Page 79 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2024 - Online Magazine

July 24, 1944: Sept. 23, 1944:
D-Day Tinian – We Ulithi D-Day
landed on Saipan More like a 3-minute campaign. Ulithi was deserted.
at dawn and picked
up Capt. Gatlin. On October 11, 1944, while the ship was undergoing
We were over the repairs at Manus Island, Andy received orders to
beach on Tinian at report to flight school. He spent the next 18 months
0700, and it was in flight school and was discharged on points,
being pounded. March 10, 1946.
Thirty minutes
later, the first wave His first job after discharge was in Cincinnati flying
started in. They air shows. He talked his Uncle Leo into going into
were landing on two the used car business with him. “I used the GI Bill
adjacent beaches. to borrow a couple of thousand dollars, and we
Then I remembered, opened A & L Auto Sales. Due mostly to the rising
I was supposed to record this, and I grabbed the K-20 market in automobiles, we prospered.
and started taking pictures. It was obvious we were not
taking the casualties we did on Saipan. “I met and married Susan McMahan in May 1949,
sold out to my uncle, moved to Albuquerque, and
opened A J Auto Sales. Over the next fifteen years, I
August 1, 1944: was in several automotive businesses, and by then,
We were catapulted at 0520 with instructions to land on we had four children.
Saipan and pick up an observer. With Tinian secured, we
headed south across the equator to Espiritu Santos for
R&R or more like B and S (beer and swimming). Part of
our time was spent getting our planes and gear ready for
the next invasion. Kincaid Roofing

Sept. 16, 1944:
Strike on Peleliu today. The Naval gunfire was hitting the Proudly Salutes
southern end of a mountain range. Several OS2U’s over
the island directing the gun fire reminded me of our mid-
air with the cruiser’s SOC over Tinian. We dropped our our Veterans
bombs and fired our rockets into a clump of trees where
Torchy directed us. I didn’t see the actual target, but
Torchy said we hit the intended positions.

Sept. 21, 1944:
I was up before 0400 this morning for the early strike
on Peleliu. We were catapulted at 0520 with two 500 lb.
bombs and 8 rockets. Our target was an area in front of
our armored cars and troops along the edge of a road. We
bombed, fired our rockets and strafed until the target area
was clouded with smoke and dust, impossible to see.
Sept. 22, 1944:
We left Peleliu and headed for Ulithi, an atoll west of Yap.
Tomorrow is D-Day for Ulithi. It is scheduled to be a
three-day campaign.

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