Pacifica Military History Free Sample Chapters.pmd

428 Pacifica Military History
Perce. As they started in, Earl May broke from his position in the bomber
cover and led his wingman, Beads Popp, to the rescue. The two got to
Divenny’s lagging fighter, and they did get their talons into one of the
Zekes. Earl got credit for an assist and Beads got full credit for the kill.
However, the rest of the Zeros bore down on them and May and Popp
had to dive to safety. A Zeke came down on Perce’s tail and hammered
him into a fatal dive.
As the retiring bombers were clearing the coast, six Zekes hit the
formation from 500 feet above the low-cover flight. Attacking from the
rear, these Zekes put in a series of aggressive high-side runs. The rear
division, under Lt(jg) Paul Cordray, turned back to take on the Zekes,
and the Zekes broke contact. However, when Paul turned again to rejoin
the bombers, two Zekes slipped in and set up a firing pass at the rear
element, Lt(jg) Hal Jackson followed by Lt(jg) Don Malone. Jackson
was well behind Cordray and his wingman, and Malone was lagging
even farther behind Jackson.
Cordray gave a frantic “Close up” zooming signal, and Jackson
promptly moved in. Malone, who had a long history of lagging in
formation, did not respond to the unmistakable series of short dives and
zooms, nor even to “Don! Don! Close up! Close up,” which Paul
frantically broadcast by radio. When the Zekes pulled up at the conclusion
of their single firing run, Malone’s Corsair was burning and falling away.
Attracted by Cordray’s vain warning, several of us saw Don’s chute
blossom. We hoped he would get down safely, but we had to leave. No
one ever saw Don again.
*
As soon as we landed, I confronted Earl May at the ready room and let
him have it with my fury. I had been literally sick to my stomach when
I saw Divenny going down, but I had made the painful decision to carry
out our responsibility to defend the bomb-ers. I had determined that we
could not do that and cover Divenny, too. It was, in my mind, a tough
fact of life that Perce had been lost because he had been unable to stay
under the heavy bombers. The only thing that kept me from grounding
Earl was the lucky fact that no enemy fighters had attacked through the
hole his departure had left in our formation.