EDITOR’S NOTE: My apologies for going so long between blogs for the this series – Thanks for your patience! There’s been a lot going on. There are five blogs remaining and we’ll we sharing them soon. We will be sharing entries from Old Tillamook Times, provided by Sandi Burgess Botten Dean, featuring Karen Kranweiss Nudelman’s blog in which she describes the search and book writing that started a little over 10 years ago when she first received “the letters” and began reading. Then came the idea for a story, then a book – “Dear Folks” tells a young man’s story through letters he wrote home to his parents in Tillamook, Oregon. Links to the introduction to the story and the series are below.
By Karen Krantweiss Nudelman
Day in and day out, Chuck was surrounded by familiar noises from the airfield. The synchronized humming of the C-46 cargo plane’s twin engines played like a soundtrack on an endless loop. One evening in March of 1945, the noise coming from above his tent- the whooshing of twin engines deliberately whirling in opposite directions- abruptly ended his poker game.
Chuck describes the incident to his parents in a letter a few nights later.
Netherlands, East Indies
March 26, 1945.
Well, we have had a little experience this week. We had a Jap raid. I was sitting in my tent playing cards with my buddies when I heard a different sounding plane. It sounded like one of those new Maytag Washing Machines. I said, “What does that plane remind you of?” And one of the boys said, “Sounds like a Jap plane to me!”
Just then we heard the bombs. Boy, we cut the lights and ducked in the brush in a hurry! It was sure a surprise to us in the tent! When the red alert was over, we went to see just how much damage was done.
And just like that, he cuts his account short. Chuck never shared the scene he witnessed, only suggesting that perhaps he may get a medal out of it. He changed the subject completely, surely leaving his parents to rely on their own imagination. I’m sure Alice and Frank Hunter read this letter with great interest, looking for any details about the air raid’s aftermath, only to be left wondering, “What isn’t he telling us?”
Seventy years have passed since Chuck escaped harm that evening, in a land now known as Indonesia. Taking cover in the bushes, with his body vulnerable to shrapnel, Chuck must have been terrified. The scene that unraveled around him and the damage he observed afterward would remain his secret. His parents were to be kept innocent of such chaos.
Today is February 4, 2015. It doesn’t escape me that I benefit from resources not available in the era when the Hunters patiently waited another two-three weeks for their son’s next letter. Just last week, I tapped away on my keyboard for no more than a minute when I struck gold. Twenty-four hours later, the UPS man handed me an Amazon.com package. It contained the book which chronicled the wartime experiences of Chuck’s outfit, the 374th Troop Carrier Group. Surely, it would tell the real tale of that night.
After flipping through several chapters and scanning for the phrase “21st Troop Carrier Squadron”, I finally hit pay dirt.
I reached for the letter and began looking for similarities.
- The date of the air raid was March 23, 1945. Chuck wrote in his letter dated March 26, 1945, of “having a little experience a few nights ago.”
- According to Chuck, the air raid came during their evening card game. 2100 o’clock is military speak for 9 pm.
- Chuck and his buddies quickly realized that the “Maytag washing machine” sound was in fact the noise from the engines of a “Washing Machine Charlie” aka a Japanese single twin-engine bomber.
- And finally, the one noted casualty was a visiting corporal from Chuck’s squad.
It all matched up perfectly. The event described here shared the same details with those in Chuck’s letter.
I just needed one more confirmation. Buzzing with excitement, I emailed a copy of the letter and a photo of the historical account to my new friend, Dr. Jim Cloninger, Jr., a historian with the Air Force Historical Research Agency. Over the last several months, Jim has been nothing short of amazing – more magician than historian – pulling “Chuck-specific” information from thin air. He responded to me within the hour. Attached to his email was a declassified two-page memo dated March 23,1945. The word SECRET was stamped on the top of each page. Along with the document, he shared this message in his email:
This is a copy of a report from the 374th’s Intelligence Officer concerning the March 23 air raid. Notice Block 11. “Other Pertinent Information”…was not as clean or simple as Chuck or the Colonel made the raid out to be. There is always more to the story…
The memo was addressed to the Commanding Officer of the 322nd Troop Carrier Wing. Immediately, I read Block 5, with the heading “DAMAGE SUSTAINED BY THE 374th TROOP CARRIER GROUP”
Remembering Jim’s note, I read the memo’s final notation Block 11: OTHER PERTINENT INFORMATION
That night, the airfield known as Sorido Strip was occupied primarily by the members of the Air Transport Command (ATC). A few aircrews from the 21st Troop Carrier Squadron were just visitors trying to get some well-deserved rest before their next flight. This particular memo captured information only pertinent to the 374th Troop Carrier Group. The heaviest blow was taken by the Air Transport Command (ATC) which sustained 39 deaths and 88 hospitalized, according to the Graves Registrar.
The loss the ATC experienced that night was a sidenote. A mere notation by one Intelligence Officer to another because it wasn’t pertinent information to their group. Top billing went to the lost supplies belonging to the 374th, which included:
Four boxes of smashed lightbulbs and one (1) typewriter slightly damaged.
Here are links to the previous stories about Karen’s journey to document Chuck Hunter’s life:
OLD TILLAMOOK TIMES: “Dear Folks” Series #6 – A Precious Jewel
OLD TILLAMOOK TIMES: “Dear Folks” Series #7 – A Mother’s Love