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JOE KERR WRITES:
The addition of Bill Scarborough's History of VC-5 on your website is very interesting and informative.
A large amount of the exercises we did at VC-6 had little meaning to me at the time we were involved in them, but after reading Bill's commentary, they make a bunch of sense. One exercise that sticks in my mind very vividly involved our bombing competition with a Wing of the Strategic Air Force. We were on full alert for four days, and slept at the Squadron Hanger (what little time we were not working).
During the bombing competition, I was a member of of a group led by a colored AQ1 named Gaynor who was an ex Generat Service Fire Control Technician with three red hashmarks. After we finished the competition which we won, Gaynor went into the Division Officer and requested that his group be granted three days special liberty. Commander Murray, a mustang, jumped all over ole Gaynor and ridiculed him something awful.
When the commander had finished his triade, ole Gaynor said: Commander, I don't mind getting screwed by you, as long as you slips me a kiss every now and then; but it's almost more than I can take when you screws me and then slaps me.
We were given three days special liberty, and I might add that we were the only group to get extra compensation for the job well done by all hands.
On several other occasions, too numerous to mention, we were tested in ways that seemed to me at the time to be beneficial only in verifying how much we could take without breaking.
Anyway, thanks so much for putting Bill's write up on your Webpage. It was educational for me. Keep up the good work...and stay in touch.
Joe Kerr - jkerr@knology.net
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Merritt Lawless remembers:
Thinking back to those days, I remember another "happening". Call it the "Clark candy bar" incident. I remember it happened in 1951 while we were at Patuxent River.
The squadron was called into formation one morning and told that we would be kept in formation at attention until the guilty party confessed to breaking the candy machine (located in the hanger bay) front glass and taking a candy bar. They believed it happened the night before.
We stood there for sometime. Being fairly new in the Navy, I was wondering how long the standoff would last.
Then several Chiefs, in the back of the formation started to confess to the offense. They each told the OIC that they had taken the candy bar. That demonstrated to me that the Chiefs would act as a buffer between us lower graded enlisted men and the officers when it was appropriate. The formation was dismissed shortly after the Chiefs spoke up.
I feel that my serving in VC-6 was a significant part in my career. Is there any desire out there for us "old timers" to hold a reunion?. I would be inclined to attend at reunion that included shipmates from all 5 Squadrons.
Merritt Lawless - Lawlee11@msn.com
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A VC-6 TALE
When VC-6 was at Pax River,1951/1952?, one day we got 3 AJ's in the air at the same time. No small feat in itself! As I recall, the 3 AJ's were flying in formation over Chesapeake Bay.
Apparently unknown to the crew of one AJ, an engine was on fire. Another wingman hailed them to alert them to the fire. (As I further recall the fire detection systems on the AJ were not very good).
In any case, the crew finally elected to bail out.
You may recall there was a BIG red button mounted near the frame of the crew door. In an emergency (bailout), punching the BIG red button was supposed to hydraulically blow the door open, 1/3rd of the door staying attached to the door frame/hinge to act as a wind break, the other 2/3rds falling off as a result of shear pins.
Well, my shipmate and carpooler Jones AD1, punched the BIG red button for the door. The door moved outward maybe an inch still intact. Jonesy calmly went to his tool box and got a big hammer and proceeded to pound on the red button/crew door. No luck, wouldn't budge!
The crew then elected to go out through the bombay. Of course North American had advised us that was not such a good idea in that you might get swept up into the empennage. Nonetheless everyone went out through the bombay and lived to tell about it.
However Jonesy's luck, after bailing out, didn't improve. He was swept into a tree in a very large pasture in Southern Maryland. Branches scratched his face and arms rather severely.
Jonesy's luck yet again got worse. Upon getting disentangled from the tree and climbing down, he is now nose to nose with a very large black bull. Jonesy goes back up the tree until a local farmer rescued him.
Later when Jonesy took a bottle to the riggers, the riggers, noting Jonesy's face and arms, asked Jonesy why he didn't spill his chute and miss the tree. Jonesy replied, "spill my chute sh--!". "It was working fine!".
Don Zeitelhack AE VC-6 - dez29@bellsouth.net
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WALTER FLORY
I went to Boot Camp, Bainbridge 12/52. Went to AN[P] Norman, Ok. 3/53... AT[A] Millington after that. I finished 20th in class and got the last of 6 billets to VC-8. I chose VC-8 because I heard I'd have the best chance of flying there.
I got on the line crew and became a crewman on LCDR. Frohne's plane. I flew with him till LT. Hall had his accident. I became LT. Hall's crewman and flew with him till he died.
I went to survival school at Stead With LT. Hall and LCDR Dougherty in June of 54. Made the Med cruise in '55. I flew aboard all the carriers (I can't remember all their names) and made dozens of landings, some at night, which was pretty hairy.
When we returned from Lyautey, I flew to Sanford with my plane. We had to wait for the rest of the squadron to arrive before we could get leave.
After a couple of weeks they let me go home for 2 weeks. A few days later I was called - LT. Hall had died of Polio, and they flew us to Columbus for his funeral. After all the close calls we had, it seemed ironic for him to die like that.
One of the close calls I remember, happened on a carrier approach with T.J.Dalton riding in the B/N's seat. He wanted to experience a steam catapult launch. I don't remember why we didn't have a navigator on the flight. On the final, we got a wave-off due to a plane in the arresting gear.
LT. Hall two-blocked the throttles, raised the landing gear, adjusted the flaps... while he was busy doing all this, he wasn't watching where we were going. The starboard turbocharger hadn't kicked in and we were heading right for the island.
At the last instant LT. Hall banked sharply, and we just missed the island. An eyewitness said that gear retracted just in time to miss the island. T.J. was taking movies at the time, but I never got to see them. After that trip, he had "Steam Cat Dalton" stenciled on his toolbox.
The last few months I was in VC-8, I was ferrying planes with Lt. Davidson. We would bring an AJ to Norfolk for O&R, pick up a plane there and take it to Mustin Field, Philadelphia. for Service Changes, pick up a plane there and bring it to Sanford for the squadron. It was great duty. Half of the time we were on commercial airliners because Norfolk or Philly didn't have a plane ready.
I got discharged on 2/10/56, the day before my 21st birthday.
Walter Flory - Flory01966@yahoo.com
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