Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption (63 page)

3 Eleanor Roosevelt writes Anna: Doris Kearns Goodwin, No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt—the Home Front in World War II (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994), p. 289.

4 Butler overheard president: Ibid., p. 290.

5 Japanese staffers burning documents: “Japanese Embassy Burns Official Papers,” Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), December 8, 1941; Manchester, p. 258.

6 Days after December 7: Carl Nolte, “Pearl Harbor Was a Close Thing for the City in 1941,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 7, 2006; Stanley Pil sbury, telephone interview, August 25, 2004; “Entire City Put on War Footing,” NYT, December 8, 1941; “U.S. Cities Prove They Can Swing into Action,” Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), December 8, 1941; Adam Fjel , “ ‘A Day That Wil Live in Infamy’: Buffalo County and the Attack on Pearl Harbor,” Buffalo Tales, November–December 2002, vol. 25, no. 6; Goodwin, pp. 295–96.

7 Wake’s defense: Lieutenant Colonel R. D. Heinl, Jr., USMC, The Defense of Wake , Marines in World War I : Historical Monograph (Historical Section, Division of Public Information Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1947).

8 Men on Wake singing: Ken Marvin, telephone interview, January 31, 2005.

9 Louie’s test scores: Certificate of Proficiency, Air Force Preflight School (bombardier, navigator), El ington Field, from papers of Louis Zamperini.

10 Norden bombsight: Wil iam Darron, Army Air Forces Historical Association, Oradel , N.J., interview and bombsight demonstration, courtesy of Robert Grenz, 2004; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; “Bombardiers’ Information File,” War Department, Army Air Forces, March 1945.

11 Twice the price of a house: “The Year 1942,” The People History, http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1942.html (accessed September 11, 2009); “The Norden M-1 Bomb Sight,” Plane Crazy, http://www.plane-crazy.net/links/nord.htm (accessed September 11, 2009).

12 Ephrata: Sam Britt, Jr., The Long Rangers, A Diary of the 307th Bombardment Group (Baton Rouge: Reprint Company, 1990), pp. 4–5.

13 Phil ips: Karen Loomis, telephone interview, November 17, 2004; Monroe Bormann, telephone interview, June 7, 2005; Phoebe Bormann, telephone interview, June 7, 2005; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Jesse Stay, telephone interviews, July 23, 2004, and March 16, 2005; Kelsey Phil ips, “A Life Story,” unpublished memoir.

14 Sandblaster: Jesse Stay, telephone interviews, July 23, 2004, and March 16, 2005.

15 Cecy Perry: Karen Loomis, telephone interview, November 17, 2004; Monroe Bormann, telephone interview, June 7, 2005; Phoebe Bormann, telephone interview, June 7, 2005; letters from Russel Phil ips to Cecy Perry, 1941–43.

16 Cecy’s ring: Russel Al en Phil ips, letters to Cecy Perry, March 11, 21, 1942.

17 “I’ve wished 100 times”: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Cecy Phil ips, summer 1942.

18 Phil’s bomber crew: Stanley Pil sbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 2004, March 9, 2005, and August 18, 2006; Charles McMurtry, “Liberator, Hit 594 Times, Wings Home Safely,” Richmond News Leader, May 14, 1943.

19 Harry Brooks’s fiancée: “Sergt. H. V. Brooks Served in Pacific,” undated article from Phil ips scrapbook, NPN.

20 B-24s: Charlie Tilghman, B-24 pilot, Commemorative Air Force, telephone interview, February 14, 2007; Consolidated Aircraft, Flight Manual: B-24D Airplane (1942), Flight Manual for B-24 Liberator , Aircraft Manual Series (Appleton, Wisc.: Aviation Publications, 1977); Martin Bowman, Combat Legend: B-24 Liberator (Shrewsbury, Eng.: Airlife, 2003); Frederick A. Johnsen, B-24 Liberator, Rugged but Right (New York: McGraw-Hil , 1999); Fiske Hanley I , telephone interview, July 30, 2004; Byron Kinney, email interview, April 26, 2007.

21 “it was like sitting”: Byron Kinney, email interview, April 26, 2007.

22 Left arms stronger: Stephen E. Ambrose, The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s over Germany (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001), p. 77.

23 Tails fal ing off: Johnsen, p. 28.

24 “It’s the Flying Coffin”: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

25 Training: Stanley Pil sbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 2004, March 9, 2005, and August 18, 2006.

26 “I grew a little”: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Cecy Perry, August or September 1942.

27 “I guess you read”: E. C. Wil iams, letter to Louis Zamperini, July 1, 1941.

28 Stateside crash statistics: Army Air Forces Statistical Digest, World War II , Office of Statistical Control, December 1945, Tables 213 and 214.

29 Deaths of friends: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Cecy Perry, October 1942.

30 Phil runs from meeting to write home: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Cecy Perry, October 7, 1942.

31 Training for crashes: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, Service Department, Emergency Procedure: B-24 Airplane (San Diego: Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, 1944), pp. 21–25.

32 “kind of sil y”: Russel Al en Phil ips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.

33 “a damn swel pilot”: “Son of Pickett ‘Sky Pilot’ Pilots Bomber Over Wake I,” undated article from Phil ips scrapbook, NPN.

34 Phil’s B-24: Stanley Pil sbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 2004, March 9, 2005, and August 18, 2006; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russel Al en Phil ips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.

35 Phil’s dream of Cecy: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Cecy Perry, August 15, 1942.

36 Phil misses Cecy by three days: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Cecy Perry, November 2, 1942.

37 B-24 names: “Warpaint Photo Album,” Something About Everything Military, http://www.jcs-group.com/military/war1941aaf/warpaint1.html (accessed September 26, 2009).

38 Moznette names plane: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Kelsey Phil ips, February 13, 1943.

39 Phil says plane masculine: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Cecy Perry, March 25, 1943.

40 Japan’s empire: West Point Atlas for the Second World War, Asia and the Pacific , map 22.

Chapter 7: “This Is It, Boys”

1 Oahu in 1942: Stanley Pil sbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 2004, March 9, 2005, and August 18, 2006; Cleveland, p. 158.

2 “one sees only about ⅓”: Cleveland, p. 158.

3 Barracks: Jesse Stay, “Twenty-nine Months in the Pacific,” unpublished memoir.

4 “You kil one”: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Kelsey Phil ips, December 8, 1942.

5 “like a dozen dirty”: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Cecy Perry, April 2, 1943.

6 Water fight: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Cecy Perry, May 12, 1943.

7 Beer fight: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

8 Pornography: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Cecy Perry, December 29, 1942.

9 Greenhouse windows froze: Cleveland, 103.

10 Phil hits pole: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Cecy Perry, March 27, 1943.

11 Gunnery, bomb scores: Louis Zamperini, war diary, January 20, 30, February 2, and March 21, 1943 entries.

12 Sea search: Stanley Pil sbury, telephone interview, August 27, 2004; Louis Zamperini, war diary, March 14, 1943, entry; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

13 Diving over sub: Louis Zamperini, diary, March 14, 1943.

14 Practical jokes: Louis Zamperini, telephone interviews.

15 “kind of daring”: Russel Al en Phil ips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.

16 Leisure-time activities: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, war diary, November 1942–May 1943 entries.

17 Wake attack: Louis Zamperini, war diary, December 22–25, 1942, entries; Stanley Pil sbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 27, 2004, March 9, 2005, and August 18, 2006; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Jesse Stay, telephone interviews, July 23, 2004, and March 16, 2005; “Son of Pickett ‘Sky Pilot’ Pilots Bomber over Wake I,” undated article from Phil ips scrapbook, NPN; Walter Clausen, undated article from Phil ips scrapbook, NPN; “Delphi Flyer Is Given Medal for Pacific Bombing,” undated article from Phil ips scrapbook, NPN; “Former La Porte Youth Helps to Bomb Wake Isle,” undated article from Phil ips scrapbook, NPN; “Fledglings’ Raid on Wake Token of Things to Come,” Berkshire Evening Eagle, January 2, 1943; St. Louis Globe, undated article from Phil ips scrapbook, NPN; “Their Raid on Wake Biggest of Year,” Mansfield News-Journal, January 2, 1943; “Tel s of Raid on Wake Island,” Mansfield News-Journal, January 2, 1943; “Nobody Scared in Raid on Wake Island, Ace Says,” Ada Evening News, January 2, 1943; Walter Clausen, “Hawaii Fliers Get Jap Planes in Wake Raid,” undated article from Phil ips scrapbook, NPN; Britt, p. 12; Jesse Stay, “Twenty-nine Months in the Pacific,” unpublished memoir.

18 New Year’s: Louis Zamperini, war diary, January 1, 1943, entry.

19 STEEL FILLS JAP SOX: Undated article from Phil ips scrapbook, NPN.

20 “fled in terror”: “Tel s of Raid on Wake Island,” Mansfield News-Journal, January 2, 1943.

21 Japan finished within the year: “U.S. Can Take Care of Japan, Halsey Thinks,” Ada Evening News, January 2, 1943.

22 “it’s a little premature”: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Kelsey Phil ips, December 31, 1942.

Chapter 8: “Only the Laundry Knew How Scared I Was ”

1 Coxwel ’s crash: Louis Zamperini, diary, January 8–10, 1943; Missing Air Crew Report No. 16218, Air Force Historical Studies Office, Bol ing AFB, Washington, D.C.; Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Kelsey Phil ips, February 13, 1943.

2 Buried in Honolulu: American Battle Monuments Commission.

3 Crashes over the past two months: Army Air Forces Statistical Digest , Table 64; Louis Zamperini, diary, December 27, 1942, and January 9, 1943; Britt, pp. 10, 13.

4 Crash, loss statistics: Army Air Forces Statistical Digest , Tables 100 and 161.

5 In the air corps, 35,946 personnel: Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II: Final Report, 7 December 1941–31 December 1946 , Department of the Army, Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, p. 7.

6 Disease kil s 15,779: Preventive Medicine in World War II, vol. IV: Communicable Diseases, Office of Surgeon General, Department of Army, Washington, D.C., 1958, Table 1.

7 In the Fifteenth Air Force, 70 percent of KIA: Mae Mil Link and Hubert A. Coleman, “Medical Support of Army Air Forces in World War I ,” Office of the Surgeon General, USAF, Washington, D.C., 1955, p. 516.

8 Super Man flies into storms: Louis Zamperini, diary, January 1943; Stanley Pil sbury, telephone interview, August 18, 2006.

9 Planes land together, bul dozer: Frank Rosynek, email interview, June 15, 2005.

10 “The takeoff”: Frank Rosynek, “Not Everybody Wore Wings,” unpublished memoir.

11 Foot on “off” switch: Stanley Pil sbury, telephone interview, August 18, 2006.

12 Plane hits mountain: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

13 Inadvertent release of life raft: Britt, p. 13.

14 Navigation difficulties: John Wel er, email interview, September 21, 2006; John Wel er, “The History and Flight Log, Jeter Crew,” unpublished memoir.

15 “We just sat there”: Martin Cohn, telephone interview, August 10, 2005.

16 Half of a Zero on B-24 wing: Cleveland, p. 103.

17 Japanese range finders: Louis Zamperini, diary, March 1, 1943.

18 B-24 drops mine into another: Jesse Stay, telephone interviews, July 23, 2004, and March 16, 2005; Cleveland, pp. 130, 137, 181–82.

19 AAF combat deaths: Army Battle Casualties, p. 7.

20 Odds of dying: Jesse Stay, telephone interviews, July 23, 2004, and March 16, 2005.

21 Ditching: W. F. Craven and J. L. Cate, eds., The Army Air Forces in World War II , vol. XI : Services Around the World (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1966), p. 482.

22 Statistics on ditching: Johnsen, p. 29.

23 Death of Almond: John Henry, “Flier Wins 18-Hour Fight with Sharks,” San Antonio Light, July 13, 1943.

24 Rescue statistics: “Air Sea Rescue 1941–1952,” USAF Historical Division, Air University, August 1954, pp. 66–99; Air Force Historical Studies Office, Bol ing AFB, Washington, D.C.

25 Half of Catalinas crashed: Craven and Cate, p. 493.

26 September 1942 raft ordeal: Cleveland, p. 237.

27 Raft found off Christmas Island: Katharina Chase, “Unraveling a WWI Mystery,” Defence, November–December 2006.

28 Rape of Nanking: Chang, pp. 4–104; Yuki Tanaka, Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes in World War II (Boulder: Westview, 1996), p. 80.

29 Rumors of Japanese kil ing on Kwajalein: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

30 Al but one man choosing to die in crash: John Fitzgerald, POW diary, Papers of John A. Fitzgerald, Operational Archives Branch, NHC, Washington, D.C.

31 Nervous airman: John Joseph Deasy, telephone interview, April 4, 2005.

32 Louie copes: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, diary, early 1943 entries; Russel Al en Phil ips, letters to Cecy Perry, spring 1943.

33 Bracelet, silver dol ar: Russel Al en Phil ips, letters to Cecy Perry, August 20, 1942, and March 25, 1943.

34 “When I do get”: Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Cecy Perry, March 10, 1943.

35 Tradition of drinking booze of lost men: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

Chapter 9: Five Hundred and Ninety-four Holes

1 Exploding sharks: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

2 Makin, Tarawa missions: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, diary, February 17, 20, 1943; Stanley Pil sbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 27, 2004, March 9, 2005, August 18, 2006, January 23 and April 21, 2007.

3 Sharks circle: Stanley Pil sbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 27, 2004, March 9, 2005, August 18, 2006, January 23 and April 21, 2007; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, diary, March 5, 1943; Russel Al en Phil ips, letter to Kelsey Phil ips, March 5, 1943.

4 Shooting sharks: Louis Zamperini, diary, April 3, 1943.

5 Nauru: Jack D. Haden, “Nauru: A Middle Ground During World War I ,” Pacific Islands Report, Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawaii at Manoa, http://166.122.164.43/archive/2000/April/04-03-19.htm (accessed September 13, 2009); Jane Resture, “Nauru: A Short History,” http://www.janeresture.com/nauru_history/index.htm (accessed September 13, 2009); Britt, p. 34.