A newbie's A2

[unclegrumpy]

By the way my father also was at Iwo Jima in 1945. He serviced P-51's and P-47's as a ground crewman in the USAAF. Cheers!

Which Squadron or Fighter Group did your father serve in? I have done some research into those units and might have something that mentions him. Those P-51's were escorting B-29's from Iwo Jima to Japan, and it is pretty amazing to think about the distance they had to go to get there and back to that little speck in the middle of the ocean. They lost a lot of pilots doing it, including 26 in one day....

http://www.506thfightergroup.org/missionjune1blackfriday.asp

https://www.defensemedianetwork.com...-p-51-mustang-missions-to-japan-taxed-pilots/

http://www.7thfighter.com/newsletter/sunsetter_spring_2008.pdf

 

[Dover]

Hello unclegrumpy! I must confess given my interest in WW2 history I don't have a lot of information on my father's service. As you probably know many veterans were rather reluctant to discuss the specifics of their role in the war. My dad was no different. It is ironic that I have more information on my great grandfather's service in the Civil War (William H. Crawford Co. C 13th Alabama Inf. Army of Northern Virginia) than I do my dad.
However, I am now motivated to change all that.

I do know as mentioned above he was a ground crewman who repaired radios in fighter planes. The only relic I have from his service is a yearbook from a USAAF tech school in Sioux Falls South Dakota where he trained on radio repair. After graduation he was stationed at a gunnery and bombing range in Waycross Georgia where he practiced radio repair on P-51's and P-47's. After his posting there he was transferred overseas to Iwo Jima.
Dad did relate to me some stories of the his time on Iwo. As a ground crewman most of the stories related to accidents involving fighters returning from the very long missions to the Japanese homelands. Often the B-29's
would have to divert to the airstrip at Iwo for an emergency landing. All this time the island was deemed "secure" still dad witnessed Japanese fighters emerge from hiding in their caves to attack pilots billeted near the airstrip.

My father, Pascal J Murray was rotated home after the end of the war and discharged from the service soon afterwards. I would like to find some more information on his time overseas and perhaps even a picture of him as you found of Roscoe Johnson Jr. Do you think his service records were destroyed in the St. Louis fire you mentioned? Thanks in advance for any information you may come across.

 

[unclegrumpy]

I could not find anything on your father military wise, except his dates of service. One thing to look for in what you have is to see if he wrote his service number on anything. His service file was almost for sure burned, but they can find some things...pay vouchers, and maybe reconstructed notes, but most are not things you will care about or worth the $70 it might cost. There are some other things you can do, but most are expensive if you don't know a bit more, because they take a lot of archival research time, which gets expensive.

One work around is if you know the City or County he likely lived in after he was discharged. He was required to file his discharge and separation papers when he return home, but that was mostly to document his service if he applied for future benefits, so it was not like they were forcing guys to do it. In most cases, you can sort out the possibilities online, and then do a request via email...or multiple requests of your different best guesses. Most of the City or County clerks will tell you if they have anything, and if they do the cost will not be much. It will only be a few pages, but they will tell you a lot...those are pages he would have kept too, so maybe someone in your family still has them.

I only did a brief look at the 7th Fighter Command site linked below. They have a roster, but for some reason I could not get into it. Did see some neat pictures of ground crew, and exactly the type of thing you mentioned...Japanese attacks...crashes...and so on. Maybe you will get lucky and see your dad in one of the pictures. You might also email them, because he might have been a member at one time, and if so they might have his unit. I will look in the books I have, but it is hard not knowing the exact unit he was in. Once that is sorted out, then you can go back and see what they were doing and so forth.

Do think a good comb through the 7th Fighter Command site might get you somewhere. They have newsletters and a lot of neat bits...way more information than you often get.

Dates of service:
28 Jul 1942
25 Dec 1945

http://www.7thfighter.com

http://www.7thfighter.com/album/photos.htm

 

[Dover]

Marvelous and once again a big thank you!

 

[unclegrumpy]

No problem...let me know if you find out more...

Also look through these photos...they are really interesting and might be referencing the same banzai attack you father was talking about...also noticed on the same site they had a wartime newsletter...it listed the Base and Service Squadrons...he could have been attached to one of those rather than an actual Fighter Squadron...more to consider.

http://www.7thfighter.com/album/ind...Attack/342-FH-3A-42252-64901AC_7th_iwo_banzai