Warbird Information Exchange

Please accept my condolences, We are losing our Greatest Generation too fast. When you get all things settled I would love to hear some stories of his days as a fighter pilot. You have every reason to be proud of Him.

Tim Landers

I posted this a short time ago. Just some of his experiences

I was talking to my father a short while ago. He flew Hellcats off the USS Franklin, besides the close call he had on Oct 30, 1944. He was sitting in his Hellcat waiting to take off. His Hellcat was blown forward, prop hit the deck, left wing collapse, he runs off wing and dives into a door in carrier island.

On 30 October 1944, the Franklin was damaged extensively by a Japanese suicide plane east of Samar Island. The plane with a bomb load aboard crashed through the flight deck, igniting planes parked at the after end of the flight deck. The bombs carried forward, detonating among the gassed planes in the hanger and causing fires in the after portion of the flight deck and hangar. The fire spread to the second and third deck spaces. In addition, gas explosions occurred in the hangar, but all fires were extinguished in two and one half hours. Structural damage was extensive to the flight and gallery decks as well as to structures within the hangar.

Besides this close call, he told me his closest call was when he and his wingman were on CAP and got lost way out in the Pacific somewhere, they lost their carrier task force and were on fumes. They both decided to ditch, but at the last minute, they made contact with their carrier. Dad landed on the deck and engine quit. Soiled flight suit.

Another 4 Hellcat CAP and as Dad and his wingman, along with the other two in a 4 ship formation, entered through some broken clouds, his wingman somehow broke formation and clipped the second lead's wing and both tumbled in a fireball. Killing both. My dad to this day wears his belt buckle to the side of his pants as a memorial to his buddy he lost that day. Guess this happened a lot out there.

Dad chased a few enemy aircraft, and actually fired on a few, but he said they were always running away and dad was too far away to really hit anything. He did rocket fire on several airstrips, barges, and a greenhouse loaded with explosives on Saipan that blew up and shattered in a million pieces and beat up his Hellcat quite a bit. But he made it back safe.

Sorry to hear of your loss. Any loved one who passes will be missed but it is especially difficult when we loose our parents.

Our prayers are with you.

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Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
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Im sorry to hear this Hellcatdriver. He was one of the best.


Keep the faith,
Nathan

our condolences,

B

The guy is Movie Star material! So many of our father's and the men of that generation were of a different look. It only puts the whole package together of who and what they were. Young kids doing things way beyond their years.

I know what you are feeling and hope the pain eases soon. The memories willl never fade! Always be proud to say you're his son!

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Your dad was a true hero...

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Taylor Stevenson

May your family find the peace that I know your Dad has.

Not every parent is fortunate enough to be missed when they pass.
It is the sign of a life well lived that his passing is mourned and his example is missed.

Condolences,

Don Price
aka SPANNER

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

This is the most appropriate thing I could think of, Hellcat:





Please accept my sincere condolences on the passing of your father.

Godspeed, sir.

Respectfully,

Lynn Ritger

WOW!!! ... you people are simply amazing .... from my family to you and yours ... I thank you all sincerely for you kindness ... my sisters visited this website last night are were in tears. They never knew my father was loved by so many wonderful aviation folks .... This really means a lot to me and you all will make my long flight today a comfortable experience. You all will be with me and my family throughout this experience. I just hope I can return the same feelings to you all someday. My father salutes you all .... God bless you all ....

all the best to you & your family. while this site is in many ways is faceless with people pecking at the keyboard, you can rest assured you'll find solace here among friends. when my stepson died this past june the wix gang was like plugging into a charger to keep the battery running. take care, tom

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

My sincere condolences.

Just read this in our hometown paper.

My father never could understand why some people made such a fuss about his war career. He really never had anything to talk about the war years that he thought was interesting. He would just say things like ... "everyone was in the war back then, we all just did what we had to do. There was never any thought of being a hero back then. To even mention heroism back then was a form of arrogence and selfishness. ... when the whole world is fighting for survival ... talk of becoming a hero really made no sense. We were just trying to survive from day to day so we could go home ... even though our ground crew were ... no pilot was really counting any combat kills in his squadrons ... just counting the days till we could go home. ... every kill was celebrated not as a flag painted on your aircraft, but as one kill closer to going home." ... to go home, always to go home ... To survive to go home and honor the poor souls who didn't survive ... those were the true heros.

James E. Mansfield

James Edward Mansfield, age 86, of Sault Ste. Marie, passed away Tuesday afternoon, October 9, 2007 at War Memorial Hospital.

Jim was born in Sault Ste. Marie on February 3, 1921 to the late John and Margaret (Fortin) Mansfield. He graduated from Sault High School with the Class of 1939. He served his country in the United States Navy during World War II. He was a fighter pilot in the South Pacific, flying the Hellcat and the Corsair from the aircraft carriers USS Franklin and USS Hornet. Jim continued flying privately until age 84.

Jim was the owner and well-loved manager of the Harbor House and Happy Hideaway. His long history of entrepreneurship also includes founding Glass and Paint Products, Seaplane Tours, Advanced Custom Upholstery, and the Econo-Wash. In addition he worked at the Ojibway Hotel, Taffy Abel's Supper Club, and the Sault Evening News.

Jim enjoyed golfing, photography, old movies, and hard work. He especially enjoyed spending time with his friends and family. He was a member of the Elks Lodge and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA).

I hope that you and your family are making it through this tough time O.K. For as much as we can argue about things, and disagree on views here, the minute something happens, people here are just great. When you meet in person, it seems that all of that goes away, and we are just happy to meet up.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Director

I am deeply sorry that I missed the chance to have your father sit in the cockpit of our Hellcat for that one last time. In my years with the CAF I have had the bittersweet pleasure of doing that for others many times. Someday, up in Santa Barbara, you may hear the sound of a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 and look up and see that beautiful sea blue silhouette of our Hellcat. Know this. It might be Steve or Gary or Chris or Jason flying the airplane. But they won’t be alone.

Best,

Dan

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