 Betty in L.A., 1944 In this short six day period, Ang was transitioning to his job as Navigator. Of course he was already trained as a Navigator. They often did "training" flights to keep up their skills or train on new instruments. In June of '44, Ang had four training flights. Betty was settling in to life in Los Angeles. She visited their high school friends, the O'Briens, in Long Beach. As I mentioned before, the mysterious "Mr. S" was a friend of her mother's. There are two possible names in Betty's address book! My grandmother was a single (divorced) woman. I'm not sure which Mr. S this was, but I do not think it was the one who was Margaret's boss. I sure wish I had asked Betty why she didn't like this one. Was it him, or just the fact that her mother had a "friend" who always seemed to be around. She didn't seem to mind his nice car! ************************ Thursday June 8. Rainy and cloudy all day. Had hair done and loafed the rest of day. Wrote letters in evening. To bed early. FORM 5. C-8, Combat flight as bombardier, B25-J, 1:50h [See June 1-7 or "Official Documents" for the June Form 5.]
June 9. Did some laundry and ironed. Downtown to PO and then to movie. Read in evening. Bed about 11:00. June 10. Put away suitcases & cleaned apt a little. Mr. S. here all P.M. Dinner out & to movie. Home & bed about 12:30. [V-Mail. Postmark 6/20/44, forwarded to L.A.] [no dateline] June 10, 1944 Dear Betty: I’m beginning to get all your mail now—but its coming in such a jumbled mess. I’m keeping them in a stack according to dates—and when I get them all, I’ll read them over and maybe they’ll make sense. For instance I got one that said you and Mom went some where—and I thought you meant my mother—then I get one dated 4 days before telling me that your mother had come to town. Oh well, it adds spice to letter reading. It sounds like quite a family reunion—doggone it, I always miss out on all the fun. Just wait until this war is over though—Boy, oh boy! I love you dear—Love, Ang FORM 5. A-10, Administrative flight as navigator, B25-J, 1:20h June 11. To 10:30 Mass and then to Long Beach to see O’Briens. Had a real nice time. Got home about 11:00 Read paper and to bed. June 12. Lovely long letter from Ang. Wrote letters all PM. To store and read all evening after dinner. Bed by 11:30. [V-Mail. Postmark 6-22] Corsica 6-12-44 Hi Hon: I just got your praises about my letter writing—and of course they came just as I was being ashamed for slacking off a bit. So—I guess there is nothing for me to do but roll up my sleeves and pitch in. I’ll keep the “good work” if it kills me—and it probably will. Of course there are times when I’ll have to skip here and there—but that can’t be helped. I’m sorry I haven’t been sending these letters to L.A.—but I just got your letter telling me to. I hope you had some luck in train reservations—It wouldn’t be very happy carrying Donny all that way on a cattle car. I love you, darling—Love, Ang  Flight log. Mission 8. June 12, 1944 Form 5. C-12, Combat flight as navigator, B25-J, 1:55h [Crew sheet for June 12, 1944.] [FROM ANG'S FLIGHT LOG. MISSION 8.] 8. 6-12 Arrezzo (near) R.R. Bridge 1 - One 2 - Short (Moore). No flak. [Note: I believe the "Arezzo" in blue ink at the bottom was added by Ang in the 1990's when he was reviewing his records. His handwriting was becoming a little shaky. Also note that the crew sheet is dated June 11, but according to the 57th Bomb Wing records, there were no missions on the 11th due to rain. ]  [TRANSCRIBED FROM SCRAPBOOK.] #8 Arezzo RR Bridge Flak: Heavy, Moderate, & Inaccurate. One hit center We hit short This was my first mission as a navigator. I don't go much for this business of third box navigator. Jerry puts up a curtain of flak at the first two boxes---and you have to lead your box into it. I wouldn't admit it, but I sure was tempted to slide a little bit over to the side. To top it all off, I had Skinhead as my Bombardier---Ah well, such is life. Bombardier: Moore (Skinhead) June 13. The sun was out for awhile today. Downtown for Fathers Day. Mr S. & Mother brought in dinner. To movie. Bed by 11:30
FORM 5. T-13, Training flight as navigator, B25-J, 1:30h
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJoni Adams Sesma, daughter of Angelo and Elizabeth Adams. Ang served on Corsica with the 57th Bomb Wing, 340th Bomb Group, 486th Bomb Squadron. April 1944-April 1945. Archives
July 2017
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed