Report From the Aleutians

are [Applause] the Lucian islands are situated in the North Pacific Ocean forming a chain which extends about 1200 mil west southwest from Alaska Peninsula toward Siberia to form the southern boundary of the Bearing Sea the utions comprise four groups the fox andreanof rat and near islands and constitute part of the territory of Alaska USA of volcanic origin there are numerous cones on the Chain many of them still active the coasts are Rocky and surf worn Rising immediately from the water in steep bold mountains the illusions of the Storm part of the Western World a permanent low pressure area prevails there cold air masses from the polar regions flow with a shearing effect against the warm moisture Laden air masses over the Japanese current to form cyclonic disturbances because of the Earth's rotation these disturbances move from west to east and this meteorological phenomenon constitutes one of the most dangerous weapons in the arsenal of our enemies for it enables the Japanese to operate behind the moving curtain of a storm in the early days of June 1942 they employed this advantage in an allout attempt to secure absolute domination of the entire Pacific Ocean behind Eastward moving storms they dispatched two Invasion fleets against two widely separated objectives Midway Island and Dutch Harbor an operation designed to break the American line of sea defense upon which the security of the Pacific coast depends both attempts failed American Air Forces engaged the enemy Task Force at Midway achieving a historic Victory and at Dutch Harbor American landbased planes from Secret American airfields swarmed down seemingly out of nowhere to knock out one two troop fill transports three heavy Cruisers two destroyers and one aircraft carrier in pursuit of the enemy our Army and Navy Airmen flew through storm and fall F and herin 1/ fifth on instruments four fifths on luck 20 hours out of 24 sometimes through blind passes by Uncharted Peaks down through zero ceilings not knowing whether the enemy Fleet or a mountain lay below sweating it out for hour after blind hour of continuous flight at home without benefit of directional beam to land on unlighted runways refueled and take off into gray blind hell there is no Monument for the many who went out and did not return they fought and patrolled in many instances until their fuel was gone knowing they would be forced down at sea but unwilling to break off contacts they had made with enemy forces few were alive of those that flew against the Japs in the Battle of Dutch Harbor if you wish to see their Monument you Americans here at home look around you in retiring the remnants of the defeated Japanese t Force landed troops on the undefended islands of ATU agatu and Kisa we immediately undertook the offensive so commenced our March out along the bridge toward Asia in late August of 1942 a large Detachment of our troops landed on an island several hundred miles out along the chain and under two hours by bomber from Kisa the name of this island is adak and it is closer to Japan than any other American Outpost typical of the illution chain it is Windswept treeless rain soap carpeted with spagma of flat spongy vegetation like under sea growth which oozes water at every step the only bird life on the island is it scavenger Ravens big black wind ruffled remote as the moon and hardly more fertile adak is next to worthless in terms of human existence its sole value is that of a pin on a staff officer's map but that value is measureless strategically adak is one of the most important locations in the world 11 days after the occupation an Airfield was completed and the first US bomber sat down 3 Days Later flights took off on a bombing mission to Kisa with complete fighter protection since that time missions over Kisa have become a daily Affair the Airfield is the heart of the island beating with a half million horsepower of heavy and medium bombers Navy amphibians Pursuit ships transports the sound of the engines warming up starts Before Dawn echoing back from the mountains to flank the field everyday weather permitting the bombers take off in at least one mission often on in the sunrise others following regular intervals so that Kisco is under bombardment every hour until Nightfall standing guard over all the defense installations Coastal batteries anti-aircraft imp placements machine gun posts there is nothing vulnerable about adak any longer [Music] PT boats those seagoing in Fighters stand by in Readiness for surprise Landing attemp offshore destroyers keep endless vigil slipping like ghosts through the fogs challenging each Hull down Speck of an approaching vessel on the horizon listening with their UND years for the beat of an engine scanning the Seas with a plume of a periscope standing rugged Duty on the bearing Patrol or slipping at a port on the flank of a [Music] convoy although the sea Lanes to adak are constantly traveled by convoys and contact with enemy submarines is a daily occurrence sinkings in these Waters have been few and far between contact with an enemy submarine may continue on and off for hours during which the undersea craft Maneuvers for position to attack venturing within the radius of the Convoy's undersea detectors only to crash die then kill engines and lie silent on the bottom as our destroyers bear down and release depth charges our destroyers and navy reconnaissance have held the undersea enemy well in check the flow of men Munitions and supplies eyes flows ceaselessly on task of Furnishing every American expeditionary force with the materials needed in carrying the fight to the enemy falls to the Army service forces ASF is the bloodstream of our whole military body maintaining its every organ and muscle adak presents a special problem as the baron Island furnishes nothing toward human needs save drinking water everything else must be brought here food fuel for men and Motors Machinery Munitions shelter materials raise these basic requirements to the end power add parts and replacements for everything from Caterpillar tractors to can openers plus the operations of estimating purchasing assembling transporting delivery and becomes apparent why the job of supplying a military force is now dignified by a $12 word like [Music] Logistics since the original Landing the Manpower of adak has been constantly augmented where before it was hundreds now it is Thousands troops arrive after a voyage that may take anywhere from a week to a month depending on the sea rout but it took more than a single month to land them here the months of training that toughened them to rigers of wind and weather that taught them to handle their weapons that made them into soldiers add those months to the period of the voyage from the states [Music] on adak down Eastern accents mixed with Texas draws and middle western twangs and Brooklyn ease bookkeepers grocery clerks college men and dirt farmers that is of course ex dirt farmers ex bookkeepers ex college men soldiers now as though all their lives they've been nothing but [Music] orders for the day special orders and news appear on the bulletin board since newspapers and magazines are usually from a month to 3 months out of date these radio news flashes are the only means by which the soldier knows what's going on outside [Music] no fresh meat no green vegetables powdered eggs tin bully beef potatoes canned tomatoes peanut butter canned fruit and coffee make up the basic diet and biscuits barrels full of [Music] biscuits appetites are huge officers and men at attend the same mess as often as not an officer doesn't display the Insignia of his rank the salute is reserved for rare occasions the disciplin does not suffer customary military formality is relaxed plain simple necessity taking its place after months of an outpost like adak there's a tendency on the part of the soldier to think and live only in terms of the present that far away world from which he came begins to seem like a dream to him a letter in his hand is proof of the reality of that world of Saturday night dances galap and ice cream sodas of sport pages and shaving in the same mirror with the old man a letter means more than his paycheck to the soldier if he happens to be in the air core he'd gladly make an extra flight over Kisa for one more [Music] letter no pictures no stage door canteens or Uso no girls pretty or otherwise nothing to drink not even a Coke candy bars cigarettes and chewing gum are rationed but you never hear any belly aching the extraordinary fact is that morale actually gets strong where the closer troops come to the enemy on adak proper morale is First Rate [Music] the site of the Airfield was originally a shallow tidal Lagoon Army Engineers dyed up its Inlet and drained off its Waters by means of a channel for the sea it was their resourcefulness and exploiting a natural formation which made possible the completion of the field in 10 days and 11 nights for the work never ceased bu Dozer shifted thousands of tons of the lava Ash which composed the bed of the Lagoon not a new game to the core that built the Panama Canal as the waters receded grading Crews followed leveling and impacting the area in preparation for the final surface this surface was not to be the usual concrete Runway of an airport but a steel one whose sections had been prefabricated in American Mills it was put down by the Infantry of course in 36 [Music] hours a million and a half Square ft of [Music] it from then on only the severest weather kept our planes grounded Lo local storms materialize Deluge the island and pass on or dissipate all within a few short minutes it's a land of cloud bursts and rainbows if you don't like the weather wait a minute the soldier says everything the weatherman has to offer may be had in a single day downpours hurricane winds hail snow fog sleep and sunshine it is not so much bad weather as changing weather that makes flying hazard to the uninitiated there a new pilot must learn to side slip through local squalls and sit her down in a field rimmed by mountains and under a half foot of water [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the greater percentage of casualties however occur in the anti-aircraft fire over Kisa as a rule our bombers make it back but often they are sorely crippled and with Wounded or dead aboard [Music] in my father's house are many mansions but it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself and where I am there ye may be also and whether I go ye know and the way we know [Music] today's mission is the highlight of each 24 hours eyes turn Skyward and ears strain for the faint beat of approaching engines at the first sound an alert is Flash to the ground defenses units clear for Action anti-aircraft machine guns are stripped ammunition broken out and everything is put in Readiness for an enemy who may be tailing our flights [Music] home six bombers went out and six are coming back [Music] a first ship lands the remainder Circle the field another coming to Earth each time around those damage to with wound to the board taking priority if Revelation how much punishment one of these big bombers can take and still navigate unless both sets of controls are shot away or an explosive shell finds the gas tank the odds are all in her making it safely [Music] home anyone who's been over will tell you that the most wonderful ride in the world is a ride back from Kisa no matter if two engines have conked out and daylight is pouring through the wings there's something about the scenery on the way [Music] home crw proceed to the field operations tent of the bomber command where they will be questioned as results and observations [Applause] their jigsaw reports taken singly are compared and cross checked until a complete and acate record of the operation has been assembled thereafter they're dismissed with nothing to do till tomorrow but eat drink and be [Music] mared and T to L and T to send home to my wife no cares Have Eyes who G me no pretty little girls to deceive me I'm as happy as a king as we go rolling home rolling home rolling home rolling home rolling home by the Light of the silon Roll but ad's tomorrow begins today with a directive from Kodiak Island photographic ship accompanies missions to Kisa its task to follow the bombers over their target recording the immediate results of the bombardment also enemy defense activities new installations camouflage these photographs are studied by specialist interpreters and submitted with General his staff officers Colonel William Prince and Colonel CM mcaro here is Kisa her camp area with its steel Huts her hangers her Underground round Railway her gun installations Kisa one of the hottest spots on the earth or above the main objectives in any Mission from adak are the destruction of enemy shipping and route to Kisa destruction of installations on the island harassing of enemy Personnel when the broader aspects of the operation have been decided upon the senior officers of the bomber and fighter units work out its details among considerations in planning a mission are the type of of aircraft to be employed the weight and type of bombs the time altitude and direction of the attack all of these are interrelated a change of one influencing all the others the overall determining factor is weather for this reason the Navy meteorologist plots his charts up to the very time of takeoff a change of weather at the last moment may mean a complete revision of tomorrow's plans tomorrow is Sunday [Music] at their outposts on the island Catholic Protestant and Jewish chaplain not priests ministers or rabbis but chaplain all are leading fighting men in their devotions under the Snows of an uan Mountain these Defenders of the faith exercise the first of their Four Freedoms [Music] but so far as the business of war is concerned Sunday on adak is like any other day there's a mission going out at 13:00 bombs must be brought down to the field from their camouflage dumps a heavy bomber carries either 16 250 Pounders 12 500 Pounders or 8 1,000 Pounders the size of the bomb to be employed depends upon the nature of the target since if the target is small there's a better chance of hitting it with a salvo of 250 Pounders with a single large bomb on the other hand in congested areas such as the campsite at Kisa a blockbuster comes into its own tail fins and fuses are put on directly before the assembled bomb is hoisted into the bomb bay from the time comes bombs can be released either individually in sticks or in F [Music] bones belts of ammunition are brought to machine guns and threaded into receivers ready for firing the rounds are put onto the belts in successions of threes red tip tracers yellow incendies and black regulations each moving part of each gun has been tended with watchmaker's care and every belt of ammunition is cleaned oiled and checked before the takeoff it is 12:40 o' and the pilots who are going to fly the mission receive final instructions three flights two of B24 and one of B7 are to go over the target the first flight at 1100 ft to drop 500 Pounders on anti-aircraft installations of North head then to proceed along the coastline strapping to the Western limits of the camp area the second flight at 7 500 ft to drop 1,000lb bombs on the camp area the third flight at 4,500 ft to destroy hangers with 500 lb bombs second and third flights to follow at intervals of 45 seconds three fighters to precede each bomber flight at 600 ft and three fighters to afford overhead protection from enemy aircraft [Music] Crews begin to assemble around the ships awaiting the appearance of their officers a Bomber Crew was a team and the the longer it'ss together the better the team work theirs is a mutual responsibility the safety of the ship and the lives of all the others may depend on any single member trust respect are implicit in such a relationship if it is to endure maybe in the beginning you don't like the color of a guy's hair but if he's all there at his job you'll get to like it fine enlisted men eat sleep fly together their voices on the intercom become familiar easy to understand when understanding is vital every Gunner knows the quality of every other's Marksmanship and courage the Navigator can plot a thousand M course over open sea and make a landfall eight men can testify trust and respect for the bombarder the radio operator the engineer co-pilot and trust and respect for the ship they fly a monument ought to be put up to that pre-war fraternity of high school speed Maniacs for out of their ranks our fighter pilots are largely drawn they bring to their hazardous undertaking Split Second judgment inspiration daring Lieutenant George I Rell 12 strapping missions over Kisa Lieutenant Hy P Mills 14 missions Lieutenant Lyle a bean 13 missions major Milton ashkins 15 missions Lieutenant Henry J's stanovsky 11 missions Colonel Jack chanol son of General chanal to the Flying Tigers Colonel Jack has a zero and a submarine to his credit a last minute weather observation is made the word is given to go it's good luck and over the [Music] hill the aerial camera goes aboard the bomber pilot informs his crew of the exact part their ship is to play in the mission your bomber pilot is of a different breed to your fighter where the fighter is reckless and inspired the bomber pilot is responsible determined because of the size and impound durability of his ship there are no last moment decisions for him and besides the big intricate costly piece of Machinery that a heavy bomber is he has the lives of six or eight others to think about 100 men nine bombers 12 Fighters are setting out to attack and immobilize 10,000 men behind Naval and Military defenses this is the significance of aerial Supremacy but behind this Supremacy lies the enormous system which makes it possible for the ships to take off ASF Naval Convoy Army Air transport the core of engineers Army and Navy intelligence signal core ordinance and ground forces these have done their part for today the stage is set rehearsals are over the actors are ready the curtain is going up but this is no makeb believe drama they will be playing for keeps [Music] n [Music] [Music] Colonel William O Ericson who sat the first bomber down on adak and led the original Mission over Kisa [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the Thunder of engines makes the Earth tremble and the Ravens [Music] [Music] rise the echon proceeds toward Kisa it's about an hour and 3/4 from adak to Kisa one of the most hotly defended of enemy held areas Kisa is also one of the most strongly fortified the Japs have dug in like so many moles an estimated force of 10,000 goes underground at the sound of our approaching engines we cannot by Air Attack hope to annihilate we can only harass the force on gisa [ __ ] the islands defenses keep the enemy from adding to its resources while we build our own fighting string to the day and the hour when we shall undertake a landing [Music] operation radio contact is maintained between the bombers and adak throughout the flight which proceeds at military speed 165 mph [Music] [Music] during the first part of the journey the waste guns are swung into position turret mechanisms tested and trial rounds fired [Music] time moves slowly going out to the Target crew members have even been known to play stud poker the route is quite familiar by now many pilots and Crews have made the flight 25 30 times along about the time am chit is cited they begin to look out for enemy planes the men whose regular job is say no matter how often a fellow's gone over he always feels funny up there over Kisa at a signal from the Squadron leader the pilots will open throttle and the planes will go into the bombing run from a minute and a half to 2 minutes they will proceed at level flight in an absolutely straight line toward the target thereby enabling the Bombadier to make his computations win velocity speed temperature altitude drift there can be no deviation whatever in the flights if the bombs are to find the target 10 miles and 3 minutes from the objective before Kissa volcano the mission deploys each flight going to its designated altitude in preparation for the run the enemy will endeavor to throw the flights off their runs and to this he will bring all his Firepower to Bear the earth below will Blaze with hatred our ships will heave and rock in the aak machine gun bullets may make a filigre of their wings High explosives may open up holes big enough for a man to crawl [Music] through little Kisa outer defense of Kisa Harbor Bombay doors open Bombay doors open 6° right on course the object is to hit the target not to avoid anti-aircraft remember this you're just as liable an into is away from it the best way is to forget what's happening outside make the Run by instruments that way if it comes well you just look over your shoulder and see a man with a long beard and you say good morning Father Abraham I want every man to stick by his gun till I say he can leave use every round of ammunition on this ship fire straight at the gun flashes until they stop if we're hit and have to bail out there'll be plenty of Navy around to pick us up okay shall we give it to him [Music] kfka I'm way [Music] [Music] what [Music] results bad hit enemy aircraft is: [Music] second flight low [Music] altitude once again over lightly [Music] On Target let him h [Music] P it on make them like it [Music] third flight at 4,500 [Music] ft B way [Music] Here It [Music] Go arms away [Music] check in to better okay okay radio man okay tur I got a slug in more arm but I'm okay no wa okay move okay Kus hangers are destroyed burning our bombs found the target nine bombers came out and nine are going home [Music] got [Music] [Music] we