until a Coca-Cola ad artist drew Santa as we know him now. During mid-August 1945, after the Japanese capitula- tion, Boyington was liberated from Japanese custody The French kiss under the mistletoe on New Year’s and returned to the U.S. to accept his temporary lieu- Day, not Christmas. tenant colonel’s commission in the Marine Corps. Circus titan Barnum’s first animal crackers box had a Shortly after his return to the U.S. as a lieutenant colo- string attached so they could be hung on a Christmas nel Boyington was ordered to Washington to receive the tree. nation’s highest honor — the Medal of Honor — from 6 The Scuttlebutt January/February 2012 Early U.S. Marine Corps Aviation Provided by Col. John Telles, USMC (Retired) in honor of the 2012 Centennial of U.S. Marine Corps Aviation

Excerpts from MARINE CORPS AVIATION: THE EAR- fly at no cost to the government. The Navy Department LY YEARS 1912-1940 by Lieutenant Colonel Edward accepted, and Lieutenant Theodore G. Ellyson, USN, C. Johnson, USMC Edited by Graham A. Cosmas reported for instruction to Curtiss’ flying school and experimental station at San Diego, California. PREFACE (Partial) Among the prospective aviators who shortly there- From 1912, when First Lieutenant Alfred A. Cunning- after reported to the Annapolis camp in 1912 were ham became the first Marine to fly, through 1940, a two Marine officers. Their presence reflected a slowly handful of dedicated Marines worked to keep their growing Marine Corps interest in aviation. This inter- Corps abreast of the progress of military aviation and est was closely related to the emerging new mission to create an air arm specifically dedicated to supporting of the Corps in the steel battleship Navy: occupation Marines in their amphibious mission. and defense of advance bases for the fleet. From a few daring men and a handful of primitive aircraft Accordingly, the Marine Corps ordered two officers, in 1912, Marine aviation grew into a force that met the First Lieutenants Alfred A. Cunningham and Bernard test of combat in World War I. During the 1920s and L. Smith, to Annapolis for flight instruction and aviation 1930s, Marine aviators gradually developed a perma- duty. With this routine order began the epic of Marine nent organization and acquired aircraft of increasing Corps aviation. reliability and improving performance. In small wars and expeditions in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Ni- On 16 May 1912, Cunningham received orders detach- caragua, and China, ing him from the Marine Barracks at Philadelphia and instructing him to report on 22 May to the U.S. Naval Marine fliers devised new techniques for supporting Academy at Annapolis (which meant the nearby avia- Marine infantry in combat, and they demonstrated the tion camp) “for duty in connection with aviation.” Cun- value of aviation in reconnaissance and in the move- ningham reported at Annapolis on the specified date, ment of men and supplies over rough and usually only to be ordered away almost at once on expedition- road-less terrain. ary duty. When he returned in July, no aircraft were With the creation of the Fleet Marine Force in 1933, available for him to fly. Eager to begin flight training Marine aviation received formal recognition as an ele- at once, he obtained orders to the Burgess Company ment of the amphibious air-ground team, and in the fleet and Curtiss factory at Marblehead, Massachusetts, landing exercises of the late 1930s began developing which built the Navy’s Wright aircraft and which had the doctrines and tactics which would make close air airplanes and civilian instructors. There, after two hours support a reality in World War II. The traditions of excel- and 40 minutes of instruction in a A-1Triad type float lence and versatility established by these early Marine plane, Cunningham soloed on 20 August 1912. He later fliers lived on in the skies of Korea and Vietnam and explained the brevity of his training and described his remain vital today. solo flight: Naval Aviators in a Different Uniform There being so few civilian flyers, the company had to pay them a huge salary to teach us, and they were Until the United States entered World War I, Marine anxious to make it short and snappy . . . I had only Corps aviation had no permanent organization separate attempted to make two landings in rough weather from naval aviation, and its history is interwoven with when one calm day they decided to risk the plane that of the rudimentary naval air arm. On 14 November rather than continue to pay any instructors large 1910 Glenn Curtiss’ test pilot Eugene Ely made the salary. I was asked if I was willing to try it alone, first recorded takeoff from a ship’s deck, flying from a and said I was. I took off safely and felt confident in the air until I thought of landing and wondered what platform erected on board the USS Birmingham. Two would happen when I tried to do it alone. Every time weeks later, Curtiss offered to teach a naval officer to January/February 2012 The Scuttlebutt 7

EARLY U.S. MARINE Air Group One CORPS AVIATION (Cont’d) Election Results At the December meeting the following Air Group One I decided to land I would think of some good excuse officers were re-elected for an additional term in their to make another circle of the bay. The gas tank was current positions: mounted between the wings in plain view, and a small stick attached to a float protruded from the top of it Operations Officer John Telles for a gasoline gage. As the gas was used, this stick gradually disappeared within the tank. As this stick Executive Officer Jim McGarvie got shorter and shorter I became more and more Maintenance Officer Howard Merritt perturbed at having to land with little idea of how to do it. Just as the end of the gasoline gage stick was disappearing, I got up my nerve and made a good landing, how I don’t know . . . This was my first solo. Cunningham eventually was designated Naval Aviator No. 5 with the effective date of his designation arbitrarily set as 17 September 1915. Both the date of his solo and the date thus fixed for his formal recognition as a naval flier have their advocates as “birthdays” of Marine Corps aviation, but the date he reported to the Avia- tion Camp at Annapolis, 22 May 1912, is the officially accepted birthday.

Air Group One Wing Leader Bob Simon thanking Pete Hunt for his invaluable service Marine Corps Aviator Number One: Alfred A. as a long-time instructor and check pilot for Cunningham, USMC, shown here as Major Air Group One pilots 8 The Scuttlebutt January/February 2012 Fort Rosecrans goes to war By John Telles It was a beautiful sunny weekend. Still, reverence and remembrance was in the cool air. It was almost Decem- ber Seventh, the 70th anniversary of the Day of Infamy. There was warm-hearted effort to commemorate that fateful day, and honor all those who participated in the defensive posturing in California immediately following. During the day’s activities, the faint alert of an ap- proaching airplane caused the coastal defenders to spring into action. The unmistakable siren sent its chill- ing signal, machine guns swiveled, preparatory com- mands were shouted, many took cover just in case as the airplane came closer with increasing noisy alarm. Everyone waited… waited… “Be ready, be ready” the commander ordered. Finally an alert observer yelled, “Check fire! Check fire! AT-6, AT-6…. Check fire!!” Hearts calmed down and all simply enjoyed a visit from a “friendly” aircraft. In this case it was Air Group One’s SNJ-5 “Sassy” providing the excitement and welcomed display of a historical WWII aircraft. Two such “surprise appear- ances” took place both Saturday and Sunday. Many thanks to the flight crews: Jack Draper with Darrel Cook at 11AM Saturday, Darrel with Natasha Stenbock at 2PM on Saturday, and Joe Graham with Bret Ebaugh for both Sunday flights. Other AG-1 folks in a support role at the event were Bob Simon, Howard Merritt, War- ren Thomas, Rich Kenney, Linda Stull, Craig Covner, and Mark Carlson.

Photo by Ernie Viskupic January/February 2012 The Scuttlebutt 9 What a woman! Playing games in WWII Starting in 1941, an increasing number of British Airmen found themselves as the involuntary guests of the Third Reich, and the Crown was casting about for ways and means to facilitate their escape. Now obviously, one of the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and accurate map, one showing not only where stuff was, but also showing the locations of “safe houses” where a POW on the lam could go for food and shelter. Paper maps had some real drawbacks—they make a lot of noise when you open and fold them, they wear out rapidly, and if they get wet, they turn into mush. Someone in MI-5 (similar to America’s OSS) got the idea of printing escape maps on silk. It’s durable, can be scrunched up into tiny wads and unfolded as many times as needed, and makes no noise whatsoever. At that time, there was only one manufacturer in Great The following is from an Army Aviator who takes a trip Britain that had perfected the technology of printing down memory lane: on silk, and that was John Waddington, Ltd. When approached by the government, the firm was only too It was just before Thanksgiving ‘67 and we were ferrying happy to do its bit for the war effort. dead and wounded from a large GRF west of Pleiku. We had run out of body bags by noon, so the Hook (CH-47 By pure coincidence, Waddington was also the U.K. CHINOOK) was pretty rough in the back. All of a sud- licensee for the popular American board game, Mo- den, we heard a “take-charge” woman’s voice in the nopoly. As it happened, “games and pastimes” was rear. There was the singer and actress, Martha Raye, a category of item qualified for insertion into “CARE with a SF (Special Forces) beret and jungle fatigues, packages” dispatched by the International Red Cross with subdued markings, helping the wounded into the to prisoners of war. Chinook, and carrying the dead aboard. “Maggie” had Under the strictest of secrecy, in a securely guarded been visiting her SF “heroes” out “west.” and inaccessible old workshop on the grounds of We took off, short of fuel, and headed to the USAF Waddington’s, a group of sworn-to-secrecy employees hospital pad at Pleiku. As we all started unloading our began mass producing escape maps, keyed to each sad passengers, a USAF Captain said to Martha, “Miss region of Germany or Italy where Allied POW camps Ray, with all these dead and wounded to process, there were located (Red Cross packages were delivered to will not be time for your show.” To all of our surprise, prisoners in accordance with that same regional sys- she pulled on her right collar and said, “Captain, see tem). When processed, these maps could be folded this eagle? I am a full “Bird” in the US Army Reserve, into such tiny dots that they would actually fit inside a and on this collar is a ‘Caduceus’, which means I am a Monopoly playing piece. nurse, with a surgical specialty. Now, take me to your As long as they were at it, the clever workmen at Wad- wounded.” He said, “Yes ma’am, follow me.” Several dington’s also managed to add: times at the Army Field Hospital in Pleiku, she would cover a surgical shift, giving a nurse a well-deserved 1. A playing token, containing a small magnetic com- break. pass Martha Raye is the only woman buried in the SF (Spe- 2. A two-part metal file that could easily be screwed cial Forces) cemetery at Ft Bragg. together 10 The Scuttlebutt January/February 2012 Monopoly (Cont’d)

3. Useful amounts of genuine high-denomination Ger- Air Group One man, Italian, and French currency, hidden within the piles of Monopoly money! Dinner Presentation British and American air crews were advised, before In December Air Group One held what is hoped to taking off on their first mission, how to identify a “rigged” be the first of many functions featuring a speaker Monopoly set—by means of a tiny red dot, one cleverly presenting an aviation-related program in conjunction rigged to look like an ordinary printing glitch, located in with dinner. the corner of the Free Parking square. The special guest speaker for December was Major Of the estimated 35,000 Allied POWS who success- Robert Sternfels. Major Sternfels was the pilot of fully escaped, an estimated one-third was aided in their “The Sandman,” the B-24 that was photographed fly- flight by the rigged Monopoly sets. Everyone who did ing through the smoke and flame of the infamous 1 so was sworn to secrecy indefinitely, since the British August 1943 Ploesti Oil Field raid. The photo became Government might want to use this highly successful an icon of WWII. ruse in still another, future war. The story wasn’t declas- sified until 2007, when the surviving craftsmen from Waddington’s, as well as the firm itself, were finally honored in a public ceremony. It’s always nice when you can play that “Get Out of Jail Free” card!

Historic years in the U.S. By Bob Bruce 1941: General Mills introduces Cheerios 1944: Adam Clayton Powell is elected New York State’s first black congressman 1945: Congress officially recognizes The Pledge Of Allegiance 1947: Sect. Of State George Marshall outlines “The Marshall Plan” 1948: Hopalong Cassidy premiers on TV 1949: The first year the U.S. Inaugural parade is tele- vised 1950: The first modern credit card is introduced by Diners Club. 1953: John Foster Dulles is appointed Secretary Of State. 1955: Woman author Zelba Schiensnauser changes her name to Dawn Summers. January/February 2012 The Scuttlebutt 11 Normandie... Before and After 12 The Scuttlebutt January/February 2012 January/February 2012 The Scuttlebutt 13 Laff Trak

One day, while flying over the Rockies with a United 123: strong jet stream and many turbulence reports in “Well, the captain is having his lunch, and he just the Denver airspace, I heard Denver Center ask jabbed himself with his fork; so we would call it for ride reports. moderate turbulence.” United 123: Denver Center: “Good day, Denver. United 123 with you at FL 350.” “Thanks, United 123. Break, break. Air Canada Denver Center: 456, how’s your ride at FL350?” “Roger, United 123. How’s your ride?” Air Canada 456: “Sorry, Denver, we can’t tell. We haven’t eaten yet.”

Air Group One—Commemorative Air Force 1905 N. Marshall Ave., Hangar 6 El Cajon, CA 92020