Robert Lauducci Enlisted in the Army Air Corps in January 1940 And

Photo by 2nd Lt. Joseph Bujalski 14 Oct. 8, 1946. him asacaptaininManila, thePhilippines, on pilot and eventually an officer. This photo shows 1980. During World War II, hewasanenlisted January 1940andservedasanairmanuntil June Robert Lauduccienlistedinthe Army Air Corps in Wingman Magazine ︱ January 2015 By James R. Lauducci

t was during my 24 years as an Air Maintaining the B-18A was hard work  e next morning, my uncle reported I Force officer that I developed a but not overly challenging. Life was to the hangar as directed and drew from close relationship with my uncle, Rob- routine until his squadron transferred supply a new Norden bombsight and a ert A. Lauducci, now approaching his to Langley Field, Va., in the fall of 1940. .45 pistol. 95th birthday. During the spring of 1941, my uncle’s “What amazed me about the whole His is a unique story in many ways. squadron initiated a call for ve vol- a air was [that] yesterday, I couldn’t get My uncle was an engine mechanic, a unteers to train as bombardiers.  is a screw from Sergeant Rose without sign- bombardier, and a pilot. He was a private, was a great opportunity for promotion ing my life away. Now, Rose hands me private rst class, sta sergeant,  ight because most of the bombardiers were the top secret bombsight and a .45 and o cer, and then a second lieutenant all sergeants and he was a private rst class. doesn’t even ask my name,” recounted the way up through lieutenant colonel. He volunteered and was selected. my uncle in a 1993 letter. He  ew 15 di erent types of aircraft and  e new bombardier trainees learned Later that same morning, the bombar- believes he is the only individual to be their trade on the hangar  oor and then diers left for March Field in California. dual-rated as a bombardier and a pilot. transitioned to the B-18s to train on the My uncle carried the Norden bombsight Born in Syracuse, N.Y., on June 30, Langley ranges.  ey were all assigned to and his .45 with him.  e rst stopover 1920, the fourth of six children, my the 22nd Bombardment Group, the “Red was Barksdale Field, La., to refuel. Just uncle enlisted in the Army Air Corps Raiders” of World War II. While this was after touchdown, the right engine quit in January 1940 at Mitchell Field, N.Y. going on, new Martin B-26 Marauders on their aircraft.  ey found themselves After basic training, he attended airframe started to dribble in to Langley and the in a brand-new airplane with no spare and engine school at Roosevelt Field on new bombardiers made the transition. parts available—my uncle stuck with a Long Island, along with many other new  e bombardiers continued bombing top secret piece of equipment. enlisted men. Following graduation, he runs on the Langley ranges until Dec. 7, At rst, the pilot directed my uncle to was assigned to a  ight line maintenance 1941.  ey learned of the attack on Pearl stay on the airplane with the bombsight. crew for the Douglas B-18A Bolo bomber. Harbor while standing in the hangar.  e crew would bring him food. After

Wingman Magazine︱ January 2015 15 the rst night, the pilot took my uncle to the local quartermaster and directed the quartermaster to secure the bombsight and the .45. My uncle was now free to relax and wait for the spare parts to Photo by 2nd Lt. Joseph Bujalski Joseph Lt. 2nd by Photo arrive. All he would tell me about this episode is that he had a fabulous time in nearby Shreveport. Several days later, the bombardiers rejoined the 22nd BG at March Field. In preparation for deployment to the Paci c theater, they continued practicing bombing runs at Muroc Bombing and Gunnery Range in southern California (now Edwards Air Force Base). Before the group deployed to the Paci c, my uncle was ordered to report to pre ight school for pilot training. Lauducci stands in front of The Liquidator, a B-17G he fl ew shortly after World War II  at’s because back in June 1941, ended, at Kiangwan Airfi eld in Shanghai, Nov. 4, 1946. He shuttled senior military of- Public Law 99 took e ect, authorizing fi cials and diplomats around the Pacifi c Theater in the modifi ed bomber. It featured a private area and bed for the VIP passengers in its gutted bomb bay. the training of enlisted pilots in the Signal Corps. Originally meant to ll essential, the aircraft, the ground crew asked me appointment as a second lieutenant, yet unglamorous, roles such as hauling about fuel requirements, thinking I e ective on the following day. He was cargo and passengers and instructing other was the crew chief. After refueling, the subsequently selected to attend the pilots, the enlisted pilots ended up  ying ground crew would ask for the pilot to Central Test Pilot School at Kelly Field, ghters, medium bombers, and transports sign for it, because only o cers could Texas, graduating on Sept. 30, 1944, in the war, as well as conducting medical sign for fuel. I couldn’t convince them and was assigned to Hill Field, Utah. evacuations and photoreconnaissance that I was the pilot, so I’d point to any As a test pilot, my uncle  ew various missions.  ey also served as test pilots. nearby o cer as a likely candidate.  e platforms including four-engine Boeing My uncle’s  ight training consisted base operations o cer would nally B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated of a pre ight course, primary  ight B-24 Liberators; twin-engine North school, basic  ight school, and nally American Aviation B-25 Mitchells, Lock- twin-engine advanced  ying training at heed B-34 Venturas, and Douglas C-47 Columbus Field, Miss. Upon graduation, Skytrains; and single-engine Bell P-39 he became a  ight o cer with the rank Airacobras and Curtiss P-40 Warhawks. of sta sergeant pilot. He was assigned He was fortunate to serve under former to the newly opened Rome Air Depot enlisted pilot Maj. Fred O. Tyler who in New York. Following a short time at was chief of  ight test. My uncle spent the depot, he was transferred to Olmsted the nal year of the war as a test pilot. Army Air eld (now Harrisburg Airport) He was then selected to be the personal in Middletown, Pa., where he  ew the pilot for Brig. Gen. Franklin O. Carroll, AT-6 light attack aircraft. At Olmsted, who became commanding general of the the AT-6 served as an advanced trainer resolve the problem and accepted my Paci c Air Service Command in Manila, for new Army Air Corps pilots. signature.  e Air Corps didn’t know the Philippines. In that role, my uncle  ew My uncle proudly served as a sta how to handle us when we were transits.” a specially modi ed B-17:  e bomb bay sergeant pilot for 11 months, conduct-  at changed in summer 1943 when was gutted and turned into a VIP suite, ing many cross-country  ights. “On Congress passed a law mandating that which was a private room with a bed. many of the cross-country trips, I ran all pilots receive commissions.  us, on My uncle’s rst orientation  ight with into the problem of who would sign for Aug. 3, 1943, my uncle was discharged Carroll was a round-trip from Manila to the fuel,” he recalled. “When we exited from military service to accept an Tokyo. He  ew throughout the Paci c

16 Wingman Magazine ︱ January 2015 a series of oblique turns) 200 miles to the their di erences there wasn’t any chance north, which would give the airplane a of a resolution, so he picked up his papers considerable tailwind. On entering the and discontinued the meeting.” storm, lightning constantly ashed all On Nov. 4, 1946, my uncle was again around them.  e navigator calculated in Shanghai with Davis.  e latter was a 125 mph hour tailwind.  ey made scheduled to meet with General of the it through the storm and landed in Army Douglas MacArthur, who was Shanghai with daylight to spare. supreme Allied commander, Japan, at After that ordeal, Davis developed an the time, in Tokyo. While the original appreciation for my uncle’s ying skills. ight plan called for a direct ight, once Shortly thereafter, Davis was invited to airborne, Davis asked my uncle to y Nanking by General of the Army George over Hiroshima, where the  rst atomic C. Marshall, who, as the President’s bomb had exploded some 15 months special representative to China, was earlier, for a look at the city. scheduled to meet with senior Chinese After overflying Hiroshima and Communist and Nationalist leadership taking pictures, my uncle received

 eater to such interesting locations as Nanking and Shanghai in the Far East; Brisbane, Cloncurry, Darwin, Sydney, and Tuggerah in Australia; Palawan in the Philippines; and the islands of

Biak, Guam, Moratai, New Caledonia, Bujalski Joseph Lt. 2nd by Photo Okinawa, and Yap. In September 1946, the modi ed B-17 and crew began three months of tempo- rary duty with the State Department, reporting to Donald B. Davis, who was  eld commissioner for China and Eastern Asia. My uncle had several interesting stories to tell me about those missions. His  rst ight in support of Davis was an inspection visit to Shanghai on Oct. 9, 1946. A week later, Davis needed to return to Shanghai. My uncle Lauducci pokes his head out of The Liquidator at Kiangwan Field, Nov. 4, 1946. He returned had scheduled takeo for 4 a.m. so they to the United States in 1947, left Active Duty, and joined the Air Force Reserve. could arrive in Shanghai before dark since Kiangwan Field in Shanghai did not to obtain a peaceful settlement between notice to y over the Tachikawa Range have runway lights. Before takeo , the the two warring governments. and hold.  e aircraft held there for forecaster briefed my uncle on a typhoon My uncle’s B-17 arrived in Nanking three hours before being cleared to land north-northwest of Manila that would midmorning and Davis went straight in Tokyo. My uncle was advised that intercept his ight path. to the meeting. My uncle  gured he Haneda Airport had clouds down to 600 My uncle briefed Davis, who said, had some time to kill so he procured feet and six miles of visibility, less than “I have to be there.” My uncle replied, a jeep and visited a few historical sites. ideal conditions for visual ight. He was “If you have to be there, we’ll get you He returned to the airplane at noon to asked if he preferred a ground-controlled there, but it will be a rough ride.” Two  nd Davis waiting for him. My uncle approach. His immediate response was, hours after takeo while ying at 8,000 was surprised and asked how the meet- “GCA? Never heard of it. What’s that?” feet, they spotted a huge cloud bank ing went. Davis answered, “General  e tower controller explained that he stretching across the horizon. My uncle Marshall decided that the two warring would give my uncle the headings and my directed his navigator to dogleg (i.e., plot governments were so adamant about uncle would repeat them on his descent.

Wingman Magazine︱ January 2015 17 e tower would control his azimuth and Reserve, and returned to Syracuse Uni- Octogenarians for  ying an aircraft as elevation until the B-17 broke through versity on the GI Bill to earn his degree pilot in command after reaching the age the clouds. When my uncle did break in civil engineering. He served another 33 of 80. On June 30, 2010, he celebrated through at 600 feet, he found himself far years in the reserves and o cially retired his 90th birthday by taking his last  ight. left of the runway. He immediately put from the Air Force on June 30, 1980. e original B-17 that my uncle  ew the B-17 into a knife-edge left turn, then Lauducci and his wife, Irene, even- in the Paci c has been restored and is a knife-edge right turn, leveled out, and tually settled in Vian, Okla., and have prominently on display at the Lyon Air made a picture-perfect landing. Needless lived there for the last 38 years. ey will Museum on the west side of John Wayne to say, he wasn’t impressed with this new celebrate their 71st wedding anniversary Airport in Santa Ana, Calif. approach system. on Jan. 6, 2015. In August 2013, my uncle visited me in e modi ed B-17 and my uncle’s roughout his retired life, my uncle Alexandria, Va., to take in the National crew were transferred back to Paci c never lost his love of aviation and con- World War II Memorial and the Airmen Air Service Command in Manila on tinued to  y out of Fort Smith, Ark., Memorial Museum in Suitland, Md. Nov. 16, 1946. Davis wrote a letter of commendation to Carroll, citing my uncle’s skill, cooperation, and care, as well as his consideration for his crew. Many of his subsequent  ights with the command were designated as “milk runs,” because he often  ew from Manila Photos courtesy of James R. Lauducci courtesy Photos R. James of to Brisbane to stock up on milk, which was not available in Manila. Lauducci’s  nal  ight for the com- mand was in a C-47 from Manila to Guam on March 31, 1947. Before he Top: Lauducci (center) visited the Airmen Memorial Museum in Suitland, Md., in August 2013. left Manila, Philippine Air Lines o ered Next to him are John McCauslin (left), former head of the Air Force Sergeants Association, and him a job as the assistant to the chief James Lauducci, the author of this article. Below left: Lauducci last fl ew as a pilot on his 90th engineer and engineering test pilot, with birthday, June 30, 2010, in a Cherokee 240 at Fort Smith, Ark. a monthly salary of $1,000. at was a mostly in the Cherokee 240. He remained He had donated some of his personal lot of money in 1947 and he was tempted active with his old friends in the 22nd mementos to the museum, including to take the position. But he had a wife Bombardment Group and attended the three uniforms and his bombardier and a four-year-old daughter back in unit’s reunion in 1991 marking 50 years certi cation. My uncle tried on all three the United States and wanted to return. since the beginning of World War II. He uniforms and  t into them. It was a very So he left Active Duty in the nascent helped write Revenge of the Red Raiders, heartwarming visit and my uncle regaled US Air Force, joined the Air Force an illustrated history of the group during the museum curator with  ying stories. World War II. e Enlisted Pilots Association has My uncle also remained faded away. In a few years, it’s likely active in the Enlisted Pi- that all the enlisted pilots of World lots Association, headed by War II will have died. But the legacy of Edwin F. Wenglar, who rose their bravery and accomplishments will from sta sergeant pilot to never be forgotten. is is the story of become a brigadier general. one of them. In June 1989, my uncle at- To my uncle, I say, “ ank you, sir, tended a reunion of enlisted for your service to our country.” % pilots at Scott AFB, Ill., where a memorial was dedi- James R. Lauducci is a former AFA vice cated to the enlisted pilots. chairman of the board for fi eld operations. On Jan. 2, 2002, my uncle He served 24 years as a communications- received a certi cate of mem- electronics offi cer in the Air Force, retiring bership in the United Flying in 1988 as a colonel.

18 Wingman Magazine ︱ January 2015