Friday, March 2, 1945
CLOUDBUSTER
Page Three
Cadets Riding ''Black Cats^ —StrongFleet
Played Hide, Seek With Japs
By Harold E. Hanson, Sp(P),2c
“Jap planes flew so close to us
9t times that we could see the
fire from their exhausts, yet they
Were unable to see our big Black
Cats flying almost alongside
^hem,” recalls Cadet F. G. Caro,
Who, with Cadet H. W. Hollin-
Ser, formerly flew with the Cats.
Cadets Caro and Hollinger,
both of the 66th batt, enlisted in
Navy just before the Pearl
Harbor attack and logged al-
'^lost 2,000 flying hours each as
iiiembers of Air Force Squad-
fon 81, commonly known as
“Rankin’s Night Raiders.”
In June, 1942, Comdr. E. P.
Hankin, USN, first took his PBY
group to sea. Traveling from
Puerto Rico to the Canal Zone,
Tnnidad, the British West In
dies, Brazil and British Guinea,
they accounted for the sinking
of at least two German subma
rines. A year later they returned
to the United States, shifted to
f*BY-5A’s, and took off for the
Solomons, the area where they
Were to gain fame as the Black
Squadron.
Played Hide And Seek
. Cadet Caro, in telling of his
initial encounter with the Japs,
Said, “It was on January 1st,
1944, that our Cat took off from
Guadalcanal on its first mis
sion. We usually flew on single-
Wane missions, without fighter
t>rotection, and with our planes
painted as black as pitch. My
was flight engineer, but I also
^cted as aerial gunner when the
Occasion arose. Our destination
}yas Buka passage, the northern
tip of Bougainville, and our job
^as to strafe and bomb the
landing strips.
“The Japs apparently knew
were overhead because they
threw up all the ack-ack they
^ould muster and pierced the
sky with searchlights in a vain
^ttempt to locate us. Jap fighters
all around us but, of course,
'without radar they could only
l^ess at our position. Had it not
for the seriousness of our
“Missions this hiding almost
^^Uld have been fun. We were
old to make nuisances of our-
^^Ives and I guess we did.”
The squadron on occasions
^Iso coordinated their attacks
^ith PT boats and it was on Feb.
that Cadet Hollinger, in his
^^st taste of action against the
ap, rode to an amazing victory.
Flew Cripple Home
1 An account of this action fol
lows: “A 1,200-ton ship, sur-
ounded by from four to six
^e\v-type Jap barges, was the
^nswer to a Black Cat’s prayer,
^ided by PT’s, which courage
ously dashed to help the plane,
^ bombed and strafed the ships,
^hore batteries opened up from
^®arby Tonelei Harbor, south-
i^st of Bougainville, in an effort
^0 help the guns of the barges
off the Cat. Bullets smacked
* s * < t <
® plane’s port wing. Suddenly
® oil pressure on the port en-
Cadets Hollinger, Caro
gine dropped off and the instru
ments ceased to function. Mean
while, several PT boats had been
damaged with injury to person
nel. As the plane lost altitude,
struggling on one engine, all
loose gear and excess fuel were
jetisoned. Low over the water
the plane regained stability and
flew safely to an Allied base
close by.”
The Black Cats did not lose a
single man nor plane during
eight months of duty in the
Solomons area. They flew 1,777
sorties and amassed a total of
7,676 flght hours, of which 4,765
were flown at night. The 15
planes dropped a total of 5,483
bombs weighing 579,200 pounds.
They expended an estimated 2,-
000,000 rounds of .30 and .50
calibre ammunition and dropped
an estimated 5,000 flares. They
rescued seven downed airmen in
open sea landings.
Cadet Caro wears the Ameri
can defense ribbon with one
star, the American area ribbon,
the Asiatic-Paciflc ribbon with
two stars, the good conduct
award and the air crew insignia
with three stars. Hollinger wears
the American defense , the
American area and Asiatic rib
bons, the latter with two stars.
In addition he has the air crew
insignia with three stars and
commendation ribbon.
Cadet Hollinger is from Bonne
Terre, Mo., and Cadet Caro from
Pensacola, Fla.
Band Party Tonight
Members of the Pre-Flight
band and guests will be shown
the movie, “Princess O’Rourke”
and later will dance tonight at
the Band Center, Carrboro. The
movie will start at 1900. Re
freshments will be served.
(Continued from Page 1)
interests, able to meet unfore
seen emergencies and capable of
rapid expansion to full war
strength.
Strong Air Arm
“The exact size can best be
determined later, but we know
its proper composition now. It
must be well balanced, contain
ing all types of vessels, surface
and sub-surface, from tiny land
ing craft up to the giant battle
ships and carriers, and most im
portant, it must have a strong
air arm. The Navy is still our
first line of defense and a good
slogan ijs, ‘Keep the Fleet to
Keep the Peace’.”
The Admiral, who won his
Naval Aviator’s wings in 1923,
told members of the graduating
class that success of a modern
Fleet depends largely upon its
air arm which must continue as
an integral part of the Fleet.
“There are numerous propos
als for a separate air force, in
dependent of the Army and
Navy, but within a Department
of National Defense,” the for
mer Commander. Fleet Air,
South Pacific, declared. “I have
not the time, nor is this the
place, to discuss this in detail.
However, current events leave
us no doubt that the success of
a Fleet in modern warfare de
pends largely upon its air arm,
and unless this air arm is an
integral and organic part, the
Fleet is crippled.
“Therefore, whatever the final
organization of our armed forces.
Naval Aviation must be fully
and completely under the Navy
as regards training, employ
ment, and development of tac
tics, planes and equipment.”
Universal Military Training
Universal military training,
Admiral Hardison asserted, is
not militarism. “I feel strongly,”
he said, “that some form of uni-
Regimental Title
Won By 65th Batt
For The 3rd Time
Taking firsts in Academics
and the Sports Program, the
65th Batt compiled a total of 300
points to win regimental honors
in the competition period ending
last week. It was the third time
that the 65th has come off with
first place in the fortnightly
competition.
Close runner-up was the 64th
Batt which gained an aggregate
of 2741/2, including firsts in Mili
tary and Class Athletics.
The 67th finished third with
172, followed by the 66th with
148 V2. Summary:
64th 65th 66th 67th
Military 75 50 25 10
Academic 10 75 25 50
Class Athletics 75 50 10 25
Sports Program 1141/2 125 881/^ 87
Totals 2741/2 300 1481/2 172
versal military training for the
youth of this nation, of approxi
mately one year’s duration, is
necessary and I believe this
training should be given prefer
ably in the year prior to college
entrance. This is not militar
ism.”
He quoted the Secretary of
the Navy as saying that “univer-,
sal military training means no
more that we are for war than
getting vaccinated means a man
is looking for smallpox, or tak
ing out auto insurance means he
expects his car to burn.”
The Chief of Naval Air Pri
mary Training reported that the
Pre-Flight School here, which
is a unit of his Command, has
furnished more than 13,000
graduates for further air train
ing. “Incidentally,” he stated, “I
expect that it will continue at
full capacity for an indefinite
period.”
Here To Teach ^‘Principles Of Flying”
Four of the five Naval aviators who recently came aboard to
teach “Principles of Flying” are pictured at the Chapel Hill Air
port, with a SNV-2 in the background. From left to right are
Lieut, (jg) E. A. Guadiano and Lieuts. G. R. McClure, D. K. Wat
son and W. F. Mitchell. Missing is Lieut, (jg) A. M. Liberator!.