A MARINE DIVE-BOMBER PILOT AT GUADALCANAL
John Howard McEniry, Jr.
NEW COPY. Hardcover with dust jacket.
University of Alabama Press,
1987. 1st Edition. Drawings, photos, appendices, index. 183
pp.
EXCERPT: "As soon as I had committed myself
I realized my mistake, but it was too late. By this time I had lost the
speed that we had coming out of the dive, and the others in the flight
had completed their runs and were going in the opposite direction. At that
point I was irrevocably committed to continuing the course I had selected.
Between a safe area and me were two transports, a number of destroyers,
and a cruiser. The SBD, at full throttle, had a maximum speed of about
150 to 160 knots. I was right down on the water, lower than the deck of
the ships, and the only aircraft in the very middle of an entire fleet.
It was still necessary for me to operate the manual fuel pump to keep the
engine running. The first ship I approached was a big transport absolutely
full of troops. They were all over the decks, running around, shooting
their rifles at me. My front .50s were operating and I was firing at the
ship, adding to the confusion of the troops. I came to it, pulled up, and
went over it and on to the next one, another transport. As I was approaching
this one, a dive-bomber from another attack released his bomb. I saw the
bomb leave the plane and watched its flight until it hit the ship. All
firing at me from this ship stopped at that instant. The bomb hit twenty-five
to fifty feet from the bow. The entire bow broke off and fell into the
water."
Paperback currently in print at $35; hardcover OUT OF PRINT.
$45.00
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