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COL S. R. PASSEN
(100TH COMMAND NAVIGATOR)
Excerpts: Letter to pw 23 Feb 1993
. . . First of all
I'll explain what my duties were as Command Navigator. .
It was the duty of the Com Nav to assemble the aircraft
around the Buncher (Radio Beacon) for a starter. . He had the expertise to
control the timing, radius of circling, etc. to get the various aircraft
and squadrons together so as to complete the assembly of the group. . It
involved circling, climb and zig zagging to lose or gain time, in order to
get the group to the various bomber stream assembly points at
theplanned times. . This had to
bedone precisely so that the proper time intervals firmed up
between the various Groups of aircraft.
Once enroute, the Crew Navigator handled the duties of getting the
airplane to the target zone. The Command Navigator just followed along and tried to be helpful
to the Crew Nav. .
Addition to MEMO : (refers to extract from Sqd History. . . pw)
When we experienced our second fire, we were given the word
to Prepare to Bail Out. . By procedure, I was to be the first one out. . As
such, I disconnected from the ship's intercom and crouched at the escape
hatch waiting for someone to push me out. . After a wait of what seemed to
be ten minutes, but wasn't, I
got pulled back from the hatch and was told we weren't going. . .
Correction to MEMO :
(refers to extract from Sqd History. . . pw)
George Rhoades (the regular Crew Navigator) may not have
had maps but I did. . . They included Sectional type charts and a long range
chart. . I used the long range chart to give the pilot (James S. Seamans)
the heading to the emergency field which I had previously marked on the
chart during mission briefing. . As we were heading for the battle line I observed the launch of a V 2
rocket from a clearing in a section of woods. . The sectional charts were so detailed that I was
able to pinpoint the exact launch site. . When they started to debrief us
at the emergency field, the debriefing Officer left us in a rush when I
gave him the info on the V 2 launch site. . I guessed he was getting the
information to the P 47 boys !
I had the feeling that the crankshaft was broken on the
#2. . At times it must have disconnected and the prop windmilled without
vibration. . At other times it really shook up the aircraft. . I had moved
to the main cabin and was sitting on the deck with my back against the
bulkhead of the radio room and with my feet bracing against the ball
turret mount, when the prop flew off on final approach. I went back into the plane when the dust had settled and
saw that the prop had come through the nose over the nav table and crushed
the "G" box. . I don't think it was salvageable. . .
All in all it was an experience one doesn't look forward to repeating. I flew
thousands of hours afterwards and had a few close calls but nothing quite
as excitinq as that mission. .
When we finished debriefing, Emberson (EMBERSON , C. B. LT
COL), Frye (FRYE, E. L. LT), and I decided to catch a ride to Brussels and
see the sights. . . We managed to get back to the emergency field in time to
get our ride back to the 100th. .
Frye was the Radar Navigator and as such flew with various
crews as I did. . Learned at our "91" reunion Fyre had committed suicide
many years ago but did not learn why. .
George Rhoades (RHOADES, G. C. LT) was at our reunion (1991) along with
Bill Brice (BRICE , W. R. LT). . Rhoades is an advanced case of Parkinson's Disease and
was in bad shape. . He left the reunion early. . Bill Brice looked and felt
good. .
I'm in good shape for touching on 70 this coming April
(1993). . Dida total of 30
years in the active and reserve Air Force. . Finished up in " 72 " after
having done some time over Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. . |
