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Read what others had to say:
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Nickens, Dan - Feb 14,2017
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Chuck Cavanaugh - Feb 15,2017
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My hangar neighbor here in NJ is 95 years old and still actively flying. He was a PBY and PBM pilot in WWII. I cannot imagine there is more than a handful of these guys left in the entire world (actual WWII combat pilots still flying). He is sharp as a tack.
He tells me that, in fact, 2 PBYs (not him) landed that day, picked up survivors and were later scuttled. I asked him why history has the story somewhat wrong. His answer: ""Our Public Affairs officer was a drunk and a gambler and took all our kitty money (used for booze). He didn't want any publicity for the unit so he never reported the story"". Adrian Marks was in another unit.
So while Lt Marks deserves every bit of credit, Lt Robert French and crew's heroism is lost to history. Having spent years participating in amazing bureaucratic military boondoggles, I totally believe my friend's story.
As an aside, I can't get my friend up in the SeaRey. He does not share our fondness for water birds. I suppose he got too much of a good thing.
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Nickens, Dan - Feb 15,2017
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Remarkable, Chuck. Here is a logbook indicating the same. History is so fickle.
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PBY Logbook
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Chuck Cavanaugh - Feb 23,2017
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Dan, you got me thinking so I asked my friend if he still had his WWII logbooks and sure enough, he did. Amazing stuff. You might be thinking "Well yeah, dummy, what did you think they were doing?" but I didn't realize how routine this stuff was. The thing is full of incredible stories told with one or two words. Offshore rescues were not uncommon,
Just this page references picking up a Marine F4-U pilot 50 miles off Leyte and evacuating 5 injured Army soldiers off some beach.
Another page was landing in open water to rescue/ capture a Japanese weather officer who was trying to evade the advancing American forces. Turns out the guy spoke perfect English - he was a U of San Francisco graduate.
Wild......and this guy still holds a medical and flies regularly.
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20170223 124145
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Ken Leonard - Feb 24,2017
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Chuck - please ask your friend if he would allow his logs to be sent to the national archives or, maybe, NPR (national public radio) as they also do stories about regular people who were put in situations none would expect.
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Nickens, Dan - Feb 23,2017
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That's really cool, Chuck. It is well for us stuck with modern routines to reflect on what those guys accomplished when the need arose.
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Chuck Cavanaugh - Feb 15,2017
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Wow, that is an amazing find, Dan. Thanks. I'm going to show it to my guy.
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Don Maxwell - Feb 15,2017
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Yow! What a photo! Imagine smacking into those waves at 75 knots. I'm wondering who took it--and which direction the wind was blowing.
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