PART II
Chapter 6: The Flying Coffin
1 Pancakes: Ken Marvin, telephone interview, January 31, 2005.
2 “Calm!”: William Manchester, The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932–1972 (New York: Bantam Books, 1974), p. 258.
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 Pillsbury, 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 Fjell, “ ‘A Day That Will 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 II: 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), Ellington Field, from papers of Louis Zamperini.
10 Norden bombsight: William Darron, Army Air Forces Historical Association, Oradell, 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 Phillips: 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 Phillips, “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 Russell Phillips to Cecy Perry, 1941–43.
16 Cecy’s ring: Russell Allen Phillips, letters to Cecy Perry, March 11, 21, 1942.
17 “I’ve wished 100 times”: Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Cecy Phillips, summer 1942.
18 Phil’s bomber crew: Stanley Pillsbury, 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 Phillips 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-Hill, 1999); Fiske Hanley II, 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 falling off: Johnsen, p. 28.
24 “It’s the Flying Coffin”: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
25 Training: Stanley Pillsbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 2004, March 9, 2005, and August 18, 2006.
26 “I grew a little”: Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Cecy Perry, August or September 1942.
27 “I guess you read”: E. C. Williams, 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: Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Cecy Perry, October 1942.
30 Phil runs from meeting to write home: Russell Allen Phillips, 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 silly”: Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.
33 “a damn swell pilot”: “Son of Pickett ‘Sky Pilot’ Pilots Bomber Over Wake I,” undated article from Phillips scrapbook, NPN.
34 Phil’s B-24: Stanley Pillsbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 2004, March 9, 2005, and August 18, 2006; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.
35 Phil’s dream of Cecy: Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Cecy Perry, August 15, 1942.
36 Phil misses Cecy by three days: Russell Allen Phillips, 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: Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Kelsey Phillips, February 13, 1943.
39 Phil says plane masculine: Russell Allen Phillips, 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 Pillsbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 2004, March 9, 2005, and August 18, 2006; Cleveland, p. 158.
2 “one sees only about ?”: Cleveland, p. 158.
3 Barracks: Jesse Stay, “Twenty-nine Months in the Pacific,” unpublished memoir.
4 “You kill one”: Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Kelsey Phillips, December 8, 1942.
5 “like a dozen dirty”: Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Cecy Perry, April 2, 1943.
6 Water fight: Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Cecy Perry, May 12, 1943.
7 Beer fight: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
8 Pornography: Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Cecy Perry, December 29, 1942.
9 Greenhouse windows froze: Cleveland, 103.
10 Phil hits pole: Russell Allen Phillips, 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 Pillsbury, 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”: Russell Allen Phillips, 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 Pillsbury, 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 Phillips scrapbook, NPN; Walter Clausen, undated article from Phillips scrapbook, NPN; “Delphi Flyer Is Given Medal for Pacific Bombing,” undated article from Phillips scrapbook, NPN; “Former La Porte Youth Helps to Bomb Wake Isle,” undated article from Phillips scrapbook, NPN; “Fledglings’ Raid on Wake Token of Things to Come,” Berkshire Evening Eagle, January 2, 1943; St. Louis Globe, undated article from Phillips scrapbook, NPN; “Their Raid on Wake Biggest of Year,” Mansfield News-Journal, January 2, 1943; “Tells 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 Phillips 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 Phillips scrapbook, NPN.
20 “fled in terror”: “Tells 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”: Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Kelsey Phillips, December 31, 1942.