"They caught us in the searchlights and they started to hit us. They knocked out
our number one engine with a direct hit. We had a direct hit in the tail. And we had a
hole about that big in the right wing and our fuel was really pouring out."
[Intro]
Like many other young American men, Japan's transpacific aggression had
sparked a determination within Raymond Carey to defend his country by joining the United
States Army Air Forces.
"I got so angry at what the Japanese had done at Pearl Harbor,
that I enlisted. So on my 18th birthday, they shipped me off
to boot camp. And they did a bunch of testing and they found
out I was good at taking code. So they sent me to radio school.
After we completed this school, a bunch of us were going to be delegated for crews on the
B-29's which were just coming out at that time. It's a brand new bomber. So we were
excited about that. Then we started to try to do a 3,000 mile round trip. And I found out later,
the reason is because it was 3,000 miles from the island we were gonna be on to Japan."
Raymond was now a radio operator for the 9th
Bombardment Group. He and his crew of the 5th Squadron had learned together, trained together
and now had their very own brand new B-29. It wasn't long before the crew was deployed
to the South Pacific, making quick stops at Hawaii and Kwajalein before settling in
the Marianas on a small island called Tinian.
"We started our missions there. We flew to Truk which was a big Japanese naval base
and we bombed them. And then we began to make our long distance trips to Japan. We
had some missions where the Japanese used to try to come in on us and try to ram us.
They would try to hit the lead plane and bounce off the lead plane and take two or three bombers
down that way. And the beauty of this B-29 is they have it set up so that the bombardier
could commandeer all of the guns at one time and concentrate it in front of us. So any planes were
coming in at us, trying to ram us, he could try to shoot them down. And we did - we knocked down
three and a half or five and a half kills - planes that were trying to hit us that we shot down. The
first several missions were made at high altitude 32- to 35,000 feet. And because we had to climb
to high altitude we couldn't carry a complete bomb load. So the results of the missions were
not very satisfactory. And General Curtis LeMay was not happy with that, so he decided on a new
strategy. We were going to go in at night at low altitude. Before the mission we had our briefing
and they gave us - everybody a roast beef sandwich and a bottle of Coke because of
the distance we had to travel - we would get hungry on the way. So on the way, we ate our
sandwich and drank a Coke. So we flew all the way to Japan and we were on the outskirts of Tokyo,
about to make our bombing run. And just then I had a terrible urge - I had to go to the bathroom.
Now, our privy was clear in the tail of the ship. So I did the only thing I could - I
took the Coke bottle and I filled it. And they opened the drift meter hatch, and I could see
down. And I took this bottle and I dropped it down with some kind of a wise comment about,
'Let me help you put the fire out.' That was a mistake. They caught us in the searchlights
and they started to hit us. They knocked out our number one engine with a direct
hit. We had a direct hit in the tail. We had a direct hit in the right wing. And we had a hole
about that big in the right wing and our fuel was really pouring out. Well, we dropped our bombs. I
was looking through the bulkhead, into the front bomb bay to make sure all of the bombs had dropped
out. And just then, there was a blinding flash in front of my eyes and I thought I was a goner. But
fortunately for me that hit was in the rear bomb bay, not the front bomb bay. Only now we're having
trouble because we were heading out to sea, we're on three engines, we're losing a lot of fuel."
Now, it so happened that Iwo Jima was halfway between Japan and Tinian. So,
if we can make it to Iwo Jima and land
there, we're safe. Fortunately for us, we were able to just barely
get in to Iwo Jima and land. And we pulled up and we got out of the plane. And just
that instant - ping! ping! ping! They were sniping at us from Mount Suribachi.
Just when they thought they were safe, Raymond and the crew were under fire by
a group of Japanese soldiers who had managed to survive the battle of Iwo Jima and elude capture.
"The crew that were there said, 'Get your butts in that truck and get out of here!' So we hopped
in a truck - they took us to a visitor area. So we get
into a tent and we lay down on these cots. And just then, all of the sudden,
air raid sirens are going on. Just then, all the guns are going off. Bombs are dropping,
planes are crashing. And I go out of this tent - I don't know where the bomb shelter
is. I get down on my hands and knees. I'm trying to scoop this sand back, you know,
so I can get down level. It's just like marbles - it just kept rolling back in.
And by the time this raid was over, I never did get below ground level. The next morning,
the ground crew came out and they examined our plane. And they told us we had over 350
holes in that plane. Really amazing. It's hard to think about that because it was so
close. And we were so close to ditching in the ocean and that was so scary."
Soon their plane would be patched up. And the crew would find themselves back in the skies. But
the war in the Pacific had grown more desperate. As casualties on both sides continued to mount,
and the Japanese forces seemed to grow more resilient, and their tactics more extreme,
the 9th Bombardment Group's targets began to take on a different shape.
"Well, of course we - we're interested in having good results. We were worried at first about fire
bombing cities because we were killing so many civilians. We were told that the Japanese had
sub-assemblies that they did in their homes for the military. And that was the justification for
the fire bombing. Because that's stuff that could be used against us, you know. Well,
you carry that all your life, you know. You don't ever forget it. After Nagasaki was bombed with the
Atomic Bomb, we were expecting the Japanese to surrender. And we still had a bombing mission
scheduled. And they were hoping that they would surrender before we had to take this
mission. So during the briefing they said, 'All the radio operators will monitor this
frequency and if we get word of the surrender we'll notify you and you'll abort the
mission and turn around and come back.' Well, all the way to the target, they kept calling, ' Did
you hear anything?' 'No. Didn't hear anything.' 'Are you sure?' 'Yes, I'm sure.' Finally,
we're reaching our destination. And still no news. And they're starting to fire at us - they're
shooting at us. So we made our bombing run, we dropped our bombs, and we headed out to sea. And
then we got the word that the war was over."
At long last, the greatest conflict that mankind had ever seen came to an end. And for the time
being, the world was at peace. In the years following the war, Raymond would go on to
attend college, serve again in the Korean War, marry, and with his wife raise twelve children.
But to this day, Raymond's thoughts continue to take him back to his service in the Second World
War - his squadron, his crew, and the resolve to lay everything on the line for his country.
"My country needed me, that's the way I look at it. I was there, and if I was able to help,
I was glad to help. I'm very thankful the way it worked out and that all of us survived. Of course,
now I'm the only one of two on the crew that are still alive. I miss those guys - boy.
Every year we'd have a meeting - bomb group get together. And we'd discuss things and
we'd rehash a lot of the things that went through the war. I miss that. I really do."
Hey everyone, I'm Josh from Memoirs of WWII, and I just want to say thank you so much for watching
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