Note the nose art: Painted by Hal Olsen and is now part of the inventory and exhibits of the American Airpower Heritage Museum held at Midland, Texas

Stanley Chester

What was the common attitude of the people concerning the possibility of going to war before the attack on Pearl Harbor?

To the best of my recollection, prior to the 7th, I think people were totally unaware and basically unconcerned about Japan and the possibility of war.

What are your memories of December 7th, 1941?

We were playing touch football in the street, as the day was clear, bright and a bit cold. We heard the news via radio and quite honestly, I no more knew Pearl Harbor than the man in the moon and that probably goes for the vast American population.

What branch of the service did you join, and why?

I quit High School at sixteen in March of 1942. Minnesota law said that you must be at least sixteen and have parental permission. I took the oath on 4 June 1942, but advised to wait as the boot camps were full. I had joined the Navy for probably the 'See the world' logo, but also liked the uniform. I was sent to the Great Lakes for boot camp August 12th, for four weeks training, mainly administrative and marching and taking orders. We were, I think, the last company to sleep in hammocks.

What was involved in boot camp, and what, if any, are your most memorable experiences of it?

Boot camp was so fast that you did not get time to think clearly. No fond memories except anger that I was not going to sea, as an ex-merchant seaman and I got school, he to New London, Connecticut, for sub school, and me to radio school at Northwestern University. We were the only two out of over sixty guys and I never in my total career saw any of my boot buddies again. June 4th way my seventeenth birthday, thus the oath and an enlistment in the Regular Navy for a Kiddy Cruise. (17 to 21.)

What was involved in radio school?

At radio school, which was located n Evanston, Illinois, at Northwestern University, we mainly learned Morse code. We learned both sending and receiving. The minimum speed sending with a hand key I do not recall, but receiving had to be at least twenty-five words per minute. I reached thirty-one words per minute. We also learned the basic structure of messages as to from whom, to whom, number of words in the message, date and time and ending message nomenclature. Both plain language and encoding were taught. Q-signals, a large group of three letter items all starting with Q, and each with a different meaning and maintained in a dictionary type book were also learned. I believe the school lasted two to three months and ten of us put in for sub school in New London. It required a special physical, which eight of us passed. The results were seven to sub school, the entire class to ships and me to Memphis for Combat Air Crew training.

After radio schooling, where were you next assigned?

I was assigned to Memphis NATTC (Naval Air Technical Training Command) for more school as an Aviation Radioman. You pass this and become eligible for flying as an Air crewman, flunk and your ground crew. We learned signal flags and more messaging at a much lower speed, which really threw me coming from the speeds I had reached. Synthetic gunnery and enemy and friendly aircraft recognition thru silhouettes eventually being shown to you at speeds of 1/25th of a second, having started at about one second. The front, back, side, upside down, you name it. Every imaginary look at enemy aircraft was shown. I know this particular training helped me more than other stuff as I recall on several occasions later when flying, the sighting way off of various enemy aircraft and knowing exactly what I was looking at. You also become acquainted with what we called the FIST. You could tell from the sender of messages who they were by their FIST. It's like it was their name, very recognizable.

What exactly is a FIST?

A FIST can be thought of as a person's voice or mannerism. When I would get a message, I instantly knew who it was by all the rudiments of his sending such as speed, and perhaps delays in certain phases of a message. In other words, it was as if I was talking with him on the telephone and recognized his voice, all automatic mentally.

Where were you sent after Memphis NATTC School?

After Memphis, I was sent to Air Gunnery School in Purcell Oklahoma, about thirty miles from Norman and sixty-five miles from Oklahoma City. We basically learned skeet with a twelve gauge constantly. More synthetic gunnery, much like today's kids games where you fire on things. Also learned were marching and calisthenics, predominately for the arms and wrists so you could handle a fifty caliber machine gun without panting. After two weeks, I requested a transfer to sea and because my marks were good, the skipper asked why. I said, "I'm tired of school, I want to fight". Two days later I was in the Aleutians headed for Adak Island and my eventual squadron, VB-136.

Were you happy to finally be sent somewhere, where you would be involved in the war?

Yes, I was finally overseas and ready for action.

What was involved while at the Aleutian's?

Basically flights throughout the Aleutian chain of islands to prevent shipping from reaching and supplying Nip garrisons on Kiska and Attu. A large Canadian force along with our Army guys went into Kiska and found zilch. Submarines had apparently got their forces out without our having the slightest knowledge of its occurring. It was perhaps one of our blunders of that area's intelligence gathering. I moved to Attu with the same flying requirements except much closer to the Nips. Needless to say, this area is the worst flying weather in the world. It was also much closer to Russia, who were pains in the you know what. We always had trouble getting their ships to give us international recognition signals via either flag hoist or blinker. I trained with the Army Air Corps while there on the B-24 radio gear and it got me ready for my next apparent assignment it seems.

What was the weather like for you to call it 'the worse flying weather in the world'?

The Aleutian chain is at the darn near top of the world and extremely cold, foggy and windy. Cold requiring engine nacelles be under specially designed heating tents, foggy to the pint of almost always, and a low fog always surrounding the islands and winds called wily Waugh which were in spurts and could register better than ninety knots. A rope line from the huts to the chow hall, sickbay or head was required so one wouldn't lose their way to and from during heavy fog or a wily Waugh, which would blow much snow to the point of being literally blinded. Many an aircraft was flipped due to these winds and it was common to tie them down with cats (snow plows) to help prevent such events. While on Adak, it was normal procedure to advise the pilot for landing purposes that Great Sitkin, a mountain on an adjoining island, was on the radar and where approximately because most landings were not given the luxury of a scenic view. We carried boots and anti-freeze for keeping ice from building up. Boots were strips of, I believe, rubber mounted on the leading edge of the wings which were picked from the cockpit and when released, took the ice buildup to that point and until the pilot figured hit it again. I think there were about twelve or thirteen strips and ground crews were responsible for maintaining them at full bore. Once they were used up, we went to anti-freeze.

Is there any one particular flight out of the Aleutians that stands out in your memory?

No, no particular flight stood out in my mind during this particular tour of duty.

After the Aleutians, where were you next assigned?

After the Aleutians, the squadron returned to the states in December of 1943, and I reached my mom at home for leave on Christmas Eve. I returned to Whidbey Island Washington for training and school, but pulled out of school and was sent to Naval Air Station, Hutchinson, Kansas, for training in the B-24, called PB4Y-1 by the Navy. I recall that I trained with the AAC in the Aleutians on the Liberators. FYI: P=patrol, B=bomber, 4=4 engines, Y=company manufacturer, which in this case was Consolidated Vultee, and the dash 1 is the initial aircraft without modification wherein a dash 2 would be the knowledge that a modification had occurred.

After the Naval Air Station in Hutchinson, Kansas, where were you next assigned?

We were transferred, now being a crew, and hereafter known as crew one to Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida, for further training. Crews two and three also were transferred with us. The Jacksonville facility was a quickly put together deal as the Navy used a portion of the Municipal Airport for the first time and the base was totally ramshackle.

Could you elaborate on how this base was 'totally ramshackle'?

It was ramshackle in that it was as if the base were put together in about four hours. The chow hall, living quarters, working area and furnishings there were wood or tin and just the epitome of a large tenement area.

What kind of training did you receive there, and how long did it last?

We were there approximately mid July of 1944 through mid September 1944 doing anti-sub, gunnery, bombing, navigation, oxygen hops, etc. The aircraft used were B-24's from the European theater, and they were wrecks, but we managed without unusual incidents. The next station was San Diego for more training and then overseas assignment.

Where overseas were you assigned?

I joined VPB-116 on Tinian as I recall in late December 1944. This was my last squadron during the war, the first having been VB-136, the twin-engine bombers in the Aleutians. We are now flying the Easy Maid and we about wore her out, probably averaging four or better flights per week and some flights averaging better then fifteen hours. The variety of flights varied as to search, search and rescue, reconnaissance, Jap Fleet search, enemy craft search, coastal bombing, etc. Interesting to say the least. The crew received the Distinguished Flying Cross and several Air Medals. We were credited with five Nip ships sunk. We felt the count should have been eight, but they only credit you with a sure sinking and not a probable sinking. By far and large we flew alone and therefore didn't have the luxury of other crews saying, "Yeah, we saw it go under", etc. This lonely flying also sets you up to think that because you didn't see some of your buddies get it that they're off on a trip and that somehow they will come home and land, but of course, eventually it does sink in that you'll not see them again and that they are gone. It's hard to lose those who you eat, sleep and play with, but in a sense, easier than some who not only lost buddies, but also saw them get it. In the final analysis, it hurts whichever way you loose them, but I can still see some of them in my mind and remember mostly the good times, because if you concentrate on the bad, you'll go nuts.

Once you got to Tinian, what was a routine day like?

Flying over Iwo Jima Feb 28th or March 1st, 1945

We probably flew every other day and would pretty well lie around our off day. We had to ammo, gas and bomb up the day before a flight, so that meant we spent a big part of our off day prepping the plane. There were outdoor movies nightly and a few USO shows. We wrote and read letters, which were mainly called V-mail. It was a large sheet with a place for the address and writing all in one. Every letter was censored, and friends later told me that large blackouts of mine occurred. Evidently, I said too much. We spent much time playing in the ocean and meals were normal hours, three times a day on Tinian. On Iwo Jima, no chow hall. K-rations were everything to eat, including flight rations. A large GI can with an oar for stirring with a huge coffee bag and water for us early risers to have our coffee. My first taste of instant coffee was in K-rations, by the way. We would get back to Tinian perhaps every two to three weeks and stay for about three to four days before heading back to Iwo Jima. There was still Tinian special flights like reconnaissance over Truk Island.

Considering the weather on Tinian, how did you dress while in flight?

When not flying, I wore standard Navy dungarees, shirt and pants, moccasins and a ball cap. Flying added a flight jacket, summer issue, and my Mai West. My parachute I kept in the radio seat. The weather was relatively warm, although rain and a typhoon or two occurred.

What was the difference in what you wore from cold weather flying to warm weather flying?

In the Aleutians, for cold weather, we wore a heavy wool lined flight jacket, wool lined flight boots, heavy leather gloves and when in the turret, sometimes a facemask. Would you believe that I still froze my buns off? They said that if one ditched in the water, they had about a moment or so to get pulled out or it was all over. On Tinian, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, etc. (Central Pacific) you dressed for comfort and of course within the more of proper dress. In flight and on the ground, I wore navy issue dungaree shirt and pants, moccasins and a ball cap. I would add an Intermediate summer issue jacket and my mandatory Mae West jacket.

We also had a food difference. In the Aleutians, we had powdered green milk and powdered green eggs, but good flight rations of sandwiches. On Tinian, all the food was good except the New Zealand butter, which never melted under any circumstances, and fair flight rations. We also had sandwiches, but they were sparsely put together. On Iwo Jima, there was no chow hall. Breakfast, dinner and supper we all ate K-rations, and that can really get old after a very short period. Later on Iwo Jima, we got C-rations, which are cookable, and our plane became the chow hall with a two-burner hot plate.

What do you remember the most about Tinian?

Remembering is difficult. Out flights were so long that the tenseness of looking for friendly land could get to you after a while. I suppose our getting shot up over an Island called Babelthaup, which was sister to, but bypassed when we invaded Peleliu, was notable. Getting chased and shot at by shore batteries in the East China Sea where we sunk our first shipping. We carried Chinese money and if we had been damaged too much, we would have headed for the interior of China per our orders. Unlike Europe, we didn't have the city target for the day with hundreds of aircraft accompanying, but were almost always alone, God knows where, but with hope, our Navigator would find the way. Between the radio compass, radar and the stars, we flew without Loran, GCA and all the great aids they have today. Europe, Italy, etc. were tougher than our headaches in loss of life and we always talked of that and our comrades in arms, and we loved and felt for them very deeply. They were always in our thoughts and hearts. The times we were chased and shot at, the shopping we went in on, trying to find base, a base being a piece of land so small compared with the Pacific Ocean size that when you finally did see it, you wondered why the land got so short-changed. All the pieces add together to create kind of an equal lose any one and your history.

When you engaged the enemy, what were your thoughts and feelings at that particular time?

During engagements, if we knew we were going in on something, I took the top turret, if it was a surprise, I took the circuit and immediately notified the base by an OA message. OA is urgent contact and you follow with where, what and your condition. You normally never use plain English in your transmissions, but encode your message. We, once upon finding a large part of the Japanese Fleet, and their opening up on us, send an English language message to base as the pilot told me to, and I didn't have time to encode anything anyway. My thoughts during any and all engagements were, "when will it end"? "Why won't they go away?" "What the hell am I doing out here anyway?" Things like that are what I thought to myself.

Did you at any time feel you would not make it back?

For some strange sense of feeling, although scared to death at times, I just knew I would get home. Call it youth, call it being invincible, whatever it was, I had a greater fear of being taken prisoner than dying.

Is there any flight that stands out for you while on Tinian?

The flight over Truk Island (s), a bypassed Japanese bastion, when we were jumped by the Jack fighter and got pictures stands out. It led to the raid, which knocked out Marcus Island from supplying aircraft to Truk, and cut off their water. Also, the flight we took where we noted the gas drums on the Island of Pagan. We knocked out some of the gas drums and other flights finished the job. This eliminated air raids on Tinian.

Where were you and what was your reaction when you found out about the surrender of Japan?

I was home having dinner with my Dad when we got the news over the radio. I put on my sailor suit with all my ribbons and went downtown Minneapolis to join the celebrating crowd. It was in my mind and I kept thinking, "Boy oh boy, no more mainland Japan, Iwo Jima or those exceedingly long hops against the enemy". I knew I would probably not see any more of my crew again, but in reality, I did at the reunions fifty plus years later, except for Howie Bridge and Valdemar Yushenkov. There are now three of eleven left: Lisby Waggoner (Plane Captain), John Barry (Gunner), and myself, (First Radioman).

Do you feel as if all the men you flew with were like a brotherhood?

Yes. The camaraderie was very pronounced and we stuck together like glue. The squadron and other crews were important and meaningful, but not like those you flew with.

In closing, is there anything you would like to say?

Of all that happened and occurred to me, I really don't remember being totally frightened during any flight or event. I do remember very vividly and still recall my breaking down and crying with almost convulsive sobs upon having observed the Marine burial area with that never to be forgotten burly Sergeant on our first landing at Iwo Jima.

While on Iwo Jima, I believe the first time, we got into what they called a 'carry-all' and we began to drive towards an area where there was a tent where we would sleep, although somebody stood guard on the plane until we got a cot that we put out there.

Stan Chester standing far left

While driving, we passed the burial area of our Marines. When you think of burly sergeants and tough corporals and non-commissioned officers, I was so impressed with the way that the Marines handle their dead, and almost with care-taking hands, took care of their folks. We got to the tent that we were going to stay in that night and I told the other guys that I wanted to take a walk. I think that was probably the first time in my life, or at least while I'd been in the military, that I broke down and cried.

I recall a flight to an island called Pagan, which was north and slightly west, I think, of Tinian. When we had first gotten in the Squadron, and lo and behold, in running over it, Bill, our pilot thought that he seen gas drums. Sure enough, there were gas drums, and so we got a few of those to go up in smoke. Strangely enough, what had been happening is the air raids on Tinian by the Japanese with the Zeroes were always perplexing because if they'd come from Iwo Jima, which was the assumption, it's a seven hundred and fifty to eight hundred mile one-way trip. If you turn around and are going home, you're talking about fifteen to sixteen hundred miles. Now a Zero would have more or less had to refuel somewhere, and evidently they were landing at Pagan and using these drums of gas to gas up. Whether they were coming towards up gassed up or leaving us gassed up, we don't know, but it seemed to stop the raids. We didn't have any raids anymore after that location had kind of been taken out.

Another location that was a headache, we had done a reconnaissance of Truk Island, which was quite a bastion of Japanese. In looking it over and everything, I happened to spot a Japanese fighter quite a ways out, looking out at about 2 o'clock out of my bubble window at my radio shack. I seen this Japanese fighter and or course, I immediately sensed that it was not a Zero. A Zero from silhouette standpoint always had the round radial engine and it sat literally on top of the wing. This thing had an in-line engine, and it kind of halved the wing. Well, at any rate, we took all kinds of pictures with our K-20 camera and got the hell out of there in a hurry. When intelligence interrogated us, they said, "Yes, this was a new Jack". I thought they said Jack, Joe said he thought it was a Judy. Either way, they began to wonder how in the heck the Japanese were getting something as sophisticated as this apparently in the back, back area behind us.

The assumption was, and it turned out to be correct, that there was an island called Marcos, and it had a strip that submarines or shipping or something was probably bringing in the parts for these aircraft. They were assembling them on Marcos and flying them off to Truk. The Navy did an air raid, which is unusual for a series of aircraft in the Navy to do a bombing raid, but they did go in and, I can't recall the date, they just screwed the strip all up and made sure that nothing else would take off of there. Whatever was gathered up at Truk, we never heard from nor had trouble with to the best of my knowledge.

Off of Iwo, right after the invasion, we were looking for the possibility of Japanese ships trying to sneak in, or what you have, and we, hundreds of miles out and up towards the mainland, we picked up, I picked up, many, many blips and passed the word. We, just like you see in the movies, as the clouds parted and you looked down, there were about twenty to thirty ships of all mixed types. Bill said, "Get on the circuit, forget the radar, and send the message and tell them what ships we've and how many we've found, and where we're at and everything".

So I got on and in plain language, which is highly unusual. Normally you code a message that you're going to send. In this case, you will send plain language only in an emergency, which he told me to do. I told the base that there were somewhere in the area of twenty-five to thirty ships. We knew that there were six or seven cans - that is destroyers. There seemed to be a couple light cruisers, no carriers, but evidently some passenger type ships, carrying troops perhaps. We didn't know. At any rate, we did get spotted and began to see a few blinking lights here and there, so Bill said, "Lets get the hell out of here", and of course we did.

On another occasion, we took an extremely long flight to the mainland of Japan, and on the way home, the weather was really, really bad in the sense of thunderheads and storm clouds and what have you.

Finally, I looked over at Mr. Cesario, and I said to him, "Are we lost"?

He said, "I think so".

I said, "Would you like me to try and pick up some land with the radar"?

He said, "Yes, please do".

So, I went into the radar compartment, and trying to move that antenna around with all the storm clouds in the area, they picked up just like a blip, you know. So I kept swinging it around and swinging it around and I finally settled on what I thought was Iwo Jima, and two little dots, which would have been Chi-Chi and Ha-Ha Jima about the right spaceage. The problem was, when you think of the Pacific Ocean and how big it is, and you think of Iwo Jima, which is I think like three and a half or four miles long, and maybe a half to three-quarters of a mile wide. That's kind of a little thing to find in a big ocean. At any rate, when I thought maybe I might be happy and lucky here, that's when I asked for good ole John Berry's eyes. I said, "Take a look out the hatch, and see if you can see something out to the right at about three-o'clock". He looked out and it was about five-ish. Getting a little bit close to dark, he said, "Yup. That's landfall." Those were John's eyes, which we valued so much. It turns out, he was right. We landed on Iwo and when we got the revetment, which wasn't to large, Lisby went up on the wing, opened the tank and stuck the stick in, and it was dry as a bone. He remarked to me, as I remember, he said, "I think about three more minutes and we would have lost all four engines". We would have been out of everything.

While on Iwo Jima in April 1945, about four in the morning and getting our coffee from a huge fifty-five gallon drum (a bag of coffee, an oar for stirring and boiling water as the can was on a bed of coals) when Mr. Williamson, our pilot said, "When you get to the plane, wait for me as I have to talk with you about the flight." At the plane he passed out Chinese currency and the blood chits to all of the crew. We and the old man (Squadron Skipper) are headed for the East China Sea to see and report on the Kamikazes back in that area. This sea is behind the Japanese Mainland and we will be the first planes in that area since the war began. Okinawa is becoming a nightmare for our fleet there and we are looking for whatever we can find out as we think this is one of the Kamikaze main bases. We are taking extra film for pictures with the K-20 camera. We are under the point of no return procedure. This means halfway there, if any and I mean any problems arise we head for China inland and not the coast. Less than halfway there and we have problems, we head back to Iwo. I asked, "What are our chances of getting home?" The intelligence feels about forty to fifty percent. Not great odds.

Believed to be a Japanese cargo ship taken in the East China Sea approximately April or May of 1945

We arrived in the East China Sea and caught them flat. We went after our first ship, which was headed for port and zigzagging. Our strafing and 2nd bomb him direct and she began to burn and sink. The ship was about a Coast Guard Cutter size, so we assumed it to be Nip coastal craft. We spotted another trying to reach shore with no zigzagging making it relatively easy for a dead on strafing and bomb drop. I was taking K-20 pictures and saw this one go under. Looked like a large fishing vessel about forty to fifty feet long. The crew bailed out prior to it sinking and when talking to Carl Drake, our Bombardier some forty years later on the phone, he advised me that to date he had nightmares roughly two times a week about the crew jumping over the side rather than facing the strafing. Carl also had the Bow turret and saw it head on, so it bothered him the most and he also was devoutly religious. By now, we were getting flak from the shore batteries and it was getting hot. One of our squadron aircraft in the sector East of us in picking up the action info came over for a look and perhaps some fun. The skipper and we got out of there and headed for home. Our friend who came over was never seen again. Two days later, I think, we returned and again were not expected and sunk two more, another fishing trawler and a fair-sized cargo job. We did see and took pictures of many small aircraft ashore with their surrounding facilities and I would assume them to be Kamikazes. I don't know why they never came after us except perhaps the pilots were green to the greatest extent and really were not combat efficient. We sunk one more cargo job they credited us with due to camera backup, but three others we left burning were a no no, because it was only our word and that isn't enough.

As for the A-bomb, I have been asked - I do go to junior highs. I go to an eighth grade junior high once a year and deal with the kids in reference to the Depression and World War II. I don't believe the American kids, let alone the American people, have any idea if you were to ask them, "What's Bushido?" what you'd be talking about. But it is that backbone of code, military code-military conduct, if you will - that is the reason the A-bomb was dropped. Had it been any other nation, I don't believe we would have. But Bushido being what it was and what it stood for was the reason they jumped off the cliffs at Saipan by the thousands. Being the reason that the Okinawans and Koreans on the slave labor camps were so deathly afraid of the Japanese. Being the reason that the...every man, woman and child on the Japanese mainland had we invaded, would have been waiting in some way, shape or form to nail us, if not with a rifle, it would have been with a pungi stick. Touched in poison or what have you. They were not about to say 'Uncle'. They would have died first. Just like all of their men had died in all of the islands that we took. If you count the prisoners, as I say, you'll be lucky to be able to use both hands and feet. They just did not give up.

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