“Button,” Espiritu Santo
Had patrol standbye (something new) today, and, as “Biscuit” Beswick came in superbly boiled last night, I took his patrol today — 400 miles, almost to the Stewarts, and we ran smack into the worst front I’ve seen out here in two months. Lightning, turbulence, and sheets of black water. Ran 100 miles SW looking for a hole, but no luck, so I turned homeward.
Have certainly learned to recognize all the different varieties of fronts encountered in this area. From a hundred miles off one can tell exactly what they’re like “inside.”
The “ripsnorter” like the one I ran into today looks this way and cross-section:
The “intermediate” and the “small” are merely diminished versions of the big ones. The whole key to the severity of the front lies and the radial size of the preliminary overcast (between 30 to 40,000 feet). They run from a diameter of 400 to 500 miles down to a mere ten miles for the smallest.
VP-12 is in the process of returning to Hawaii in the states for disbandment, leave, and reassignment. The first truckloads of yelling, howling pilots pulled out of camp here for a ship in the harbor, last night. The rest are going back in six planes. Said goodbye to Commander Taff, Ray Tylutki, Cy Gillette, Stanull, Pack, Allen, and the rest. A good bunch of boys and an above-average squadron. They been down here about 6 1/2 months – Nandi, Button and Cactus.
The latest dope has it we are definitely being relieved by VB-104 in July (or next month, to use a more incredible phrase).
Am almost positive I shall stay down here if I can get a staff job on ComAirSoPac. The way I reason the thing out is that if I return with the rest, I may get some short assignment for six months or year, with an inevitable return to this combat zone. Or I may be assigned to a forming squadron, with an even sooner return to combat. Now, God knows, I’ve never been afraid of combat, in fact I’ve usually sought it, and have, luckily, been a participant in almost every big campaign in the Pacific — the East Indies, Midway, and the Solomons. That is a rather unusual record. But, combat flying is definitely the most dangerous work and if I keep it up my death becomes a mathematical certainty. Hence the desire for a little non-combat work. A staff job in this area not only meets the requirements but still provides enough of an element of excitement to make it interesting. Besides, this staff could use a little practical experience. I’ll stay down here for six months or year on the staff then return to the states. With 2 1/2 to 3 years foreign duty under my belt I can practically demand to stay in the states for the remainder of the war, which, I believe, will end in 1945. That will put me in the states and “in the know” at that highly desirable period following the cessation of hostilities. I’ll be able to get in on the ground floor of some decent outfit. Also I won’t be risking duty with some occupation force for years to afterwards. As a “reserve” I should be one of the first back into civilian life. (Oh, Heaven!)