Compared to many aircraft,
the Hellcat cockpit was big and
comfortable with heavy armor
plate protecting the pilot’s
six o’clock. (Photo by Heath
Moffatt/heathmoffattphoto.
com)
each Hellcat the firepower was devastating as we
clawed away at the deck guns; many of them fell
silent. By the time the sun had set that day, Satan’s Kittens had been a huge participant in helping to sink three Japanese carriers, along with an
assortment of cruisers and battleships. For our
diligent work that day many of us received some
awards and recognition — but the fighting was
far from over.
Lunacy over Luzon
On November 5, VF- 19’s new skipper,
Lt. “Smiley” Boles was killed while on
a sweep near Manila. I became the new
skipper of VF- 19 and on November 6
was given attack orders that called for
me to lead a 12-plane Hellcat fighter
sweep in the Manila area with our primary target as Nielson Field with a secondary target of Clark Field. We took off
and joined up on the inbound course,
but within a half an hour our flight was
just about reduced in half with Hellcats
aborting due to mechanical reasons.
For each Hellcat that turned back, his
wingman had to peel off as well and
shepherd him back to the carrier. It occurred to me that my “broom” was losing much of its sweep! But I was confident that we could go in with only two
Hellcats-they were that deadly.
As we neared the huge Cavite Navy
base the anti-aircraft fire erupted below. We turned our Hellcats from side to side
and never flew straight and level. The huge black
flak bursts were so close I wondered out loud if
we would make it through. We began to fly a
northerly course, losing altitude to stay under the
6,000-foot overcast that was developing in the
area as our heads swiveled from side to side always looking. It didn’t take us long to find what
