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Right On Target

A Marine Corps pilot who served in World War II tries to outdo his commanding officer’s performance during bombing training and hits his target — twice.

In World War II, I was a second lieutenant Corsair pilot on USS Bennington (CV-20). To stay in after the war, I went into the Marine Corps. It was a great time to be an aviator. I was transferred to MCAS Santa Barbara, Calif., to a squadron just gathering for a war that now was over. There was a lot of fuel to be burned, and we did it on a five-day, 40-hour work-week, piling up flight time.

This went on for a few weeks before things tightened up, and we were transferred to MCAS Cherry Point, N.C., as a squadron assigned to permanent duty and attached to a small aircraft carrier.

We were all high-time seasoned combat pilots and knew what we were doing, but the training cycle was not finished and an infantry major who had just gotten his wings was assigned as our squadron commander. We thought him to be a bit clumsy with his flying, and he imposed infantry discipline on us aviators. This made him unpopular, and we never missed a chance to show him how good we were with a Corsair.

We were called to exercise and meet our carrier 100 miles off Norfolk, Va., for periodic carrier qualification and bombing practice. We duly complied and began by gathering a week’s worth of clothing in our standard small green suitcases. The Corsair did not come with a baggage compartment and there was no preload, so all anyone had room for was a clean shirt and underwear in a small suitcase. We used the hydraulic compartment under the belly and between the gear for storage.

We met the carrier on time and began our bombing training on a spar towed 1,000 feet behind the carrier. The major sent the squadron ahead of him so he could watch their hits. Everyone was good — as they should be by now. Finally, it was the major’s turn, and he didn’t do a dive; instead he did a cautious glide and missed the spar by a mile.

I’ll show him! I thought. I moved in and did a steep approach followed by a low pullout. I pressed the master arm, bomb select, and did a rollout to see my hit. I hit it all right, right smack on target — the best hit of the day. Not only did I hit the spar with my bomb, but also the door to the hydraulic compartment came open, and I hit the spar with my suitcase.

The major might have missed the spar, but at least he still had a clean pair of underwear.
MO

— Drury Wood is a retired Army major and a Life Member of MOAA. He lives in Grants Pass, Ore. For submission information, see page 6.

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