John L. Sublett (Part 1 of 2)
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The American Fighter Aces Association Oral Interviews The Museum of Flight Seattle, Washington John L. Sublett (Part 1 of 2) Interviewed by: Eugene A. Valencia Interview Date: June 24, 1968 2 Abstract: In this two-part oral history, fighter ace John L. Sublett is interviewed about his military service and aviation career. In part one, Sublett describes his experiences as a fighter pilot with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Topics discussed include his training history, his service in England with the 362nd Fighter Squadron, and stories about fellow servicemen. The interview is conducted by fellow fighter ace Eugene A. Valencia. Note that speakers may be difficult to hear in some spots due to faint audio. Biography: John L. Sublett was born on October 26, 1921 in Alpine, Texas. He joined the United States Army Air Corps in 1941 and graduated from flight training in 1942. After an initial assignment as a flight instructor, Sublett joined the 357th Fighter Group and was deployed to England. He served with the 362nd Fighter Squadron, flying missions over Germany, France, and other areas of the European Theater. Sublett remained in the military after the end of World War II and went on to serve in various command and staff positions. He retired from the Air Force in 1962 as a lieutenant colonel. Afterwards, he flew for Air America during the Vietnam War. Sublett passed away in 2003. Biographical information courtesy of: Boyce, Ward J., ed., American fighter aces album. Mesa, Ariz: American Fighter Aces Association, 1996. Restrictions: Permission to publish material from the American Fighter Aces Association Oral Interviews must be obtained from The Museum of Flight Archives. Transcript: Transcribed by Pioneer Transcription Services 3 Index: Personal background and joining the Army Air Corps ................................................................... 4 Flight training and instructor assignment ....................................................................................... 7 Deployment to Europe .................................................................................................................... 8 First combat missions and competition for aerial victories .......................................................... 10 Bomber escort mission to the Stendal oil refineries (January 13, 1945) ...................................... 15 Ground crew personnel and aircraft maintenance ........................................................................ 17 Stories about Chuck Yeager, Johnny England, and other servicemen ......................................... 18 Thoughts on German pilots ........................................................................................................... 21 Final aerial victory (March 17, 1945) ........................................................................................... 21 Experiences at RAF Leiston (England) ........................................................................................ 23 Encounters with the Messerschmitt Me 262 ................................................................................. 23 Characteristics of a successful fighter pilot .................................................................................. 25 Future of the fighter ace ................................................................................................................ 26 Post-World War II service ............................................................................................................ 27 More stories about fellow servicemen .......................................................................................... 28 4 John L. Sublett (Part 1 of 2) [START OF INTERVIEW] 00:00:00 [Personal background and joining the Army Air Corps] [faint audio] EUGENE A. VALENCIA: John, how did you ever get started flying? JOHN L. SUBLETT: Well, that’s quite an interesting story, I think. I decided when I was a freshman in high school I was going to be a flyboy in the Army Air Corps. And I—that far back. EAV: Excuse me if I look around [unintelligible 00:00:13]— JLS: And I started—of course, now this was during the Depression, and there just wasn’t any money, particularly in my family. My dad had been an oil well driller, and he’d farmed out into his own. And he bought an old Spudder and started drilling water wells. EAV: An old what? Spudder? JLS: Yeah. EAV: Is that what you call them? JLS: Well, a Spudder is the—on any oil well that’s dug, it has to be spudded in, and it’s spudded in by a small type. Then they move in the big rig, and they start from that hole. But you spud it in that—whatever size hole, 16, 18, 24 inches. And that’s—they take this machine, and it goes over, and it spuds in another one before they move in the big heavy equipment. And so he got ahold of a Spudder, and for three or four years there, you could drill a well. You wouldn’t get any money for it, and it was practically impossible for a man without any [audio distortion/unintelligible 00:01:33] job in those days. It was real difficult. But I managed to get through high school and graduated in ’39. And then I drove a truck and was a soda jerk and worked in a hash house and slinging hamburgers and what have you. But luckily, I was living in a little town there out behind where—Alpine, where Sul Ross was. EAV: Sul Ross? JLS: State College. EAV: Hm-hmm [affirmative]. 00:02:05 5 JLS: And so I decided that I best get an education. I had checked with the Army Air Corps, and they would not touch anybody without two years college. EAV: What date was that, roughly? JLS: This was in— EAV: When you started college. JLS: I started—I stayed out a year. I graduated in ’39 and stayed out a year and went back in—it was actually ’40. The school year ’40-41. EAV: Hm-hmm [affirmative]. JLS: And I remember very well the price of the ticket at that time was $39.50, was tuition. That didn’t include books. And I managed to save up while I was driving a truck $40.00 and managed to get into school that way. And there just wasn’t any money to be had. And I’ll never forget the first biology class that I went to and went to the lab, and we started cutting up these worms. The little girl sitting next to me, man, she couldn’t—just to look at a worm scared her to death, besides cutting one up, pinning it on the sheet and what have you. Her name’s Ovella. That’s where we met. And so I would do the lab work and draw up the pictures and label them, and then she’d take my paper and copy them at night at the library. She’d get As and I’d get Cs, every time. But she [unintelligible 00:03:41]. So I managed to get 22 hours the first year. Well, 24, actually. EAV: This was all based on your ability to work for yourself? JLS: Well, I was drive—after the library closed, which was at 10:00—the girls had to be in at 11. Many’s the time I was working the graveyard shift in a hamburger stand down there. And go to the—I always had that 8:00 class. And this time, I’ve gone into this professor’s math class, looked him right in the eye, and went sound to sleep. And he’d say, “John, you make me so mad. You make my hair stand right straight up on end.” And he didn’t have a hair on his head. [laughs] But he was a great old gentleman. And the story comes back later—or he comes into my story later. But anyway, I managed to go that year and a summer school and the first half of the next year. And I remember it cost $25.00 to enter the CPT Program that they had started out there then. And I said that’s—that was for me. So I could get checked out flying as—for $25.00. And so I had to borrow that from my aunt, who owned a ranch, bless her soul. She died not too many years later. And I went through CPT, and I was taking CPT, just finishing up, on December the 7th. That’s where I was, flying that day. And I remember listening on the radio about Pearl Harbor. It didn’t take me long because they had these teams that went around to colleges, you 6 know, giving physicals and what have you. And I knew they were coming, and I’d been working out at the field. And of course, Ovella was there— EAV: Nikki? JLS: …every afternoon. Yeah. That’s who I’m talking about. EAV: Oh. JLS: The Lady Ovella’s my airplane. I named it after her. Figured if it fight near as well as she did, I’d be going [laughter/unintelligible 00:06:02]. She still grins about that. I don’t know whether she likes it or not. But she likes the airplane. I went to—I worked out at the track field every afternoon. I’d run till I just dropped and do exercises and what have you. And as a result, when the team came in—there were 19 of us that were eligible to take the physical. And that was some physical back in the ‘40s, as you recall. EAV: Oh yeah. 00:06:31 JLS: One of them busted it because he had sweat on the palm of his hand. That means he was nervous, so they just tossed him out of it. He later on got in and turned out to be one hell of a fighter pilot. But 19 of us took it, and I was the only one that passed it. And that—of course, I was the little skinny guy and the one least likely to pass it. But I did. I was quite pleased with it. And I sat there—that was in October—sat there, and then December the 7th come in and not a word one came from them. And so I went over to San Angelo to find out what the score was, and they didn’t have my papers. And of course, it was a great big mix-up then. And I don’t know if they ever would have called me. But the flight surgeon who had given me the—named Howard Johnson, by the way—who had given me the physical recalled that I had passed everything, and he called one of the flight leaders down there who had been a flying member of the team.