Pearl Harbor

Ambled into squadron at 10:30 – only two hours late! Scheduled for a gunnery hop in the afternoon. Just before takeoff, group control called to say a B-17E was having engine trouble 200 miles NW of Kauai, and would I mind going out and nursing them in, and in case of their landing at sea, pick up the survivors. I was only too glad to get in on a little excitement, and a short while later, found myself pounding by Kauai under full steam. Noticed a B-17 charge by like a rocket. Was almost to Niihau when I received a message to return, as the B-17 had landed at Oahu! – The one that it passed us like a blue streak was the poor little fella with engine trouble  — if he had engine trouble, my engines must’ve been rubber bands! Those damned Army pilots — I’ll bet the thing coughed once and threw him into a panic — only three other engines in case it quit!