Quick Thinking Saved Life of Future President

Written by Elbert L. Watson

Feb 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Third in  series of 14 articles Seated in the cockpit of his "Avenger," Japan’s ruthless attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, found 17 year old George Herbert Walker Bush in his senior year at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. Typical of other teenagers of that era, he felt a sense of urgency to defend his country against militant and aggressive foes. Anxious to get into action, Bush wasted no time! Following graduation six months later and on his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the United States Navy, and began pre-flight training at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Breezing through flight training at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, he became the Navy’s youngest pilot. On June 9, 1943, shortly before his 19th birthday, he was commissioned "Ensign" in the United States Naval Reserve. Bush’s aircraft, a Grumman ("Avenger") Torpedo Bomber (TBM), carried three crew members: the pilot in the forward seat, the turret gunner behind him, and below, facing aft, the radio/tail gunner. Though the plane was cumbersome and slow, Bush liked it because it performed extremely well in releasing bombs, depth charges, and torpedoes, against stationary installations, surface ships, and submarines. In September 1943, Bush, now assigned to Torpedo Squadron VT-51, boarded the light carrier San Jacinto headed for combat duty in the Pacific. Also on board were eight other TBMs and 24 F6F ("Hellcat") fighters. In the spring of 1944, San Jacinto linked up with Task Force 58, Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher’s fast carrier outfit operating near the Japanese held Marianas Islands in the western Pacific. Created under Mitscher that January, TF 58 was attached to the U.S.5th Fleet under Admiral Raymond Spruance, thus making it the Navy’s major Pacific striking force during the latter part of the war.   On June 15, 1944, American submarines spotted Vice-Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa’s sizable fleet of five heavy carriers, four light carriers, five battleships, and supporting cruisers, destroyers, and oil tankers headed toward the Marianas. Earlier, on June 11, U.S. carrier planes initiated a series of small strikes on the islands, to the surprise of the Japanese who thought America’s next strike would be farther south, either the Carolines or the Palaus islands. Consequently, the Marianas were only lightly defended. Great Marianas Turkey Shoot Convinced that a major sea battle lay just ahead, Spruance sent Mitscher to the vicinity of Saipan to counter any possible Japanese threat in that direction. TF 58 was a formidable armada made up of seven heavy carriers, eight light carriers, seven battleships, 79 other ships, and 28 submarines. Over 900 planes, piloted by some of the best pilots in the Pacific, would easily outmatch the weaker, less experienced Japanese airmen, piloting approximately 750 carrier-based and land-based  planes, many of them obsolete. Thus, the stage was set for perhaps the greatest and certainly the most decisive naval battle of World War II. The two forces clashed on June 19-20 in a no holds bared contest that resulted in a lop-sided American victory. TF 58 air patrol planes were launched at 5:30 on the morning of June 19. In short order, "Hellcats" soared up from Belleau Wood to intercept Japanese fighters approaching from airfields in Guam., shooting down 35. This fierce, initial engagement left no doubt that the Americans would have little trouble controlling the skies. There was no let-up in the action throughout the day! Incoming Japanese fighters were met by wave after wave of "Hellcats" and "Avengers," who easily plucked them from the skies. One fellow with a hot hand that day was Lexington’s Alex Vraciu who nailed six enemy planes within eight minutes---an incredible feat.! Returning to their ships to refuel, the fired-up pilots grabbed a sandwich, sipped some juice, checked the blackboard, and apprised intelligence officers of their actions. Then they rushed back to their planes to improve their score. One person observed that  "from their attitude it would have been reasonable to guess that they were engaged not in a battle at all but in some especially fast and exciting game, like polo or hockey." Landing on Lexington, one pilot chirped: "This is like an old-time turkey shoot." The term stuck and the day is remembered as the "Great Mariana’s Turkey Shoot." Meanwhile, San Jacinto was pinned down by enemy strafers and dive bombers, making the TBMs especially vulnerable because they carried such high explosives. It was critical that they get off the ship. Seated atop virtual powder kegs, Bush and the other pilots waited impatiently until the besieged ship finally got in position to launch them. Shortly after getting airborne Bush’s oil system was struck, causing the pressure to plummet and requiring him to ditch. He coolly slid the stricken plane onto the rough sea, released the life raft, and scrambled aboard with his two crew members. Thirty minutes later they were picked up by the destroyer Clarence K. Bronson. Bush and another pilot were credited with sinking a small cargo ship, resulting in his promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade. The Japanese continued to take heavy losses the next day---losses impossible to replace at that stage of the war. To illustrate how one-sided the battle was, Yorktown’s  four air groups (dubbed the "Flying Circus") shot down 50 enemy planes without taking even one bullet hole in their own planes. When it was over, the Japanese had lost three carriers, two oilers, six ships heavily damaged, and 600 planes destroyed. Mitscher’s losses, in comparison, totaled 123 planes and no ships destroyed or severely damaged. Eighty flight crews, including Bush’s, survived. America was heading inexorably across the western Pacific, but tough fighting lay ahead at places like Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Still, with the Marianas now firmly under its control, the United States could build airfields large enough to accommodate the giant B-29s that could strike deeply into the heart of Japan. Bush’s close call with death Though Bush had been part of an epic moment in history, he would soon face a greater challenge. Chichi Jima, in the Bonian Islands, garrisoned by the Japanese since December 7, 1941, was part of an island chain only 700 miles from the Japanese mainland and included Haha Jima and Iwo Jima. A well protected radio installation complex on Chichi Jima could quickly alert the Japanese mainland of incoming B-29 flights. It was necessary to take out this facility. The attacking planes were turned back on the first day (September 1) by heavy ground attack. On the second day,  Bush, piloting one of four planes and on his 46th mission, was ordered to knock out Asahi Station No. 6, a 6,400 square foot power plant, which operated a 3,600 square foot transmitter and 200 foot high radio antenna. Bush’s crew included Radio-man Second Class John Delaney and Gunner Lieutenant J.G. William White, a substitute for Bush’s regular gunner. At approximately 8:20 a.m., Bush began his 60 degree angle bomb run from 8,000 feet against heavy fire from below. Halfway down he took a fatal hit in the Avenger’s engine. "Suddenly there was a jolt," Bush recalls, "as if a massive fist had crunched into the belly of the plane. Smoke poured into the cockpit and I could see flames rippling across the crease of the wing, edging toward the fuel tanks. I stayed with the dive, homed in on the target, unloaded our four 500 pound bombs and pulled away, heading for the sea." With his plane covered with heavy smoke and rapidly losing altitude, Bush told Delaney and White to bail out. One man, who was either injured or dead, never made it. The other one (who was not identified) managed to get out but fell to his death when his chute failed to open. Jumping out at about 2,000 feet, Bush prematurely yanked the ripcord and banged his head against the plane’s tail. Though momentarily stunned, he instinctively began to unbuckle himself on the way down. Striking the water, he slipped out of the harness some four miles northeast of Chichi Jima. More problems arose when a powerful ocean swell swept away his parachute’s life raft. Fortunately, another pilot, Donald Melvin, flying 500 feet above him, saw Bush’s plight and contacted the USS Finback, a rescue submarine. Melvin then dipped his wings to indicate the raft’s location. Bush swam over to it, inflated it, and, struggled on board. To Bush’s horror, the ocean’s strong current was sweeping him toward Chichi Jima’s eastern shore and certain capture. Melvin and a second pilot, Milt Moore, alertly began strafing enemy vessels coming out to pick up Bush, sinking several boats and driving the others back to the shore. The future president’s guardian angels were certainly nearby that fateful day. His head pounding from its strong lick, Bush waited three hours before the Finback finally surfaced and pulled him on board. There he was joined by other air crews who also were shot down. Sadly, Delaney and White were never found. Bush spent 30 days aboard the Finback as it continued stalking and sinking enemy vessels, as well as rescuing other downed pilots. At Pearl Harbor he declined an offer of a month’s leave, preferring, instead, to complete his tour on the San Jacinto and fly 12 more missions. In all, he flew 58 combat missions, spent 1,228 flight hours in the air, and made 126 carrier landings.  Because of his combat experience, he was reassigned to the Norfolk (Virginia) Navy Yard, where he trained young pilots. Honorably discharged following Japan’s surrender, he enrolled at Yale University. For his service, Bush was awarded the "Distinguished Flying Cross" and three air medals. In part, the DFC Citation read: "Although his plane was hit and set afire at the beginning of his dive, he continued his plunge toward the target and succeeded in scoring damaging bomb hits before bailing out of the craft. His courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Reserve." In later life Bush recalled his war years as a "sobering" experience that "broadened my horizons." In that regard, our 41st President is just like any other World War II veteran. -------------------------------------------- Elbert L. Watson is a retired military historian who specializes in World War II and the War Between the States. He can be reached at