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The official records reveal that the jump, which had been planned to take
place at Alicante Airfield was cancelled. This should settle the matter, but
it does not, at least in the minds of some of the men who were prepared to
jump.
John Reynolds, who had joined "D" Company as a replacement at Mindoro, gives
the following account
Of course I will never forget the situation because I got on
the plane at Mindoro fully expecting to make my first combat jump and trying
to convince myself it was to be just like those training jumps I had made at
Ft. Benning. When I say "I got on the plane " that is only part of
the story. I got on the plane with the assistance of two guys standing on
each side of the steps. I was not a very big person and at the time only
weighed 135 pounds, if that much, and I know damn well I had more than that
on my back and attached to the other parts of my body. My legs would not
permit me to make the first step up the ladder, even though I could walk.
So, with a bit of help I got up on the ladder and was then able to proceed
on into the plane. Those memories stick with you a long time. I am so glad
to hear that someone in another company can relate that they also left
Mindoro with the idea that we would be jumping on Negros. I have talked with
to several other "D" Company people and they each confirm my memories.
Except John Lindgren, and isn't that amazing?
A version of the "D" Company history which I copied (or
really I should say the copy I made of the "D Co" History
of
the Negros Mission when we were still back on Negros after
the war) begins 8 Apr 45 with an account of the company moving from
Pulapandan. There is another version which on 7 Apr 45 states "Co had
enplaned at Mindoro with full combat pack and chutes in expected jump on
Negros. Planes diverted to Iloilo on Panay, went to Pulapandan by boat and
bivouaced in town square".
If that entry was in the original history which I copied I
cannot believe that I missed it. It is extremely difficult to overlook the
very first entry in a document- down in the middle of the text- perhaps, but
not the very first entry. The grammar which states that "Co had enplaned"
might possibly suggest that this entry was made at a time after I had made
the copy. John Lindgren disputes the entry for 2 reasons - he believes that
it was made later by someone who did not know what happened and just wanted
to embellish the mission with a possible jump situation; he also doubts that
there was anyone learned enough to spell "bivouaced".
Bill, you and I have to talk to lindgrean about this because
we both know that there were people who got on the plane at Mindoro
expecting to jump on Negros."
John Reynold's memory cannot be dismissed lightly. This man was new to the
unit. He had no former jumps or preparations
for jumps retained in his mind which could become intermingled or mixed up
with other
like circumstances. This was his one and only circumstance. John's
description of the load he carried and the assistance he required to climb
the steps into the plane is absolutely factual. I well remember that we had
to have assistance climbing the steps to board the plane for_Corregidor and
then again for Negros. The bulky parachutes with our weapon strapped
underneath the belly band was cumbersome enough, but we had the parachute
kit bag, loops of the carrying handles through the chest strap, and then
under the belly band so that the bag could not fly up and hit you in the
face on opening impact. Our musette bag and extra grenades and ammunition
were stowed in the kit bag. It was heavy and bunged you on the knees when
you walked. John Reynolds continues that in readying himself to make his
first combat jump he is trying to convince himself that that it was going to
be like "those training jumps I had made at Benning." This rings sure and
true, and I fully
expect that
thousands of other paratrooopers of WWII followed this line of thought while
waiting to make their first combat jump. Just as some memories of the
Corregidor jump are so deeply engraved in my mind that I remember them as
though it was yesterday, I know where John is coming from.
John Lindgren, who had initially adopted the view that the mission had been
cancelled prior to enplaning, and who questioned John Reynold's
recollection, eventually settled the matter thus:
Bill, I now have a second confirmation of the parachutes
being worn from Mindoro. Your account, itself a third confirmation,
is very clear and I got a version from Gordon Bates who would be the 4th
platoon sergeant on Negros after Joe Gouvin went home. We had a
mortarman, John Seymour, who was a kind of a hard luck guy as I
remember. He was a short, cheerful heavily built man with black hair
that, young as he was then, had receded extensively at his forehead. He
was in Bates' squad and Gordon was helping him put on his chute at
Mindoro before getting on the plane for Negros. Seymour was pulling up
on the leg straps to buckle them when to his astonishment the leg strap
tore away from the webbing and he was left holding it in his hand.
Seymour joined after we came back from Corregidor so the incident had to
occur when we emplaned at Mindoro.
I give up, capitulate and admit grave error for doubting
that intrepid columnist John Reynolds."
As to my own memories, I feel I have a good memory even though there
are events which I have completely forgotten. I know memory plays tricks. I
know we get events, times, places, etc. intermingled. I, also, know
some memories are vivid than others. I remember, so well, loading on the
trucks at our camp on Mindoro for Corregidor. Major Caskey came by and shook
my hand, wishing me good luck. I recall the drive to Hill Strip, and
detrucking as the planes (some pock-marked with bullet holes) coming in. I
don't remember which strip or the details of the leading the morning of 7
April. I do remember we were to jump on the pilot's signal,
the green light. I attended the one week jump master school at Fort Benning
during the early summer of 1943. They took a dim view of the pilots' ability
to jumpmaster. I believe in this case the pilots were to jumpmaster because
we had not been briefed on the
"GO" point.
I do have a vivid memory which is conclusive to me that we did board the
plane loaded to jump. I will get to that memory shortly. First, I want to
say we had traveled with our parachutes before and did not jump. That was 4
June 1944 when we traveled from Dobodura to Hollandia. The difference was we
carried our chutes and wore our musette bags. There was no intention of
jumping. Chutes were carried so that we
could use them in an air assault staged from Hollandia.
Now back to the
vivid memory, spoken of above. After we had traveled sometime the crew chief
came back and told me the pilot wanted to see me. I went to the cockpit,
where he told me "The jump is off! The mill at Fabrica is on fire." (I
understood we were to jump in the open
ground west of Fabrica and move to seize the lumber mill network along with
its considerable rail equipment). "Orders are to put your parachutes
in the kit bags and leave them on the plane. When you get through, come back
up here and I'll show you a landing." I went back and had the men take
off their chutes, get their musette bags and gear out of the kit bags, and
put the chutes in the bags. Then I went
back to the cockpit and stood between the pilot and co-pilot in the crew
chief's stand.
I knew the pilot was sweating the landing, since he had been there the day
before delivering
the 3d battalion. We flew over what seemed like millions of coconut trees,
and then one of the pilots said "There it is!" I could now see a
small opening up ahead. We dropped down, almost brushing the tops of the
coconut palms, and then landed on a coral, or caliche, strip. The pilots
frantically braked the big plane to get stopped before running into the
coconut trees on the far side of the strip.
I had not thought
too much
of the dangers until I saw that the pilots were drenched with perspiration
after we stopped.
As I remember, only three planes could get down at once. We unloaded, and
the plane cleared out to make room for more planes. We loaded on waiting
trucks and proceeded to Iloilo City. This was the largest city we had seen
since Brisbane. The trucks went on to the docks on the river, where we
unloaded. The area was lined with warehouses. Some had been damaged by fires
set by the Japanese. We waited several hours for the force to get in from
Mindoro. A crowd of natives were gathered around us. We bought bananas,
pineapples, and other tropical fruits from them. It was a very pleasant
interlude. One that stays in your memory. Mindoro had been a place of
sadness after the return from Corregidor. Now the battalion was gathered
together for the first time (and last time ever, though we did not know it
then) since before Corregidor. We visited. Some friends who had been wounded
on Corregidor were now back. So my memories of Iloilo City are pleasant.
My
theory about the
discrepancies between the official record and the recollection of the
participants, is that the 3d Battalion was in movement to Iloilo City on 6
April, with no preparations for a jump. Sometime during that day, concern
over what the Japanese might do to Fabrica developed. The 2d Battalion
was scheduled to move by air the next day following the 3d Battalion. The
chutes and jump equipment was on hand from the preparation for the Alicante
Airfield assault. Why not drop the 2d Battalion at Fabrica and save it?
There was a good drop zone, and the land features easy to locate. Just
follow Highway Number One east to Fabrica. The Lagasan River would be a good
get ready point (red light). The flat, open fields west of the town was
easily located. I don't know what the real truth was, but I do know a lot of
people left Mindoro that morning expecting to make a parachute jump. |
