Benjamin Hathaway
95TH BOMB GROUP (H)
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
2001 REUNION LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
CH: …oral history of First Lieutenant Ben Hathaway of the 95th Bomb Group Association. This is an oral history conducted by Charles Holley for the 95th Bomb Group Memorials Association on the 4th of October 2001. Thank you so much for your time. That’s the most important thing, Ben, for your time this morning. I really appreciate it.
BH: Well I’m kind of glad to do it to because I’ve wanted to, but never had the time before.
CH: Do you have a history of aviation in your family?
BH: No. I remember the first time I flew was when I was about 14 or 15. I got enough money, and they had one of these barn stormers come around, and I went and flew, and that’s when I got interested in it at first.
CH: Where were you on December 7th, 1941?
BH: I was at my girlfriend’s house that evening when I heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor
CH: And how did you feel about that? Were you going to rush out and join up, or…?
BH: No, not really. It was kind of unbelievable that something like that would happen. I didn’t really think much about it at the time. But I think after hearing President Roosevelt talk the next day, that’s when I got all excited. And I was working with a friend of mine whose brother was in the RAF – the Canadian Air Force. And he brought some pictures in that showed pictures of his brother in his flight suit. I think he flew in a Spitfire. I’m not sure. And so he and I got all hepped up and we went over and enlisted in the Air Force that day.
CH: And he was pretty, that RAF guy was pretty handsome in all that flying gear, wasn’t he?
BH: Yes he was.
CH: What city was that in?
BH: That was a little town of Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
CH: And were you born there?
BH: I was born and raised there, yeah.
CH: And what year were you born there?
BH: 1921.
CH: 1921. Did, after you, when were you enlisted or sworn into service?
BH: The exact date I believe was something like May 25th, 1942.
CH: And where was that? Do you remember what town?
BH: It was in Boston.
CH: So you had to go from Bridgewater to Boston?
BH: Yes.
CH: Was that where the induction center was?
BH: I enlisted as an aviation cadet.
CH: Oh, okay.
BH: And then I had to go take the physical and the mental exams and all. So that took quite a bit of time.
CH: Did you know what type of part of the Air Force you wanted to be in? Did you want to be a fighter pilot, or did you want to just find out ….
BH: Well naturally I wanted to be a pilot, like everybody else. But I wouldn’t say necessarily a fighter pilot.
CH: The – once you – what was the progress from when you enlisted to your basic? What was basic for you?
BH: Didn’t have basic. I went right straight to aviation cadet center. And wasn’t called up until November after I enlisted. I was sitting around all that time. And I went to San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center.
CH: And what was that? Was that just like a college where you learned?
BH: No. One side of the road was a big transportation center. And the other side was the preflight school for just about everybody that went through pilot training at that time.
CH: So were you taking courses in aviation and mechanics?
BH: Just strictly in aviation – code, drill (laughter)
CH: So they were drilling you…
BH: Oh, we were learning to become officers.
CH: Were you living in barracks at that time?
BH: Yes, we were.
CH: When you did the aviation cadet program, what was your fondest memory about that?
BH: I think maybe preflight school – the strict way that they made us sit in the dining hall on the front four inches of the chair, look neither way, you look straight ahead and ate and minded your own business.
CH: After cadet school, did you go into any flight training?
BH: I went through pilot training first, and I went through, I completed my primary flying school, but I never made it through basic. We had three different schools.
CH: Right – primary, basic, and advanced. Primary – what type of aircraft were you flying?
BH: PT-19.
CH: That’s the Ryan, wasn’t it?
BH: No that was the Fairchild.
CH: Fairchild, PT-19. And what was your opinion about that airplane?
BH: Oh, I loved that airplane. I soloed after about eight hours. I could really handle the plane. I really felt confident.
CH: It sounds like your whole world kind of changed in basic, I mean basic flight school.
BH: Yes.
CH: Were you flying PT-13’s there?
BH: No, I was flying BT-15’s
CH: BT-15’s.
BH: Yeah. I think they were a very under-powered airplane. I don’t really feel I had a fair chance, but I always look back as probably these things saved my life……
CH: (laughing) Well I think that’s, anywhere in this thing it was just a chance of you being in one spot or another.
BH: That’s right.
CH: The, so after basic, you being an aviation cadet, you had a selection. You could be a bombardier, a navigator I assume?
BH: They gave me a choice, and I took bombardier.
CH: Bombardier. Now where was bombardier school?
BH: San Angelo, Texas.
CH: San Angelo. That’s A-n-g-e-l-o?
BH: Right.
CH: Texas. And what was your opinion about bombardier school?
BH: I enjoyed it very much. We were the first class, I think – I’m not positive – of bombardier/navigators where we got some DR navigation so we had a rating of bombardier/navigator.
CH: So you had the, they were putting the navigation and bombardier together.
BH: Somewhat. We learned everything except the celestial navigation.
CH: With the bombardier, you knew you were going to have to bomb somebody sometime, right?
BH: Oh yes.
CH: And how did you feel about that?
BH: That didn’t worry me at all. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it very much.
CH: How long a course was your bombardier school? Six weeks?
BH: I don’t know. No. I think about three months
CH: Three months?
BH: Yeah. I graduated just before Christmas in 1943.
CH: So that was Christmas of 1943.
BH: Yeah.
CH: Okay. And 1943 was your real hot and heavy month for the Eighth Air Force. Did you have any inkling at this time that you were going to be going to four engine bombers or two engine bombers?
BH: I had no idea.
CH: Did – with – after graduation, did you have leave – time off – before you had to report?
BH: I had – I think we had 15 day leave. But then I went to gunnery school in Laredo, Texas.
CH: Okay. And how did you like shooting the 50-calibres?
BH: Oh, I liked – I thought it was great.
CH: Did you also do the skeet shooting, where they used the shotguns?
BH: Yes we used the shotguns, and we did a lot of skeet shooting. We sat at all the different kinds of targets they had, even a ball turret. And I fired from all of them…
CH: And how good were you?
BH: Pretty good. It think I was pretty good.
CH: Had you hunted earlier in your life?
BH: Yes, I had.
CH: So it always helps, looking through a site. With the gunnery school, was that the final schooling you had before assignment to your unit?
BH: Yes.
CH: Did you go to an operational training unit?
BH: I went to a replacement center in Tampa, Florida first. And from there I went to Drew Field for operational training.
CH: And you’re just traveling by yourself. You’re not with a crew yet, right?
BH: No, we’re individuals.
CH: Now Drew Field – what type of school was that, one more time?
BH: That was B-17’s.
CH: Okay, so at that time you knew…
BH: …that I was going to be in B-17’s.
CH: Right. And what was your opinion about that?
BH: Oh, I loved it. I thought it was a great airplane.
CH: So when you first saw it, it was love at first sight.
BH: Oh yes. When you’re young, you look at all these airplanes going by. It just fills you to see them anyway. And the B-17 was such a big airplane – really impressive.
CH: And it was the state of the art technology at that time – thought of as the best aircraft in the air. After Drew Field, were you, now what time were you at Drew Field? We’re at 1944 now.
BH: 1944. Yes. We graduated from Drew Field in about late August of ’44.
CH: Now that’s the last part before you’re assigned overseas, right? Now, can you tell me the process of how you joined up with the crew?
BH: Well they just joined us up with crews. They just crewed us up with whoever. I think I was fortunate. I got with a wonderful crew.
CH: And who was the pilot?
BH: Jamie Philpott was my pilot.
CH: Jamie?
BH: Jamie.
CH: J-a-m-i-e?
BH: Yes.
CH: And how do you spell his last name?
BH: Philpott. P-h-i-l-p-o-t-t.
CH: Is he still alive?
BH: No, he isn’t. And eventually he attained the rank of Lieutenant General.
CH: Wow. Did the – so it was a ten man crew on a B-17. And you are the bombardier.
BH: Bombardier.
CH: And you’re a Second Lieutenant now, right?
BH: Right.
CH: When did you receive your commission?
BH: In December 1942.
CH: Okay, after you…
BH: After bombardier school.
CH: Was there any experience about the men that you can remember, about the individuals that made up your crew that made it special?
BH: Well, I was fortunate. Both the pilot, one of our waist gunners, and a radio operator had all been instructors. And so they had a little more experience than most of the crews. But the navigator and myself were just green – we were straight out of school, so to speak.
CH: So, now you’ve got your B-17. Now you’ve got your crew. You’re just waiting for orders, basically, to go overseas, right? But you’re going, you’re traveling around America, I can only assume, doing cross-countries.
BH: Oh yes. Training and so forth.
CH: Right.
BH: And our big trip, of course, we flew to Cuba for a navigation training mission.
CH: You didn’t bomb anything over there, right? (Laughter)
BH: No, _____________ travel down there and back.
CH: Just to see if the navigator knew his stuff, I guess. With the, when did you receive your orders to go overseas and how did you get overseas?
BH: Well as soon as we graduated from Drew Field, they sent us to Savannah, Georgia where we picked up a brand new airplane and flew then to New Hampshire, Goose Bay, Labrador, and then into Valley, Wales. And from Valley, Wales, they assigned us to the 95th. You had no choice in these things. They just assigned you wherever.
CH: So you did a good job – luck was on your side, obviously, right? So you went the northern route? It must have been something to see Greenland and Iceland from the air.
BH: Oh definitely. It was great.
CH: With your arrival in…so you went from Wales to England, right?
BH: Right.
CH: And did you go to Horham as your base immediately?
BH: Right straight to Horham, yes.
CH: And what was your opinion, memory about Horham? Was there something special while you were there that seemed unique to you?
BH: Well I think the unique thing was – having to take a shower or bath – they had both showers and baths – it was about a mile away from our barracks. We had to walk about a mile just to get a – of course in those days, you get one once a week, whether you needed it or not. And it was difficult, especially in the cold weather.
CH: Now were you in a Nissan hut at that time?
BH: Yes we were.
CH: And that had the famous charcoal stove in the middle of it?
BH: We had coke.
CH: Oh, you had coke. So did you have shifts on keeping the…
BH: Well, let’s put it this way. After we flew formations, they made us a lead crew. And we went to lead crew training. And then, they moved us into a little – just a small section of, a little end of a Nissan hut.
CH: So once you became the lead crew after four missions, what do you recollect after that?
BH: Well, we went to lead crew training, and we flew practice mission after practice mission. And in fact, while we were there – I talked to one of the gunners yesterday. I said we flew 79 practice missions.
CH: Wow. It’s too bad you couldn’t have gotten credit for those. You would have come home a lot sooner, wouldn’t you? Wow. So, when you went out on a practice mission, being the bombardier, were you actually dropping bombs on target?
BH: Oh yes. We did everything. I usually dropped four or five bombs. They had a little practice range. It’s too bad I didn’t bring my photographs. I have a picture of it.
CH: You should bring them sometime and have them scanned. At what altitude were you doing your missions – various altitudes I guess?
BH: Yeah, various altitudes. But I would say mostly around 12,000 feet. ___________________________________________________, most of the time.
CH: So when you arrived at Horham in 1944, do you remember what month that was?
BH: That was September, September ’44.
CH: So with the practice missions out of the way, you were the lead crew now. So what was your first operation? You had already flown four operational missions to begin with. Do you remember what your first mission was?
BH: No, I don’t remember what the first mission was.
CH: How many missions total did you fly?
BH: I flew 24.
CH: 24. Okay, now why 24 rather than 25 or 35.
BH: The war ended on me.
CH: Oh, okay. That’s a good reason.
BH: But why it took us so long – I was there 10 months altogether. But why it took so long: first, after this lead crew training, we took quite a period of time. And Patton had just gone _______________________ deep in France, and they trained our crew for a special mission – beacon bombing or something new that I don’t know how many others got trained for this. And we were going to lead this big mission to help Patton break through and try to end the war. Really _______________. About that time all the fog came in and the Battle of the Bulge took place and that ended that.
CH: So, was that the reason for all the practice missions – because you had to be extremely accurate, so that you didn’t drop on our own troops – you were at pinpoint accuracy.
BH: Yes, yes. It was something new that we had practiced. Like I said, I don’t know how many other people ___________________________.
CH: Yeah. That must have weighed somewhat heavily on your mind, being the bombardier and dropping close to our own guys and making sure we didn’t have any friendly fire casualties.
BH: Sure. I don’t know. You’re full of confidence when you’re young like that.
CH: The beacon bombing sounds very interesting. What, why do they call it beacon?
BH: Because we were going to use two beacons with the radar.
CH: Oh, okay.
BH: And they would be able to pinpoint. We were going to go between these beacons, and ___________________ beacons behind our lines and we could go through and bomb at a certain distance from them and so forth. It was very accurate.
CH: Were these beacons carried by the Army on the ground, and they set them up?
BH: Yeah. That’s ________________ supposed to be.
CH: So it must have been some Army/Air Corps inter-cooperation between the two units.
BH: ____________________________ that day anyway.
CH: Right. But was there any ground to air contact is what I meant – someone guiding you?
BH: No, I think it was strictly the beacons. I don’t remember – it’s so long ago.
CH: Did you ever get a chance to use that technique? When the Battle of the Bulge occurred, of course the Germans attacked in bad weather through the _______________. The most important thing for the B-17’s after that was to try to stop that advance ____________. Where were you bombing after the Battle of the Bulge occurred?
BH: I didn’t bomb near the battles at all. And then, New Year’s Eve 1944, I was wounded over Hamburg.
CH: Oh, okay. Can you please tell me about that?
BH: Well, like I said, I was lead bombardier. We were on our way in the bomb run. It was about five minutes before the bomb drop, under heavy flak. I was wounded, and, well continued on the bomb run. Then I heard someone say something about oxygen, which didn’t bother me. And I dropped my bombs – very good results. But then, after this happened, I turned around and my navigator was laying on the floor. This oxygen struck me and I said I bet he is out of oxygen. So I got up from my seat, plunked him into a _______________________________ because he was laying right there by it, and that gives 100% oxygen. He recovered very fast, got up and pulled the oxygen out – five seconds later, down he goes again. (laughter) I plugged him in, kneeled on him, held him down, reached up and took the other hose – we had an extra hose up in the nose on the other side, because we had two oxygen systems – plugged him into that. Then they called the engineer down, and he came down and took care of me because I was bleeding pretty badly.
CH: Could you tell me how that all occurred? You were – what position were you in the nose of the aircraft? Was it a flak hit…?
BH: Yes, a flak hit.
CH: So, were you bending down?
BH: Well I was actually in the bombsite working.
CH: You were bent over the bombsite then. So, where did the flak come through?
BH: It came through the side. It got me right here. It hit my wrist.
CH: Still have the scar.
BH: Oh yes.
CH: You’re so lucky you didn’t have your whole arm taken off.
BH: The doctor told me if I didn’t have my – by the way, it hit my wristwatch and destroyed the wristwatch, a GI watch. And I had a terrible time getting it back. I had to turn in a broken watch.
CH: Oh.
BH: ________________ souvenir.
CH: Most definitely.
BH: But I had to turn it in to get a new watch.
CH: So, did you get a Purple Heart for that?
BH: I got a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.
CH: Oh. That’s wonderful because you returned to your duty – you did your job. So, your commendation for the Silver Star – that’s one of our highest decorations in the United States. What did it say? Do you remember?
BH: Gallantry in Action, I believe.
CH: So when you were hit in the left arm, how’d you feel. Were you stunned? Just so much adrenaline…
BH: Yes. You’re stunned, and at that time it just hit like somebody hit by a hammer or something – it just hurt so. But that made me madder at the Germans and I said I want to get them good now. And so it was a feeling of revenge to bomb them then.
CH: With the…as a rule, you’ve got a long flight back home from target. The flight engineer….
BH: …patched me up, yes.
CH: Did he put a tourniquet on you?
BH: No. He just put a pressure bandage. And luckily didn’t hit any arteries or anything, so I didn’t bleed. I bled profusely for a little while, but when it stopped, when they put some iodine – and he gave me a shot of morphine. It was about four hours back to base.
CH: And you didn’t take any medication until after you had completed your bomb run?
BH: That’s right.
CH: Otherwise it would have affected your…
BH: At that time we were under heavy fighter attack also. And so he couldn’t come down right away because remember the engineer…
CH: gunner on the ball turret.
BH: So the navigator was having a tough time because he’d been out of it for a little bit. But luckily we had a radar operator who was alert. Through the navigator and the radar operator, they kept us out of trouble.
CH: Was that a – what model of B-17 were you flying at that time?
BH: G.
CH: So you had a nose ________________ ?
BH: _____________________. Yes.
CH: So that was your responsibility to operate it.
BH: Right.
CH: So were you able to fire the guns?
BH: No, never able to fire the guns at all.
CH: So the navigator, was he so out of it that he couldn’t fire his side guns?
BH: We didn’t have side guns in the lead planes.
CH: Oh.
BH: We only had the chin turret.
CH: Okay. So was there a name – did you guys name your aircraft?
BH: This was not our aircraft. At that time, we didn’t fly our own airplane day after day. We flew a plane that was ready for us. And I believe this plane we flew in was the “Spirit of Seattle” or something like that. I don’t remember for sure. But I remember the number was 090 and I looked later on at one of the flak holes that came right through one of the zeros.
CH: (Laughter) With, so now you’ve been going, you’re flying back to base. And did the fighters start hitting you at any time on the way back?
BH: Yes, at this time, yes. The fighters – I don’t know how many planes we lost, but our formation was very small. That’s the only reason we didn’t lose them all. I remember that day we also had three 100th bombers in our squadron because we didn’t have enough planes to put up. I’m not positive of these things.
CH: Yeah. If it was too small, they brought them over.
BH: Yeah, so I think we had three 100th bombers flying with us that day.
CH: So on the way back, you’re getting comfort from the crew. They’re taking care of you, saying, “You’re going to make it. You’re going to make it.”
BH: This also knocked my electric suit out, and I got frostbite on my fingers. Later on my skin all peeled off on my fingers.
CH: Well one thing about being injured at that high altitude, it also prevented the flow of blood so freely, so that helped.
BH: Oh sure.
CH: When you started going down back to England, did you guys land back at Horham? Did you make it all the way back?
BH: We made it to Horham, yes.
CH: So were they flying red flares out – wounded on board?
BH: Yes.
CH: And so they came – the ambulance?
BH: Ambulance came, yes, and got me.
CH: So what was your medical treatment like?
BH: Well first they took us to the base hospital and only gave me a little more first aid treatment. And then they shipped me to the local hospital. It was at Red Grave, but I don't know the number, which I thought Red Grave was a very nice sounding __________________.
CH: So you recovered from your wounds?
BH: Yes.
CH: And when were you awarded the Silver Star, do you remember when that was? You were still…
BH: I don’t remember the date. No, but I think that was probably a couple of months later that I got that Silver Star.
CH: And you were still flying missions at that time.
BH: This happened on the 31st of December, and I flew my first mission again on the first of February.
CH: First of February. So you didn’t have much recovery at all, did you. Wow. So, did you think you had used up all your luck the first time around?
BH: No, but when I saw the flak come up from that time on, it bothered me. And it never did before. You’re invincible.
CH: Invincible. And so now you felt a little bit more _______________________.
BH: That’s right.
CH: So after you were wounded and got back into action, was there any other times during that time that were really memorable with the 95th? Did something special happen?
BH: Well, because I got behind flying with my crew, I flew two missions with Savage’s crew. Of course I talked to their members and they deny I ever flew with them. But I flew that last mission – their last mission – to Munich. And when we came back, they buzzed the field. And after we landed they found out we had a flak hole right the main spire. We’re lucky we didn’t lose a wing.
CH: (Laughter) Isn’t that something. So that was their 25th mission.
BH: That was their 25th mission.
CH: And here you are, still working on yours.
BH: I take that back. I think lead crews at that time flew 30 missions. And I think that was their 30th. And the regular crews flew 35.
CH: Because I know they went from 25 to – can you fly for five more for me, and they said can you fly five more for me? It kept on going up there. When was your last mission, and do you remember where it was to?
BH: I think my last mission was to a railroad yard near Landshut, Germany. I’m not positive of this, but I think it was.
CH: I have no idea how to pronounce that.
BH: L-a-n-d-s-h-u-t. Landshut.
CH: The – just trying to think of anything else. Wanted to make sure that we knew that you were awarded the Silver Star. Who pinned the Silver Star on you?
BH: General Harbold.
CH: Harbold? H-a-r-
BH: -b-o-l-d.
CH: And who was he? Do you know who he was?
BH: He was someone upper in the Third – in the Third Division, I don’t know. I went up to the Division Headquarters and had this ceremony.
CH: So where was that? Do you remember what town that was in?
BH: I don’t know. It was up in Sherwood Forest somewhere, which was memorable. But that’s all I know.
CH: After you had finished the 95th, you had done your 24 missions. The war ended before you had your 25th of course. And you were just as happy not to fly that 25th, I’m sure.
BH: That’s right.
CH: You were at Horham on VE Day?
BH: Yes.
CH: And what was the atmosphere on VE at Horham airfield?
BH: Oh, everybody was euphoric. You know they couldn’t be happier. The war is over; we’re all going home and – just a great feeling.
CH: And how did you personally celebrate VE Day?
BH: Well, let’s put it this way. We’d been on leave in London, and I got back that day, and I missed all the celebration in London. (Laughter) And we didn’t get back until late in the afternoon. I’m not much of a drinker, so we didn’t do much celebrating really, other than just being happy about it.
CH: Did they at any time hint that you were going to be going to the Pacific after that?
BH: Yes, we thought we might because they sent us, when we got back to the states, we went up to South Dakota, and I was in South Dakota when _______________________.
VJ Day rather.
CH: Right, VJ Day. Did you elect to stay in the Army/Air Force at that time?
BH: No, I got out. I stayed in the reserve.
CH: And what rank were you when you were in the reserve?
BH: I was 1st Lieutenant.
CH: First Lieutenant. So you were in the reserves back in Massachusetts?
BH: Yes.
CH: And so from there you stayed in the reserves. You were recalled to Korea?
BH: Yeah, recalled to Korea.
CH: And what did you do in Korea?
BH: I was a bombardier in Korea. And an interesting thing along this line – my radar operator was Freddy Braemer. He was Jimmy Doolittle’s bombardier in the Tokyo raid.
CH: Yeah, sounds familiar. Pretty famous guy there. So, did you, were you flying B-29”s?
BH: I flew B-29’s.
CH: And then later on we had our Viet Nam war. Tell me from Korea to Viet Nam real quick.
BH: Okay. From Korea I went back to B-29’s. I was in the last atom bomb carrying B-29 outfit in the Air Force. It was the 9th Bomb Wing and the 1st Bomb Group, 1st Bomb Squadron I was in. And I used to have to load the dummy bomb once a month, and put the nuclear material in twice a month. So I got pretty well experienced at that. Then I went from there to advanced navigator training in California. They kept me there as an instructor. From there I went to school, and became a missile safety officer. I went to an outfit in Germany where I was with the ______________________________ missiles. While there I became the _______________ safety officer, the nuclear safety officer, as well as missile safety officer. I came back from Germany and went to B-47’s in Lincoln, Nebraska. And I flew a B-47 to Lincoln, Nebraska. When that base closed, I went to C-130’s at Columbus, Ohio – C-130’s at Columbus, Ohio. Then I was picked to go to the training at Tampa, Florida. I was with the Air Warfare Command – Tactical Warfare Command out of Eglin Field. ______________________________________________.
We were called Detachment 2, Tactical Warfare Center, and this, by the way, this plane – we had one airplane the EC 121, the Super______________. We had two crews. We had a little outfit of about 125 people. We went to Thailand where we flew missions out of Thailand over, for a while over Laos, but it became too dangerous for us. We flew at 10,000 feet, and _________________________ went up to five. So we flew most of our missions over the Gulf of Tonkin. And this airplane is the first of the kind of airplane that the Chinese pilot just ran into over there. We had a crew of 25. It was very very top secret. We had a…
CH: This is the Super Carney, right?
BH: Super Carney, yes.
CH: Right. EC-121 which was the…
BH: Yeah. This was an old Navy plane that the Navy had in the graveyard in Tucson. We brought it to Texas and put six million dollars worth of equipment in it. We had the latest navigation equipment, and it was a joy to fly. But we flew up most of the time on the coast, but through our equipment, we knew where all their equipment – their radars and everything else were. Their missile range was 17 miles, so we used to fly 20 miles from the missile sights. But our intelligence information was right now – we got it back immediately. And while we were flying, we were able to assist in shooting down seven MIG’s, and we never lost one of our bombers to a MIG. So while this plane was flying – we could not fly it every day because it wouldn’t take it – we flew it every other day. We flew sometimes one mission every other day, and sometimes two missions. Altogether I flew 24 missions in…
CH: …in the 95th.
BH: In the 95th. I flew 20 missions for the 19th Bomb Group out of Okinawa – this was the famous group from the Philippines in World War II. Then I flew, with this outfit; I flew 89 missions, so I had a total of 133 combat missions. I got over 1000 hours.
CH: Wow. And you’re still here. That’s amazing. In conclusion, is there anything you’d like to have the 95th Memorials Group to remember specifically about? It might be something special just as a special memory?
BH: No, nothing special. I think probably my scariest moment of all was when I was flying in B-29’s, we flew out of Okinawa. We took off, and immediately lost an engine. We had a full load of bombs – thirty-nine 500-pounders and two forward flash bombs. And they requested the pilot bring them in. So we brought the plane in loaded. I was never so afraid in my life because _________________________________ shimmy and I thought the thing was going to fall apart.
CH: Yeah. That would have been it, right there.
BH: It would be the big hole in the ground in Okinawa.
CH: You’re alive and well. This is the reunion for the 95th Bomb Group 2001. And I really appreciate your time so much for your story. And thanks so much for your service and congratulations on your Silver Star. That’s something very much to be proud of.
BH: I also got a…
CH: Oh yes, your other medals. I wanted to make sure…
BH: I got a Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, a Purple Heart, and an Air Medal with nine clusters.
CH: Nine clusters. Wonderful. And I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for everything. And our pleasure. This concludes the interview with Major, Major Ben Hathaway. He retired from the Air Force as a Major, and he’s doing well, and we’re so glad to have you here. Thank you so much for your time, Ben.
BH: Thank you.