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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Tony Snow Subject Files
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This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
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Snow, Tony, Files
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Subject File, 1988-1993
OA/ID Number:
13892
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13892-014
Folder Title:
[George Bush and World War II]
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18
29
1
7
Sept. 25 / Administration of George Bush, 1989
the import of ivory to protect the elephant
edge we've gained from our recent arms
and rhinoceros from the human predators
control experience and our accelerating re-
ences is news that we, and ind
who exterminate them for profit. And
search in this area makes me believe that
world, must welcome.
we've begun to explore ways to work with
we can achieve the level of verification that
We have not entered into an era
other nations, with the major industrialized
gives us confidence to go forward with the
petual peace. The threats to peace
democracies, and in Poland and in Hunga-
ban.
tions face may today be chang
ry, to make common cause for the sake of
they've not vanished. In fact, in a
our environment. The environment belongs
The world has lived too long in the
of regions around the world, a da
shadow of chemical warfare. So let us act
to all of us. In this new world of freedom,
combination is now emerging:
the world's citizens must enjoy this
together beginning today to rid the Earth
armed with old and unappeasable
common trust for generations to come.
of this scourge.
ities and modern weapons of mass
Global economic growth, the stewardship
We are serious about achieving conven-
tion. This development will raise th
of our planet-both are critical issues. But
tional arms reductions as well. And that's
whenever war breaks out. Regional
as always, questions of war and peace must
why we tabled new proposals just last
may well threaten world peace a
be paramount to the United Nations.
Thursday at the Conventional Forces in
before. The challenge of preserving
We must move forward to limit and
Europe negotiations in Vienna, proposals
a personal one for all of you right
eliminate weapons of mass destruction. Five
that demonstrate our commitment to act
this hall. Mr. Secretary General, wi
years ago, at the United Nations Confer-
rapidly to ease military tensions in Europe
respect, you have made it your o
ence on Disarmament in Geneva, I present-
and move the nations of that continent one
United Nations can be a mediator,
ed a United States draft treaty outlawing
step closer to their common destiny-a
where parties in conflict come in S
chemical weapons. Since then, progress has
Europe whole and free.
peaceful solutions. For the sake o
been made; but time is running out. The
And the United States is convinced that
the U.N. must redouble its support
threat is growing. More than 20 nations
open and innovative measures can move
peace efforts now underway in re
now possess chemical weapons or the capa-
disarmament forward and also ease interna-
conflict all over the world. And
bility to produce them. And these horrible
tional tensions. And that's the idea behind
assure you the United States is det
weapons are now finding their way into re-
the open skies proposal about which the
to take an active role in settling
gional conflicts. This is simply unacceptable.
conflicts. Sometimes our role in
Soviets have now expressed a positive atti-
For the sake of mankind, we must halt and
tude. It's the idea behind the open lands
disputes is and will be highly pub
reverse this threat.
Today I want to announce steps that the
proposal permitting, for the first time ever,
sometimes, like many of you, we w
United States is ready to take, steps to rid
free travel for all Soviet and American dip-
etly behind the scenes. But always,
the world of these truly terrible weapons,
lomats throughout each other's countries.
working for positive change and
peace.
towards a treaty that will ban-eliminate-
Openness is the enemy of mistrust. And
Our world faces other, less conv
all chemical weapons from the Earth 10
every step towards a more open world is a
threats no less dangerous to inter
years from the day it is signed. This initia-
step toward the new world we seek.
peace and stability. Illegal drugs
tive contains three major elements.
Let me make this comment on our meet-
menace to social order and a SO
First, in the first 8 years of a chemical
ings with the distinguished Foreign Minister
human misery wherever they gain
weapons treaty, the U.S. is ready to destroy
of the Soviet Union, Mr. Shevardnadze,
hold. The nations who suffer this
nearly all-98 percent-of our chemical
over the past few days. I am very pleased
must join forces in the fight. And
weapons stockpile, provided the Soviet
by the progress made. The Soviet Union
And let me salute the commitment
Union joins the ban. And I think they will.
removed a number of obstacles to progress
traordinary courage of one country
Second, we are ready to destroy all of our
on conventional and strategic arms reduc-
ticular, Colombia, where we are
chemical weapons-100 percent-every
tions. We reached agreements in principle
with the people and their Presiden
one-within 10 years, once all nations capa-
on issues from verification to nuclear test-
lio Barco, to put the drug cartels
ble of building chemical weapons sign that
ing. And, of course, we agreed to a summit
business, bring the drug lords to just
total ban treaty. And third, the United
in the spring or early summer of 1990. And
And finally, we must join fo
States is ready to begin now. We will elimi-
I look forward to meeting Mr. Gorbachev
combat the threat of terrorism.
nate more than 80 percent of our stockpile,
there.
nation and the United Nations mu
even as we work to complete a treaty, if the
Each of these achievements is important
the outlaws of the world a clear n
Soviet Union joins us in cutting chemical
in its own right. But they are more impor-
Hostage taking and the terror of
weapons to an equal level and we agree on
tant still as signs of a new attitude that pre-
violence are methods that cannot
the conditions, including inspections, under
vails between the United States and the
world's approval. Terrorism of any
which stockpiles are destroyed. We know
U.S.S.R. Serious differences remain. We
repugnant to all values that a (
that monitoring a total ban on chemical
know that. But the willingness to deal con-
world holds in common. And make
weapons will be a challenge. But the knowl-
structively and candidly with those differ-
take: Terrorism is a means that no
matter how just that end, can sanctif
1438
- 1 -
Shot Down over the Pacific
My first interview with the Vice President was held in
the late winter of 1982, in his office at the West Wing of the
White House.
The Vice President's Press Secretary, Pete Teeley, had
sat through hundreds of these interviews, SO I thought it
would be a good idea to get some advice from him. Why
waste time rehashing stories already on the public record?
Those I could find.
Teeley suggested that the great untold story of George
Bush was his war record. When the Bush-for-President
bandwagon was at full speed in 1980, his war record had
received a prominent place in the official biography. But
though it was often mentioned, the accounts never included
many details.
It was a couple of years later, while updating the George
Bush biography, that Pete Teeley had stumbled across the
Navy's Citation of Bravery. Teeley was surprised when he
learned the extent of the heroics of the young George Bush,
but he was not surprised at how unassuming the Vice Presi-
dent had been about his World War II record.
The reluctance to boast of personal achievements is one of
the more pronounced and famous characteristics of the com-
plex George Bush personality. While it was endearing to find
someone who had achieved SO much while still remaining
relatively unaffected by it all, friends and advisors found
that there were times when this trait could be quite frustrat-
ing. Political consultants were especially antsy when the
1
2
Man
of Integrity by Doug wead
Shot Down over the Pacific
3
Vice President refused to step forward and take credit for
"We had tried to finish the job the day before, but hadn't
something that was clearly his.
been successful. The island was very well-defended. I
The key, Teeley assured me, was to come prepared. So I
think our squadron lost one plane.
armed myself with what little material already existed on
"I was part of the VT51 squadron. We had 34 planes
the subject and a determination that I would obtain George
Bush's firsthand account of the day he was shot down in the
assigned to the carrier. We really had a very vulnerable
Pacific during World War II.
ship, light and thin-skinned. It had been rushed into ser-
vice. Of course that gave it an advantage, too; it was fast,
Actually, it turned out to be one of the best interviews I
and as a result we saw a lot of action.
was to have with George Bush. The Vice President's Press
Secretary, who had alerted me to the whole idea, had also
"The Avenger would take a crew of three. I was the pilot
been telling the Vice President that he needed to open up and
up front; behind me was my rear gunner, Leo Nadeau; and
underneath, with a machine gun, was the radioman, John
get his story on the record. So perhaps the timing was right.
Delaney. The rear gunner, Leo Nadeau, didn't go that
When the interview started, we were alone. But then at
morning. It saved his life.
some midway point a staffer appeared at the door giving
"The three of us had seen a lot of action before Septem-
the customary prearranged signal, "I'm sorry, Mr. Vice
President, but you have to go." This really meant, of course,
ber second. That spring my roommate had been shot down.
The war in the Pacific was really reaching its peak; the
that I had to go. But evidently this afternoon the Vice
enemy was up against the wall and they were tough. I
President's schedule had more flexibility. He waved away
the interruption and our interview continued.
remember making a forced landing in the middle of the
By the time we were finished, several staffers and secre-
ocean, with the three of us barely getting away before the
taries had joined us, at first standing and then (at the Vice
plane exploded.
"There was an accident on board the San Jacinto in
President's insistence) sitting on the various couches and
chairs. For a short time business came to a stop.
which a pilot's leg was thrown across the deck. It landed
With the fireplace popping and whistling, the Vice Pres-
right in front of me, quivering. We were all stunned-here
ident gave one of the best accounts of his dangerous mis-
was this body cut in two-and then one of the officers came
sions as America's youngest Navy pilot.
along and yelled, 'Get this mess cleaned up!' So everybody
went back to work."
"The sun shone intermittently through a broken cloud
Why did your crew suddenly change that morning?
cover as our aircraft carrier, the San Jacinto, steamed
toward Chichi Jima, a little island south of Japan. It was
September 2, 1944, and as I strapped myself into my air-
"Ted White came up to me and asked if he could go along
craft (a torpedo bomber called an Avenger), I thought to
as gunner. He was an old friend of the family, a Yale
myself that this would be a bad day to be shot down.
graduate. His parents had always wanted him to be a pilot.
"We were supposed to knock out some radio stations on
"It was obvious that it was going to be a pretty dan-
Chichi Jima. It was all part of a plan to interrupt Japanese
gerous raid. I told him "we had picked up some pretty
serious antiaircraft fire the day before, but if it was okay
Islands. communications in preparation for an invasion of the Palau
with the commander it was okay with me. Well, he was
pretty excited. It was going to be his first raid."
4
Man of Integrity
Shot Down over the Pacific
5
He was killed?
back and saw that my rear gunner was out. He had been
"He never came back.
machine-gunned to death right where he was.
"We were the second plane in, so they were ready for
"So then I turned back over the water and we bailed
It was called glide-bombing, which is different from a dive- us.
out."
bomber, which puts the flaps on and drops at about 60
degrees. We were coming in at about 30 degrees, but
But Delaney was killed too, and you were the only sur-
straight down."
the feel in a torpedo bomber gave the sensation of going
vivor.
"He was evidently cut to ribbons as he parachuted down.
Do you remember the exact moment when you were hit?
I was luckier. Trying to get out in a hurry, I ended up
banging my head on the plane and my chute got caught on
"I'll never forget it.
the tail and then broke free, but I got out. My rubber raft
"There were black explosions all around us and then
had broken free, so I swam over and climbed in."
flash of light. The plane was lifted forward and we were a
suddenly enveloped in flames.
The story is that the Japanese were shooting from the
along the wing where the fuel tanks were and where the
"I remember looking out and seeing the flames running
shore, and they were coming after you in their own boats.
wings fold. I thought, This is really bad.' The cockpit was
"I'm told that some of the fellows circled back and
filled with smoke, so it was difficult to read the instru-
strafed the enemy boats and that's what saved me.
"Chichi Jima was part of the Bonin Islands, and after
finished the run, and then turned back out over the water."
ments, but we were falling fast. I pulled out of the dive,
the war I found out that the enemy soldiers on those
islands were pretty fierce warriors. Among other things, a
The official records say that in spite of damage to your
war crimes tribunal found them guilty of torturing and
own plane, you continued your dive and scored hits on the
beheading downed airmen. There were even some pretty
radio station. The report talks about complete disregard for
extraordinary stories of cannibalism. Of course if I had
your own safety and about courage to press the attack even
known that, I would have paddled all the way to Hawaii."
after your own plane was engulfed in flames and smoke.
So much time has passed since World War II. The horror
"It was an instinct-there really wasn't much time to
seems to have gone out of it. There have even been television
think about it. Everyone who went into combat was brave."
sitcoms on the subject.
medal. But everyone didn't win the Distinguished Flying Cross
"There has been time for healing. The West Germans
and Japanese are two of our most important allies, even
though sometimes we are passionate economic rivals.
"To tell you the truth, I thought I was a goner. I looked
"But I can assure you that there is no such thing as a
funny war. They are all terrible and tragic events, chewing
6
Man of Integrity
up hundreds of thousands of young people even before they
have had a chance to live, and leaving behind broken-
hearted families.
"I can tell you this: If I'm ever in the position to call the
shots, I'm not going to rush to send somebody else's kids
into a war. I know what it was like to be a 21-year-old kid
out there in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, disoriented,
nauseous, agonizing over the deaths of my closest friends,
and terrorized by the thought of imminent capture.
"To some people war may appear glamorous and roman-
tic in the history books, and it is tragic that each gener-
ation usually experiences several wars until it has had its
fill of them.
"I suppose that's why I feel so strongly about maintain-
ing a powerful defense-so that this country never has to
go to war again."
So you were shot down in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
"I had injured myself trying to get out of that plane
before it crashed. It really wasn't a serious injury, but just
a strawberry-the kind you get from sliding into home
plate. But some of the pilots circling overhead saw the
blood all over my face and thought the worst.
"They dropped some medicine from the air and I pad-
dled over and picked it up. I checked myself out to see if I
was okay. There wasn't much time. The frustrating thing
was that the wind was blowing me back toward the beach,
so I had to keep paddling to stay out.
"I remember the drone of our planes disappearing and
wondering what was going to happen to me. Of course, I
prayed. I thought "This is it-it's all over.'
"I was out there paddling for a couple of hours, with the
wind blowing me back toward shore, when this submarine
rose up out of the waters. It was like an apparition. At first
George Bush graduates from Phillips Academy, Andover, Massa-
I thought, 'Maybe I'm delirious,' and then, when I con-
chusetts, in June 1942. On June 12, his 18th birthday, he enlists in the
cluded that it was a submarine all right, I feared that it
U.S. Navy Reserve as a Seaman Second Class.
Shot Down over the Pacific
7
might be Japanese. It just seemed to me too lucky and too
farfetched that it would be an American submarine. But
then I saw the American sailors running back and forth
across the deck and I knew I was going to make it-that for
some reason I was going to live through this thing."
How long were you on board the submarine?
"As it turned out, they had just begun a pretty dan-
gerous mission in enemy waters. There wasn't anything
they could do with me but take me along. So I spent the
next 30 days on a U.S. submarine.
"I can tell you that there were some times when I wasn't
so sure whether I had been rescued or not. It was a fright-
ening experience, and the longer it lasted the more I grew
to respect those men.
"We used to argue over which career was the most
dangerous. They would say that they never wanted to be a
pilot because you were too vulnerable as a pilot, and if you
got hit, it was all over. Yet here I was, living proof that you
could fall out of the sky and live to talk about it.
"I would tell them that this was going to be the last
submarine duty I ever did. Sometimes there were depth
charges exploding all around us. If there had been just a
hairline crack in the skin of that submarine, it would have
been all over. Where are you going to go when you're
already under the surface of the ocean?
"Of course, with my being on board that long, they gave
me something to do. In those close quarters everybody
pitched in. It was an experience I will never forget-firing
torpedoes at the enemy and then hiding right under their
noses for days on end. Our skipper was eventually given
the Silver Star for the amount of tonnage he sank. When
the patrol was over, I was given a brief rest at Pearl Harbor
Receiving his wings and commission while still 18, George Bush
and then sent back out to the fleet again. I'm still waiting
becomes the youngest pilot in the U.S. Navy.
for my bonus check from the U.S. Navy for submarine
service!"
8
Man of Integrity
Shot Down over the Pacific
9
You must have had some sense of destiny about all of
into the Navy when the war broke out. But my parents and
this. Your co-pilot and gunner were dead, and you were
relatives were upset; they felt that the thing for me to do
very lucky to have gotten out of it alive.
was go on to college. Yet I was shaken by what had hap-
"Oh, yes, there was all of that. People talk about a kind
pened at Pearl Harbor, and I was patriotic and wanted to do
of foxhole Christianity, where you're in trouble and think
something about it. So I dug in my heels and pulled it off. I
you're going to die, and so you want to make everything
won my wings and commission at the age of 18, at the time
minute. right with God and everybody else right there in the last
the youngest pilot in the United States Navy. I was deter-
mined to see combat and then after the war get into col-
"But this was just the opposite of that. I had already
lege, and so I did. I've always been one to concentrate on
faced death, and God had spared me. I had this very deep
what's at hand."
and profound gratitude and a sense of wonder. Sometimes
when there is disaster people will pray, 'Why me?' In an
There is no unique George Bush philosophy of success?
opposite way I had the same question: Why had I been
spared and what did God have for me?
"If there is, it's not systematic. I just say, Do your best,
"At night when we would surface, I used to enjoy my
stand for something, accomplish something, be a doer and
time on the watch It was absolutely dark in the middle of
not a critic. If you don't like things, get in and try to change
the Pacific; the nights were so clear and the stars so bril-
them. If you've been lucky enough to take something out of
God. liant. It was wonderful and energizing, a time to talk to
the system, put something back into it.
"My family instilled some concepts in me at a very early
"One of the things I realized out there all alone was how
age. They believed very strongly in Christian ethics, kind-
much family meant to me. Having faced death and been
ness and helping others, and I've embraced that for myself.
given another chance to live, I could see just how impor-
"In 1980, when I started running for the Presidency,
tant those values and principles were that my parents had
some of the most knowledgeable and talented people warned
instilled in me, and of course how much I loved Barbara,
me, 'You're just going to get hurt.'
the girl I knew I would marry. Her name had been painted
"In a sense they may have been right. Perhaps there was
on my plane."
no chance in 1980, but we worked hard, raised money, and
paid all our bills. We had an incredible experience with
Were you a dreamer as a young man? Did you have goals
hundreds of thousands of people supporting us. If I had
to do great things?
waited around for somebody else to tell me to do this, I
wouldn't be sitting here talking to you now.
"I suppose, like all young men, I was a dreamer. But I
"Give life everything you've got: Don't hold back and
never did set up a grand design for my life. I've always
don't look for the easy way out; just go ahead and do what
believed that you must do well in whatever it is that you do,
and in that sense I set objectives along the way and then
you should do."
tried to attain them. For example, I had wanted to go right
You were still in the Navy when you married Barbara?
10
Man of Integrity
"Yes, I was in some pretty heavy action over the Philip-
pines when I got Christmas leave. It was an unforgettably
happy time for me during Christmas of 1944.
"But the war was still on. If you had said that it would all
- 2 -
be over within six months, no one would have believed you.
It's true that the Germans were falling back on the eastern
Prosperity with a Purpose
front, but the Battle of the Bulge had been launched, and
all these American boys were getting chewed up. And in
the Pacific theater it looked like we were only at the half-
In the spring of 1986 some days were better than others
way mark, with a long war of costly island-hopping ahead
for Vice President George Bush. So I was pretty happy
of us.
when I caught up with him on a good day. For starters, his
"Yet with all that tragedy as a backdrop, here I was back
two favorite baseball teams, the Houston Astros and the
in Connecticut again with family and friends, and at
New York Mets, were leading in their respective divisions
Christmas on top of that. So Barbara and I were married,
of the National League. For an even more important piece
and for me it's been one of the world's greatest love stories
of good news, a new Washington Post-ABC poll showed
ever since."
him trouncing his prospective rivals as the favorite for the
Republican nomination in '88.
Do you remember where you were when the war ended?
Early that morning I shared a taxi to Andrews Air Force
Base with Ron Kaufman, a longtime Bush political strate-
"I'll never forget it. We were in Virginia Beach, Vir-
gist and a good friend of mine. When the Vice President
ginia, anticipating reassignment back to combat at any
had decided to start up a political action committee, he had
moment. The war in the Pacific still seemed like it was
tapped Ron to get things going. Kaufman and I listened to
going to stretch on forever. Ten of the 14 original pilots in
our taxi driver's cogent analysis of what Congress was up
our squad had already been killed. I had to live with the
to and what it would eventually settle on. I couldn't help
prospect that if I were to get shot down this time, it might
wondering why none of the television networks had ever
mean leaving behind a beautiful young widow.
brought on a couchful of Washington cabbies to give their
"And then Truman dropped the bombs. A few days later
views and liven up those Sunday afternoon news talk
the war was over and there was an unbelievable celebra-
shows!
tion. On the base, pilots were running out into the streets
We cleared security at the distinguished visitors' lounge
and hugging each other. People everywhere were crying
before walking out the back gate toward Air Force Two.
and laughing.
The two 727's which constituted the equipment then avail-
"Barbara and I slipped away to a little chapel. I remem-
able for the Vice President stood side by side about a
ber thinking about all my buddies who had died, and I
hundred yards away. On the long march out across the
remember squeezing Barbara's hand and thanking God
tarmac we had a chance to take them both in. They were
one more time for letting me live to see this day of peace."
big white birds, with blue and gold stripes running across
their sides and the stars and stripes displayed on their
11
George Bush
Looking Forward
30
31
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, December 7,
trainees-the youngest aviator in the Navy when I got my
1941, there wasn't any doubt which branch of the service I'd
wings. To make matters worse, I looked younger than I
join. My thoughts immediately turned to naval aviation.
actually was-enough to make me self-conscious. When
College was coming up the following fall, but that would
Barbara came to visit-she was on her way to school in
have to wait. The sooner I could enlist, the better.
South Carolina-I even asked her to stretch the calendar,
Six months later I got my diploma from Phillips Acad-
add a few months to her age, and tell anybody who asked
emy Andover. Secretary of War Henry Stimson came from
that she was eighteen, not seventeen.
Washington to deliver the commencement address. He told
We'd met six months before, at a Christmas dance. I'm
members of our graduating class the war would be a long
not much at recalling what people wear, but that particular
one, and even though America needed fighting men, we'd
occasion stands out in my memory. The band was playing
serve our country better by getting more education before
Glenn Miller tunes when I approached a friend from Rye,
New York, Jack Wozencraft, to ask if he knew a girl across
getting into uniform.
After the ceremony, in a crowded hallway outside the
the dance floor, the one wearing the green-and-red holiday
auditorium, my father had one last question about my fu-
dress. He said she was Barbara Pierce, that she lived in Rye
and went to school in South Carolina. Would I like an intro-
ture plans. Dad was an imposing presence, six feet four,
duction? I told him that was the general idea, and he intro-
with deep-set blue-gray eyes and a resonant voice.
duced us, just about the time the bandleader decided to
"George," he said, "did the Secretary say anything to
change tempos, from fox trot to waltz. Since I didn't waltz,
change your mind?"
we sat the dance out. And several more after that, talking
"No, sir," I replied. "I'm going in."
and getting to know each other.
Dad nodded and shook my hand.
It was a storybook meeting, though most couples that
On my eighteenth birthday, I went to Boston and was
got serious about each other in those days could say the
sworn into the Navy as a Seaman Second Class. Not long
same about the first time they met. Young people in the late
thereafter, I was on a railway coach headed south for Navy
1930s and early '40s were living with what modern psychol-
preflight training in North Carolina.
ogists call heightened awareness, on the edge. It was a time
of uncertainty, when every evening brought dramatic radio
newscasts-Edward R. Murrow from London, William L.
I'd joined up to fly, and like the piano student who
Shirer from Berlin-reporting a war we knew was headed
didn't see why he couldn't begin his lessons playing Rhap-
our way.
sody in Blue, I was gung ho to strap on the leather helmet
In the eight months that passed from that first meeting
and goggles the day I arrived at Chapel Hill. Because of the
until her visit to Chapel Hill, Barbara and I had progressed
pilot shortage, the Navy had trimmed its aviator training
from simply being "serious," to meeting and spending time
course to ten months, but there weren't any shortcuts. It
with each other's families-a fairly important step for teen-
would be months before I'd finally climb into a Stearman
agers in those days. After I got my wings and went into
N-2S trainer-the Navy's "Yellow Peril," a two-cockpit,
advanced flight training, we took the next important step. In
open-air special. Even then I got the impression that my
August of 1943, she joined the Bush summer convocation in
instructor thought I was still too fuzz-faced to trust with an
Maine where, between boating and fishing excursions, we
expensive piece of Navy equipment.
were secretly engaged. Secret, to the extent that the German
Looking through old scrapbooks at photos taken at the
and Japanese high commands weren't aware of it. That De-
time, I can't say I blame him. I was younger than the other
cember we went public with our engagement, though we
George Bush
Looking Forward
33
32
knew that marriage was years away. My training days were
Pacific island of World War Two, Iwo Jima. The day before,
drawing to a close at the Naval Air Station in Charlestown,
Delaney, Nadeau, and I had flown a mission targeting gun
Rhode Island. In the fall of 1943 I was assigned to VT-51, a
emplacements on Chichi. We knocked some out, but not
torpedo squadron being readied for active duty in the Pa-
enough. The Japanese who were dug in on the island still
had a potent antiaircraft reserve.
cific.
Delaney, Nadeau, and I had been together since VT-51
was first attached to the San Jacinto, back in the States.
Eight months after V-J Day, Life magazine ran a story,
We'd flown missions over Wake Island, Palau, Guam,
"Home to Chichi Jima," telling of the war-crimes trial of
and Saipan, and survived a fair number of close calls, in-
two Japanese officers charged with executing American fli-
cluding a ditching operation when our plane sprang a leak
ers shot down over the Bonin Islands and "even more re-
while still carrying four depth charges intended for enemy
volting, of practicing cannibalism on them."
subs. How do you put a TBM Avenger into the water with
I read the piece as a Yale freshman, not long out of the
four 500-pound bombs in its belly? Very carefully, with
Navy. It brought back memories of the worst hours I spent
adrenaline running, a prayer on your lips, and your fingers
crossed.
during the war.
The date was September 2, 1944. It was the second day
In flight training at Corpus Christi and along the East
of concentrated air strikes on the Bonins by our squadron,
Coast, we were taught to gauge wind velocity and the height
VT-51, operating off the San Jacinto, one of eight fast carri-
of waves. Given winds at about fifteen knots and a fair chop
ers in Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher's Task Force 58. My
on the sea, I trimmed the nose of the plane as high as possi-
aviator's log book for that day reads: Crash Landing in Sea
ble without risking a stall. We landed tailfirst and were able
-Near Bonin Is.-Enemy action.
to scramble onto the wing, inflate our safety raft, and start
Under the column for Passengers were the names Dela-
paddling, just as the plane went down.
ney and Lt. (jg) White. Jack Delaney was the young radio-
We felt lucky. Within seconds we felt even luckier,
man/tail gunner on my Grumman Avenger torpedo
when the plane's torpedoes detonated after their safety de-
bomber. William G. (Ted) White was the squadron's gun-
vices gave way to undersea pressure: Then, about thirty
nery officer, filling in that day for Leo Nadeau, our regular
minutes later, came a happy ending: the destroyer U.S.S.
Bronson sighted our raft and picked us up.
turret gunner.
VT-51 had an air complement of twenty-six F6F Hell-
cats and nine TBM Avengers. The quick, mobile Hellcat
fighter kept the skies clear of enemy aircraft. The Avenger
Like most TBM Avenger pilots, I liked the teamwork
had earned a reputation as the biggest, best single-engine
and camaraderie that went with being part of a three-man
bomber around, used for torpedo runs, glide bombing, an-
crew. I became attached to my plane, nicknaming it "Bar-
tisub patrols, and providing air cover during amphibious
bara."
landings. The TBM carried a three-man crew-aviator, tur-
The TBM Avenger wasn't fast-the unofficial Navy
ret gunner, and radioman/tail gunner, or "stinger," along
line described it as "low and slow." As Leo Nadeau once
with a 2,000-pound bomb payload.
put it, the TBM "could fall faster than it could fly." Cruis-
The target for that day was a radio communications
ing speed was about 140 knots, brought down to less then 95
center on Chichi Jima, one of three islands in the Bonin
knots for a carrier landing. But it was sturdy and stable.
chain. The others were Haha Jima and the best-remembered
Sturdy and stable enough to allow for pilot error on even a
34
George Bush
Looking Forward
35
bad landing. From the start, back during flight training, I
was heading south to become Task Force 38, under Admiral
liked the challenge the TBM offered, the sensation of diving,
"Bull" Halsey. The move was scheduled to take place imme-
getting close down to the water, going full bore.
diately after the Chichi Jima raid. That meant if we were
There's nothing quite like putting a plane down on a
going to knock out the enemy airstrips and communications
carrier. While it was intimidating at first, you quickly got
on the Bonins, today would be the day.
used to it. The San Jacinto was a new-model light carrier,
with a very narrow flight deck on a converted cruiser hull. It
Nobody had to remind us that the going would be
took total concentration to make the tight turn coming into
rough. The day before, we'd run into strong enemy antiair-
the ship's stern, then follow through on your pattern, watch-
craft fire and lost a plane. The Bonins were six hundred
ing the signal officer as he waved his paddles to let you know
miles from Tokyo, a key supply and communications center,
whether you were too high or too low. Screw up the plane's
and the Japanese had dug in for a protracted fight. We were
"attitude" and you crashed into the sea or the deck-like
learning that the closer we got to the enemy's homeland, the
the Hellcat pilot I once saw miss the arresting wires on a
fiercer the resistance.
return flight from Guam.
Ted White knew this when he approached me to ask if
Our squadron was coming in after a strike, the Aveng-
he could fill in as turret gunner during the raid. Ted was a
ers first, then the fighter planes. I'd already landed and was
personal friend. Our families knew each other back home.
standing on deck, watching as the pilot jammed his throttles
As gunnery officer, he wanted to check the equipment out
forward trying to get airborne again, but lost air speed. His
under actual combat conditions.
plane spun in, ending up by a gun mount. The gun crew was
We were due to take off at 0715. "You'll have to hurry
wiped out. Just a few yards away was a crewman's leg, sev-
it," I told him, looking at my watch. "But if it's okay with
ered and quivering. The shoe was still on. More than forty
the skipper, and Nadeau doesn't mind, it's okay with me."
years later I can still see it.
The skipper in this case was Lieutenant Commander
Two other members of the squadron were alongside me
when the accident happened. We were all familiar with com-
D. J. Melvin, who had headed VT-51 since it was formed. In
bat risks and at one time or another had lost close friends:
his early thirties, Don Melvin was a seasoned flier who knew
my first roommate, Jim Wykes, flew out on a routine antisub
everything there was to know about naval aircraft-a cool,
patrol one day and just disappeared. But none of us had ever
collected leader who inspired confidence in younger mem-
seen death come that close, that suddenly-Four seamen
bers of his squadron. Before the war was over, he'd earned
who'd been with us seconds before were dead because of a
the Navy Cross not once, but twice. That morning, Septem-
random accident, for no logical reason.
ber 2, he cleared Ted White for the Chichi Jima mission.
Then, breaking the tension, the chief petty officer in
Leo Nadeau also signed off on the request.
charge of the deck crew moved in, shouting orders. "All
We took off on schedule, first the TBMs, then the fight-
right, you bastards," he yelled. "Let's get to work. We still
ers, some catapulted, others making a full-deck takeoff. Af-
have planes up there and they can't land in this goddamn
ter I was harnessed in, my plane was hooked onto the cata-
mess. War, it seemed, has a perverse logic all its own.
pult. I ran it up full-throttle, gave the catapult officer my
arm-across-the-chest signal, and was launched skyward.
The sky was clear, broken only by a few clouds, not
A little after 6 A.M., the morning of September 2, I was
enough to provide cover for an incoming flight. Though it
in the ready room getting briefed for our second day of air
was still early morning, the weather was like every other day
strikes against Chichi Jima. Word came that Task Force 58
in that part of the Pacific, warm and humid. It took us about
36
George Bush
Lcoking Forward
37
an hour to reach the island; climbing along the way to our
I came down fast-because of the torn canopy, faster
attack height of 12,000 feet.
than I wanted. That was when all those tedious hours of
Our squadron attack plan called for three groups of
emergency training paid off. Rule No. 1 in bailing out at sea:
three torpedo bombers apiece, flying first in V formations,
Don't get tangled up in your parachute after landing. Still
then shifting to echelons as we prepared to dive. We were
dazed, I instinctively started unbuckling on the way down
joined by planes from other carriers as we closed in.
and easily slipped out of my harness when I hit the water.
The flak was the heaviest I'd ever flown into. The Japa-
nese were ready and waiting; their antiaircraft guns were set
up to nail us as we pushed into our dives. By the time VT-51
I looked around for Delaney and White, but the only
was ready to go in, the sky was thick with angry black
thing in sight was my parachute drifting away. My seatback
clouds of exploding antiaircraft fire.
rubber raft was somewhere in the area, but if it hadn't been
Don Melvin led the way, scoring direct hits on a radio
for Don Melvin swooping down, then up, to signal its loca-
tower. I followed, going into a thirty-five-degree dive, an
tion, I'd never have seen, much less swum to it. And while I
angle of attack that sounds shallow but in an Avenger felt as
didn't know it at the time, if it hadn't been for Doug West in
if you were headed straight down. The target map was
his Avenger and a few of our Hellcat escorts, the raft
strapped to my knee, and as I started into my dive, I'd
wouldn't have done much good even when I reached it. A
already spotted the target area. Coming in, I was aware of
couple of Japanese boats had left the island, headed out to
black splotches of gunfire all around.
pick me up. Doug and the fighter planes drove them back
Suddenly there was a jolt, as if a massive fist had
while I swam toward the raft, hoping that it hadn't been
crunched into the belly of the plane. Smoke poured into the
damaged by the fall and would inflate. Good news, it did. I
cockpit, and I could see flames rippling across the crease of
scrambled aboard. Bad news, the fall had broken the emer-
the wing, edging toward the fuel tanks. I stayed with the
gency container and I had no fresh water. Doug didn't know
dive, homed in on the target, unloaded our four 500-pound
that, but coming in low he'd seen that my head was bleeding
bombs, and pulled away, heading for the sea. Once over
and dropped a medical kit. I retrieved it and hand-swabbed
water, I leveled off and told Delaney and White to bail out,
my forehead with Mercurochrome.
turning the plane starboard to take the slipstream off the
Then I checked out my regulation .38-caliber pistol to
door near Delaney's station.
see if it was in working order. It was, for all the good it
Up to that point, except for the sting of dense smoke
would do me; I would have traded it and fifty more like it
blurring my vision, I was in fair shape. But when I went to
for one small paddle. The wind was playing tricks again.
make my jump, trouble came in pairs.
Alone in my raft, my squadron headed back to the carrier, I
According to the book, you dive onto the wing; then
was slowly drifting toward Chichi Jima.
the wind pulls you away from the plane. But something
went wrong. The wind was playing tricks, or more likely, I
pulled the rip cord too soon. First my head, then my para-
Where were Delaney and White? There was no sign of
chute canopy collided with the tail of the plane. It was a
other yellow rafts on the horizon. Just cloudless blue sky
close one. A fraction of an inch closer, and I'd have been
and choppy green water rolling toward the shoreline. I was
snagged on the tail assembly. As it was, the only damage
hand-paddling furiously just to stay put.
that came out of the collision was a gashed forehead and a
My head still ached. My arm was burning from the
partially torn canopy.
sting of an angry Portuguese man-of-war. And to compli-
38
George Bush
Looking Forward
39
cate matters, I'd swallowed a few pints of brackish water
my fellow crew members. Later I learned that neither Jack
along the way, which meant I'd occasionally have to stop
Delaney nor Ted White had survived. One went down with
paddling to lean over the side.
the plane; the other was seen jumping, but his parachute
Still, I was alive and had a chance. The question was
failed to open.
whether my crew members had survived. Neither had re-
sponded after the order to bail out. Struggling against the
tide, I remembered something else: Task Force 58 was pull-
As a member of VT-51, I thrived on the feeling of free-
ing out of the area to rendezvous with Halsey's fleet after
dom that came with flying an airplane. I was part of a team,
the raid on Chichi Jima. Don Melvin had probably radioed
yet on my own. But living with the officers and crew of the
my position to friendly ships in the area; but realistically, if
Finback, I learned about a different kind of teamwork, as
nothing showed up that day, my luck might have run out.
well as danger.
A half hour passed. An hour. An hour and a half.
Whatever the aviators on board might have thought
There was no sign of activity from the island, no Japanese
originally, the Finback wasn't a rescue vessel but a combat
headed my way. But nothing else was headed my way ei-
ther. As it turned out, when my prayers were answered, it
ship on patrol. Much as we wanted to get back to our squad-
didn't come in the form of a large ship's outline on the
rons, we'd have to bide our time until the sub put in at
horizon, but what appeared to be a small black dot, only one
Midway at the end of its war patrol.
hundred yards away. The dot grew larger. First a periscope,
Among other things, biding time on a submarine meant
then the conning tower, then the hull of a submarine
looking at the war inside out, being on the receiving rather
emerged from the depths.
than the delivery end of an air bombing. People talk about
Was it an enemy sub or one of ours? It didn't take long
the risk of combat flying, but in a plane you can fire back
to find out. A large bearded figure was standing on the
and maneuver; on a sub you breathe stale air and sweat in
bridge of the conning tower, holding a black metal object in
the belly of a metal tube under fire.
his hand. As the sub drew closer, the object took form as a
The Finback sank enough enemy tonnage on that pa-
small motion-picture camera.
trol to earn its skipper, Commander R. R. Williams, the
My rescue ship was the U.S.S. Finback. The camera
Silver Star. He and his crew deserved it. Running on the
buff turned out to be Ensign Bill Edwards. He stood there,
surface, we were attacked by a Japanese Nell bomber. Below
filming away, while the sub continued to surface and half a
the surface, we were depth-charged: the sub would shudder,
dozen seamen came scurrying out to the forward deck:
and the visiting airmen would give anxious looks at mem-
"Welcome aboard!" said one, who hauled me out of my bob-
bers of the crew. They'd reassure us, "Not even close."
bing craft. "Let's get below. The skipper wants to get the
It was close enough. The Navy awarded me a Distin-
hell out of here." On shaky legs I climbed down the conning
guished Flying Cross for completing the mission on Chichi
tower into the hold of the Finback. The hatches slammed
Jima, but what happened at the island was over in a hurry.
shut, the horns sounded, and the sub's skipper gave the or-
Taking depth charges in a sub-even for ten minutes-
der to "Take her down."
could seem like an eternity.
In the sub's cramped wardroom, I was given a second
But my month aboard the Finback had its better mo-
welcome aboard by three other Navy airmen, rescued by the
ments. There was the human element: I made friendships
Finback a short while before: Silently I thanked God for
that have lasted a lifetime. I had a chance to reflect on the
having saved my life and said a silent prayer for the safety of
greater loss suffered at Chichi Jima. Six days after my res-
40
George Bush
Looking Forward
41
cue, I wrote a letter, later mailed to my parents, that de-
I arrived Christmas Eve. There were tears, laughs, hugs, joy,
scribed my feelings at the time:
the love and warmth of family in a holiday setting.
"I try to think about it as little as possible," I said, "yet
Barbara and I were married two weeks later, January 6,
I cannot get the thought of those two out of my mind. Oh,
1945, at the First Presbyterian Church in her hometown,
I'm O.K.-I want to fly again and I won't be scared of it,
Rye, New York, with a close friend from VT-51, Milt
but I know I won't be able to shake the memory of this
Moore, as a member of the wedding party.
incident and I don't believe I want to completely."
A few months later I was reassigned to VT-153, a Navy
Then there were the better moments spent standing
torpedo bomber group being readied for the invasion of Ja-
watch on the tower during the midnight to four A.M. shift,
pan. Everything I'd experienced in my year and a half of
when the Finback ran on the surface to recharge its batter-
combat in the Pacific told me it was going to be the bloodi-
ies. The sub moved like a porpoise, water lapping over its
est, most prolonged battle of the war. Japan's war leaders
bow, the sea changing colors, first jet black, then sparkling
were unfazed by massive raids on Tokyo. They seemed bent
white. It reminded me of home and our family vacations in
on national suicide, regardless of the cost in human life.
Maine. The nights were clear and the stars so bright you felt
Now, years later, whenever I hear anyone criticize
you could touch them. It was hypnotic. There was peace,
President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on
calm, beauty-God's therapy.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I wonder whether the critic re-
I still don't understand the "logic" of war-why some
members those days and has really considered the alterna-
survive and others are lost in their prime. But that month on
tive: millions of fighting men killed on both sides, possibly
the Finback gave me time to reflect, to go deep inside myself
tens of millions of Japanese civilians. Harry Truman's deci-
and search for answers. As you grow older and try to re-
sion wasn't just courageous, it was far-sighted. He spared
trace the steps that made you the person you are, the sign-
the world and the Japanese people an unimaginable holo-
caust.
posts to look for are those special times of insight, even
awakening. I remember my days and nights aboard the
I was stationed at Oceana Naval Air Station, Virginia,
U.S.S. Finback as one of those times-maybe the most im-
on the mid-August day when the President announced that
21,
the Japanese had sued for peace. Barbara and I were living
portant of them all.
in Virginia Beach. The announcement came at seven P.M.
Within minutes our neighborhood streets were filled with
sailors, aviators, their wives and families celebrating late
I rejoined the San Jacinto and VT-51 exactly eight
into the night. We joined in the celebration, then, before
weeks after being shot down, in time to take part in strikes
going home, went to a nearby church filled with others giv-
against enemy positions and shipping in the Philippines. In
ing thanks and remembering those lost in the war. After
October 1944 American troops had landed at Leyte; in No-
four years it was finally over.
vember our squadron was in action at Manila Bay and in the
We were still young, life lay ahead of us, and the world
Luzon area. We also got news that over one hundred B-29s,
was at peace. It was the best of times.
taking off from Saipan, had bombed Tokyo. Three years
after it had begun, the war in the Pacific was coming full
circle, a noose tightening around the Japanese home islands.
YALE'S HITTING BIG FACTOR
In December VT-51 was replaced by a new squadron,
IN TEAM'S DIAMOND SUCCESS
and after flying fifty-eight combat missions I was ordered
The ability of the Yale Baseball team to back
home. No reunion could have been scripted more perfectly.
up some mighty impressive pitching on the part of