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Foreword
For many Americans, the events of September 11, 2001, resurrected memories of December 7, 1941. As the details unfolded in the weeks and months that followed, the sacrifices made by ordinary citizens and police, fire and rescue teams were compared to similar sacrifices made by a generation 60 years earlier. Americans in 2001 responded to the attack on our country in much the same way their parents and grandparents had in 1941. With our nation’s revived sense of unity and patriotism came a renewed appreciation for the generation of citizen soldiers who rallied around the flag to defend freedom and democracy throughout the world during World War II. The beginning of the 60th anniversary of the war in December of 2001, along with the creation of The National WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C., revived an increased and well-deserved interest in those veterans who fought the war. The initial impetus for this book was my personal desire to honor my father-in-law and his crewmates’ Air Force service for the sake of family posterity, spurred by the intense feelings of patriotism aroused in me after September 11. Now with the veterans of the “Greatest Generation” passing on at a rate of almost 1500 per day, their story took on a greater sense of urgency and national purpose. As a professional historical artist capturing mostly military themes, I completed a color drawing of American Beauty for my father-in-law Michael J. Fevola’s birthday. The research included amassing hours of audiotaped recollections made during personal interviews with him. Pilot Ray Loughridge, tail gunner John Trisch, Jr. and nose gunner Albert Smolensky also shared stories, laughter, and quiet contemplation at 14th Air Force reunions and other gatherings. They all supplied personal and official documents as well as photos. The families of deceased crewmembers also provided many photos, letters, personal and official documents and memories. Michael Fevola stayed in touch with Loughridge all those years. I initially spoke with Ray to ask questions about the details, colors and markings of American Beauty for my drawing. He remembered the plane’s details and added several anecdotes about their time together in the service. While researching the 14th Air Force and 308th Bomb Group, I discovered there were not many books written about them. Hundreds of volumes exist about the more glamorous Eighth Air Force that bombed Europe and Germany from England and the Fifteenth Air Force that attacked from Italy and North Africa. The Fourteenth Air Force, based in China, played a pivotal role in the outcome of the Second World War. Upon completion of that artwork, my studio overflowed with diaries, letters, oral recordings, written memories and photos related to the American Beauty crew. Unpublished photos, documents, and stories presented ample material for an interesting and informative book and as my conversations with Dad and Ray evolved, so did my decision to write their memoirs. Between both men, I acquired Smolensky’s and Mulley’s contact information, as well as Rockwood’s widow, Katherine. Arthur Rockwood’s letters provided a keen insight into the thoughts and feelings of an eighteen year old school boy in Air Force training about to embark on the adventure of his lifetime. They tell of a gunner’s life in the China Theater, his words echoing across time in a clear and compelling bridge from the past. Chester Skotak, Jr. contacted me online when I posted the print of American Beauty along with an identified crew photo. He put me in touch with Skotak’s widow, Dorothy, who was especially gracious, spending hours with me on the phone answering many specific questions. Frank Riddle’s wife Lorraine and his children were equally affable, providing documents, photos and detailed stories. After calling several Riddles throughout the country via internet white pages, I eventually contacted Frank’s brother Charles, who gave me Lorraine’s phone number. Searching internet sites yielded dozens of Mosiers throughout the country. Starting in the Detroit and Michigan areas and working my way across the United States I phoned more than 40 Mosiers during several months in 2004. Ultimately I reached his son, , who provided as much information as he knew, and the number of Everett’s second wife Sadie who completed his story. My request for the official records of the 308th Bomb Group and 375th Bomb Squadron from the Army Air Forces Historical Archives at Maxwell AFB in Alabama arrived in the form of six reels of microfilm. The diverse young aviators who flew American Beauty were cross-geographical representatives of World War II America. Mostly first generation Americans with slightly different backgrounds, all came of age during the Depression. Michael Fevola was an airplane builder from Brooklyn. Ray Loughridge was a farmer and college student from Pennsylvania. Bob Ohlsen hailed from northern California and Frank Riddle from Spokane, Washington. Arthur Rockwood was from upstate New York, and Harold Mulley from Wheeling, West Virginia. John Trisch grew up near the coalmines of Lloydell, Pennsylvania, Al Smolensky in the steel city of Pittsburgh and Everett Mosier in Detroit, Michigan. Chester Skotak, a native Texan and only married officer, wed his high school sweetheart in 1940. When Chester joined the service, his wife Dorothy devotedly followed him around the country with their newborn daughter, driving for hours and renting economical rooms in private homes near his training base to stay close to her husband. Each man’s personal journey from civilian to soldier traversed the country from base to base and airfield to airfield. The rapid mobilization of the United States’ wartime Army created hundreds of hastily constructed training facilities. Most sprang up practically overnight and just as quickly disappeared as soon as the war ended. With the crew’s departure from the states and their arrival in China, the tale turns to one of frightening aerial combat followed by stretches of boredom set against the backdrop of war in an exotic, far-off land. It describes in detail the unpredictable, mechanized war machines and the brave young men who flew them on harrowing combat missions. Loughridge’s pilot’s log, Riddle’s bombardier’s log and official group and squadron records allowed each mission to be reconstructed with hindsight and objectivity 60 years later; both illuminating the big picture and making certain facts indisputable. The participants’ knowledge at the time of briefing, their location and perspective in the aircraft, and memories from years later, often differ from the actual event. Minor discrepancies illuminate the tunnel eye view and selective nature of each man’s memory. All mission details are from the official records of the 375th Bomb Squadron (BS) and the 308th Bomb Group (BG) unless otherwise noted and were not always individually footnoted. My hope is They Flew With Tigers honors the efforts of these men who performed their duty to the best of their ability. Each man devoted a short portion of his life in the CBI Theatre to make a significant contribution to the war effort. Their lives may well have ended during that time. Luckily, this did not happen to any of the crew of American Beauty. Together they completed over 30 missions and flew over 400 combat hours in various B-24 aircraft. They received medals and commendations and ALL returned safely home, put their war years behind them, found jobs, raised families and quietly assimilated into post-war, mainstream America. Detailing the service and missions of one particular aircrew reveals they are, in fact, a microcosm of virtually every B-24 combat crew in the 308th Bomb Group. To me they are heroes and along with millions of others just like them did nothing less than save the world. That is history ... and this is their story. “But nevertheless, the generation that carried on the war has been set apart by its experience.....We have shared the incommunicable experience of war. We have felt, we still feel, the passion of life to its top. In our youths, our hearts were touched with fire!” Oliver Wendall Holmes Memorial Day 1884 |
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