TheList 5332

The List 5332 TGB


To All

Good Monday Afternoon. May 18, 2020

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A few bits and pieces

Thanks to DR….LOTS OF MEMORIES

Not a day passes that I don't flash back and remind myself I was once part of the greatest teams ever assembled.

We were Sailors once and young crank it up!

https://youtu.be/Go4mxu9Acq4



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Interesting bit of History from Dr. Rich

OSS Medical Professionals .

Early in staffing the OSS, several physicians were recruited to support the OSS headquarters in Washington, D.C. and the various OSS training facilities. Dr. Sylvester Missal, an otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose and Throat) specialist joined the OSS in May 1942; in March 1943, Dr. Missal became the first OSS chief surgeon. A total of 8 physicians were recruited to OSS service in 1942, but over 100 medical professionals joined the OSS in each of 1943, 1944 and 1945. At the war's end in August 1945, 340 medical personnel were serving in the OSS: 79 physicians, 11 dentists, 9 (U.S. Army) Medical Administrative Corps officers, 236 medics, and 5 nurses.

Although Dr. Missal commanded OSS Medical Services, initially the medical professionals were not assigned to his staff. Instead, medical professionals were assigned to one of two OSS components, either the Operational Groups or Special Operations. At the same time, psychologists and psychiatrists were recruited for assignment OSS Schools and Training, and performed candidate evaluations. In early 1944, with the exception of those in Schools and Training, all medical professionals were reassigned to the OSS Medical Services Branch.



So, what were all those medical people doing? In addition to candidate evaluations, the medical staff did what the rest of OSS did. They supported and provided training of OSS recruits. They staffed OSS units at major bases around the world, and managed medical supply for OSS units. They deployed behind enemy lines with Operational Group (OG) or Special Operations (SO). During the war, their mission grew to managing medical supply for partisan and guerrilla groups, managing required medical evacuations, and providing medical support for sensitive special OSS projects.



Those who operated behind enemy lines were required to deal with serious trauma cases. They were required to perform major surgeries in primitive conditions and treat illnesses, some of which they had not seen before deployment.



OSS medical staff members were typically young. Physicians and dentists often had only one or two years of professional practice. The medics were even younger, with many of them having only six months of Army medic training.



Casualty figures for the OSS medical staff are hard to find. Three medics are known to have died; two in air accidents and one in a railroad accident. A psychiatrist and a dentist were captured and held as POWs. At least nine physicians, ten medics and two dentists were wounded or injured in field operations. During the war, OSS medical physicians were awarded at least one Silver Star, thirteen Bronze Stars and thirteen Legion of Merit awards. OSS medics were awarded at least three Silver Stars, 39 Bronze Stars and two Legion of Merit awards. OSS dentists were awarded a Navy Cross, a Bronze Star and a Legion of Merit. An OSS psychologist was awarded a Silver Star.



Doctor (Captain) Archie Chun-Ming was the first physician to join the OSS in the spring of 1942, when Bill Donovan's organization was still the Coordinator of Information. Capt. Chun-Ming was a Hawaiian born, Chinese speaking member of a reserve unit in Hawaii. He was assigned to a 20 man team (Detachment 101 or Det. 101) that orchestrated and supported guerrilla warfare in northeastern India. Det. 101 conducted what is widely considered to be the most successful OSS paramilitary operation in World War II. (The activities of Det. 101 are detailed in History Staff of the Strategic Services Unit, War Report of the OSS, volume II, pp. 369-392, with Capt. Chun-Ming's work described on pp. 382-383.) While in India, Capt. Chun-Ming dealt with smallpox, cholera and malaria epidemics. He also provided medical support for 27 operating camps spread out over a 40 square mile area.



As Capt. Chun-Ming's work load expanded, a second physician was assigned to Det. 101. Dr. James Luce was a Navy Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) who had been injured on the battleship USS Maryland during the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack. Dr. Luce was sent to a new base in Burma, and after only a short time there became the base commander in addition to his medical duties. LDCR Luce's command grew to 3,000 guerrillas.



Perhaps LDCR Luce's greatest medical accomplishment in Burma was a successful brain surgery. To reach Luce's clinic, the patient had been carried on a litter for three days; he had a large hole in his forehead with brain tissue protruding. In a 90 minute operation using local anesthetic (Novocain), Luce closed the opening. Lighting for the surgery was provided by a hand cranked generator.



Capt. Chun-Ming left India in July 1944, and LDCR Luce took his place. The local medical staff grew to 47 and included 7 physicians and a dentist. Medical facilities included a 50 bed hospital and a 20 bed convalescent camp.



One of Det. 101's physicians, Dr. Sam Woolington, was responsible for a 1,000 man Kachin Battalion. Dr. Woolington developed a portable field hospital that could be carried by coolies and mules. The portable hospital allowed Woolington to stop, treat wounded and then move on. Dr. Woolington also successfully performed brain surgery on a wounded patient; lighting was provided by a flashlight.



U.S. Army dentist Robert Moyers was recruited by General Donovan who was looking for a physician and reportedly missed the "D" for dentist on Dr. Moyer's Medial Corps insignia. Dr. Moyers supported a mission in the mountains of northern Greece. After some parachute training, Moyers jumped into Greece. During his time in Greece, Moyers performed 300 operations – despite the fact he was a dentist and not a physician. He also published a medical periodical, The Medical Periodical of Free Greece, which included articles on drugs being supplied to the partisans, sanitation and unusual medical cases. Dr. Moyer accompanied major partisan missions to provide medical care; on one mission he served as the air liaison calling in an air strike when the partisans were threatened with being overrun.



Capt. Justin Greene, a psychiatrist, joined the OSS in April 1943; he was immediately sent to Algiers where he began recruiting and training French agents. He joined Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France on 15 August 1944. There he managed the network of agents he had recruited.



As the German forces retreated, Capt. Greene followed. On 28 October 1944, Greene and three others were attacked by a German patrol. Wounded in the foot, Capt. Greene was taken POW. He was treated in German hospitals, and after recovery, he was sent to a POW camp. Several months later, Greene was freed by a column of U.S. tanks, but once again captured and returned to a POW compound. On 6 April 1945, Greene was again freed by U.S. troops; this time he was evacuated to the U.S.



In November 1942, Christian J. Lambertsen, a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania, approached the OSS with an underwater breathing device he had been developing. The Lampbertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unit was a closed circuit breathing system that did not emit telltale bubbles. The OSS adopted the unit, and it became the cornerstone of OSS maritime operations. After graduating from medical school and completing a year's internship, Dr. Lambertsen joined the OSS. He was sent to Ceylon where the OSS conducted a training program for swimmers who would attack deep water ports. Today Lambertsen is considered the "father of combat swimming."



Dr. Jack Taylor was a dentist in Los Angeles when he joined the OSS in August 1942. He had extensive experience in racing yachts, so he was assigned to the OSS Maritime Unit. One of his early assignments was to test the Lambertsen breathing device. He went on to assignments in Cairo and then in Italy. He personally conducted fourteen missions in Yugoslavia and Albania. On his finial mission to Albania, his three man group was stranded when the exfiltration boat was blocked by German fire. The group then spent three months evading German capture before they were eventually extracted.



Back in Italy, Dr. Taylor volunteered to jump into Austria. A four man team successfully parachuted into Austria, but lost their radios. Taylor planned to return overland to Italy, report, obtain a radio and return to the team in Austria. Unfortunately, the night before the planned departure, the Gestapo captured him. Taken to Gestapo headquarters in Vienna, Taylor spent four months in captivity, and then was moved to Mauthausen concentration camp, where he was to be executed. Three days before the scheduled execution, a friendly Czech working in the camp administrative list removed his name from the execution list. Just over a week later, Mauthausen was liberated. Taylor refused evacuation so he could help document war crimes perpetrated in the camp. Taylor later testified at the Nuremberg trials, and his notes were described as "the best war-crimes evidence" produced in the European Theater.



There were many more medical professionals working in the OSS, serving in all the war theaters. At the end of the war, many of these men and women continued in the occupied theaters supporting mercy missions and providing medical care for civilians.





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Thanks to Dick

RE: WW II Miracle

I had this in the list a few years back. It was another amazing story from WWII and B-17s. Like the time that two hit and stuck together for quite a while and a bunch of the crews survived. The Germans thought it was a new model of the B-17.

Thanks to Dick

Subject: WW II Miracle

Dick – Don't know if you have seen this

A real miracle - from WW II...…...

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B-17 "All American" (414th Squadron, 97BG) Crew
Pilot- Ken Bragg Jr.
Co-pilot- G Boyd Jr.
Navigator- Harry C. Nuessle
Bombardier- Ralph Burbridge
Engineer- Joe C. James
RadioOperator-Paul A. Galloway
Ball Turret Gunner- Elton Conda
Waist Gunner- Michael Zuk
Tail Gunner- Sam T. Sarpolus
Ground Crew Chief- Hank Hyland

In 1943 a mid-air collision on February 1, 1943, between a B-17 and a German fighter over the Tunis dock area, became the subject of one of the most famous photographs of WW II.
An enemy fighter attacking a 97th Bomb Group formation went out of control, probably with a wounded pilot, then continued its crashing descent into the rear of the fuselage of a Flying Fortress named"All American", piloted by Lt. Kendrick R. Bragg, of the 414th Bomb Squadron.
When it struck, the fighter broke apart, but left some pieces in the B-17. The left horizontal stabilizer of the Fortress and left elevator were completely torn away.
The two right engines were out and one on the left had a serious oil pump leak. The vertical fin and the rudder had been damaged, The fuselage had been cut almost completely through connected only at two small parts of the frame, and the radios, electrical and oxygen systems were damaged. There was also a hole in the top that was over 16-feet long and 4 feet wide at its widest; The split in the fuselage went all the way to the top gunner's turret.



Although the tail actually bounced and swayed in the wind and twisted when the plane turned and all the control cables were severed, except one single elevator cable still worked, and the aircraft miraculously still flew!
The tail gunner was trapped because there was no floor connecting the tail to the rest of the plane. The waist and tail gunners used parts of the German fighter and their own parachute harnesses in an attempt to keep the tail from ripping off and the two sides of the fuselage from splitting apart. While the crew was trying to keep the bomber from coming apart, the pilot continued on his bomb run and released his bombs over the target.


When the bomb bay doors were opened, the wind turbulence was so great that it blew one of the waist gunners into the broken tail section. It took several minutes and four crew members to pass him ropes from parachutes and haul him back into the forward part of the plane. When they tried to do the same for the tail gunner, the tail began flapping so hard that it began to break off. The weight of the gunner was adding some stability to the tail section, so he went back to his position.



The turn back toward England had to be very slow to keep the tail from twisting off. They actually covered almost 70 miles to make the turn home. The bomber was so badly damaged that it was losing altitude and speed and was soon alone in the sky.
For a brief time, two more Me-109 German fighters attacked theAll American. Despite the extensive

damage, all of the machine gunners were able to respond to these attacks and soon drove off the fighters.
The two waist gunners stood up with their heads sticking out through the hole in the top of the fuselage
to aim and fire their machine guns. The tail gunner had to shoot in short bursts because the recoil was actually causing the plane to turn.





Allied P-51 fighters intercepted theAll Americanas it crossed over the Channel and took one of the pictures shown. They also radioed to the base describing that the appendage was waving like a fish tail and that the plane would not make it and to send out boats to rescue the crew when they bailed out. The fighters stayed with the Fortress, taking hand signals from Lt. Bragg and relaying them to the base. Lt. Bragg signaled that 5 parachutes and the spare had been "used" so five of the crew could not bail out. He made the decision that if they could not bail out safely, then he would stay with the plane to land it.


Two and a half hours after being hit, the aircraft made its final turn to line up with the runway while it was still over 40 miles away. It descended into an emergency landing and a normal roll-out on its landing gear



When the ambulance pulled alongside, it was waved off because not a single member of the crew had been injured. No one could believe that the aircraft could still fly in such a condition. The Fortress sat placidly until the crew all exited through the door in the fuselage and the tail gunner had climbed down a ladder, at which time the entire rear section of the aircraft collapsed.





This old bird had done its job and brought the entire crew home uninjured.







Cheers



Peter W Powell




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