Guardian Angel Academy

by C V Ricks

  Paul, Drevon, and Michael made their choice. Budd chose last.

  “Okay, show your sticks,” said Casey.

  When the sticks were presented, it was obvious that Budd's was the short stick. He got right to work stoking the fire. While others slept, Budd kept himself awake and kept that fire going so well that it got so hot it burned through the insulation on the center pole. With the center pole burnt, the support for the tent was compromised. The tent ollapsed. The officers scrambled out of the tent. Budd hid himself in his tent. The officers searched for the culprit. Budd burroed inside his sleeping bag, pretending to be asleep. When the officers showed up at Budd's tent to ask if any of them knew what happened, they all played dumb. They would not tell on each other. That was against their code of conduct. They were a team.

  As the days went by, whenever he could, Budd wrote letters home to his sweetheart, Faelela. While others were homesick, Budd was lovesick.

  After the three months of basic training, Budd was on to the Army Air Forces Flexible Gunnery School. This was another very intense training. Budd had to learn enemy aircraft identification, taking machine guns apart bit by bit blindfolded and with heavy gloves on, trap shooting, moving target shooting, and so on. Finally, when the three months were over and Budd had passed the course, he was ready to be put on a bomber crew.

  Chapter 25

  Budd straightened the covers of his cot and shined his shoes. Today was the big day. He and his buddies would be assigned to their crews. They would be assigned to their bombers and positions. After everything was straightened and neat, Budd followed the other men out of the tent to line up outside for their instructions and assignments. The smell of the crisp fall air, and the sounds of the busy air force base filled him with nervousness and excitement. Dread and fear of the missions they were about to embark upon, mixed with excitement and honor to serve his country and the cause of liberty and freedom for all.

  After the men lined up, the officer called out the names of the men who would be assigned to the crew. “Pep, Blake, Ricardo, John, Jacob, Marcus, Steven, Anthony, Budd, and Christopher,” the commanding officer scratched his chin, looked up at the faces staring questioningly upon him, and waited to be sure all were paying attention. Finally he said, “You are assigned the Flying Fortress, the B17G. “

  Cheers, sighs of relief, excited whistles filled the air. Of all the bombers, the B-24, B-25, B-26 or B-17, the B-17 was the grand lady of them all.

  “Now listen to your positions,” yelled the officer. “Pilot, Pep, co-pilot Blake,” he paused. He went down the list of positions until finally Budd's name was read. “Tail gunner, Budd.”

  Budd nodded. He knew he was going to be given that position. His small and agile body would enable him to squeeze into the compartment at the tail of the plane. He also knew the risks. On average, a tail gunner's life span in combat was short.

  “Pack up. We're leaving on the train in the morning,” the officer announced.

  The men jogged back to their tents to get ready for the next day's trip.

  The rays of the sun slowly warmed the top of the tent. Budd woke to the sliver of light that filtered through the tent's skylight. Feeling the cold air, he snuggled under his sleeping bag and burrowed down deep, knowing he wouldn't have the luxury of staying there long. A long day of travel was ahead of them and it started early. As soon as he heard the morning bugle call, Budd arose and dressed and left the tent.

  The recruits got into the truck heading to the train station. There they boarded a train. They were positioned near the coal engine. Soot emanated from the coal engine. Budd looked down at his blackish gray skin and clothes. He was covered in soot from top to bottom.

  “Open some windows,” one of them yelled.

  The only fresh air came from the windows. The train moved slowly along. When other priority trains came along behind them, their train was put on a siding to allow those trains to move ahead. Gradually, as it grew darker and time to sleep, the crew used their overcoats as mattresses and slept on the floor. Budd awoke once in the night and looked outside. They hadn't moved an inch.

  The next day, after more of the slow moving train, they finally arrived in the panhandle of Texas, at Dalhart. Here Budd and his buddies would receive training for their positions. There were the two pilots, the navigator, the bombardier, the radio operator, and the gunners. They would start their training here in cattle country. Ranchers filled the land of this rich oil country. Farms and ranches spread out across the vast expanse.

  Budd and his crew went out to practice combat training. Here they flew over cattle ranches. Budd was taught how to shoot from the air to ground. This was most of his training. One day while practicing his shooting, he noticed shooters from other planes using the cattle as targets. Budd didn't want to do this. Besides it just being wrong, he had a soft spot in his heart for animals. He tried to avoid hitting any cattle.

  When it was found out that some of the gunners were using the cattle as target practice, the air force was reprimanded and it cost them a bundle. The ranchers had to be compensated. At least Budd could say that he wasn't one of the guys guilty of shooting the animals.

  One evening, Budd and his two other friends drove into the frontier town to hang out. The town was filled with wealthy Indians, who had become rich through the oil that was discovered on their land. Three cute little Indian girls surrounded the boys and tried to use their charms on the young men. Budd was just there to see the sights. He was true to his one and only, Faelela. The other two guys abandoned Budd, going with the girls. Budd wandered around town alone until it was time to meet up and go back to training camp.

  In the spring, Budd and the guys were back on the sooty train headed for Gulfport, Mississippi. Budd gasped in amazement at the beauty of the setting as he got off the truck upon entering the camp. His barracks were located in a grove of tall lodge pines. Here, the men were trained in many assimilated missions. These missions were flown mostly at night. During his time here, Budd was promoted to corporal. He excitedly posed for a picture of himself in his uniform to send home to Faelela, showing her his advancement. Budd and his crew were dismissed from the lecture hall to go for one of their many assimilations. As Budd walked toward the plane, he sky felt the darkness around him feel him with an eerie feeling, except for the sliver of moon trying to peek out through a dark portentious cloud.

  “I can't believe they are having us do this tonight,” Budd whispered to Blake. “The storm is heading right toward us.”

  “I know what you mean,” Blake answered. I think I even hear lightning in the far distance.”

  Pep spoke up as they continued walking, “When we are really in combat, we can't be sissies. It won't matter what the weather's like, we'll just have to keep going.”

  “I guess you're right,” said Budd. “Only I'd like to stay alive to see a mission.”

  Blake laughed nervously. “That would be nice.“

  The crew climbed into the plane and strapped on their seat belts. They put on their emergency backpacks containing parachutes that had been carefully packed for them. Budd squeezed himself into the small compartment at the tail of the plane.

  “All right,” announced Pep. “We are going to fly over the city and do some simulations of bombing to give our bombardier some practice. Then we'll give Budd some assimilated practice as well.”

  Flying through the storm, the plane jerked roughly up and down. The jerky motions made Budd feel sick. Budd hated to think that he, a tail gunner, got motion sickness. He sure wouldn't let that information out of the bag. There was no way he was going to throw up in the plane and let everyone see it. That could be the end of his career as a tail gunner.

  Budd was desperate and willing to take a chance. He had never felt so sick in his entire life. He didn't usually get motion sickness, perhaps his dinner wasn't agreeing with him. As he was getting the dry heaves, he forced open the hatch of the plane, not even caring that he could be sucked out of the plane. Bu
dd immediately vomited in an explosion into the air.

  Oh, no, Budd was in trouble. I looked over at Rachel. “Will you come down and help me save Budd's life?” I asked.

  “Sure,” she said. Joseph wasn't at his desk, but I believed this job not to take more than two angels.

  When we got down to the plane, we both helped Budd push the hatch shut, so that Budd wouldn't be sucked out of the plane. Budd felt relief when he was able to shut the hatch. The plane continued flying on avoiding the lightning and other dangers, and as if nothing happened, finished the simulation and returned to base camp.

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  After a few more weeks of training and spending free time in the slow and easy town of Gulfport, it was time to move on. The Officer came to Budd's barracks to give orders for the crew's next assignment. Some of the other crews were given a furlough prior to overseas assignment. Budd was hoping for this. He missed Faelela so much at times his heart could break.

  The men lined up at attention to hear their orders.

  “You all are assigned to Langley Field, Virginia for radar training.”

  The officer left and Budd almost cried. Budd wanted to see Faelela at least one more time before he had to go to war. But before he left Gulfport, Budd talked with a friend from another crew who was going back to his hometown on a furlough. He agreed to check in on Faelela and give her his photo.

  The training at Langley was intense. During this time Budd didn't have much free time to go into town. One weekend, however, the men were given the chance to go into to town. The crew was always in pursuit of girls. They would find them some girls to spend the day with. One of Budd's crew members tried to set him up for a date with a very willing cute little telephone operator. However, Budd resisted her advances. He would always remain faithful to his sweetheart, Faelela.

  It was the end of August, 1944. Budd had finally completed all of his training and was ready to go overseas. The great war, World War II, was in full force. The good news was that Budd would be able to take a week long furlough to go back and visit his sweetheart Faelela. The bad news was that he only had one week and that included travel time. It would take him a week to get home if he drove and he didn't have $256 for the round trip flight home. That was a ton of money to Budd. Budd's first car only cost $100. So Budd got on the phone to give mother Adams the bad news. He so much wanted to come home to see her and Fae, but he just didn't have that kind of money. Mother Adams, however, insisted that she pay for the plane ticket. Budd refused. He didn't want her spending that kind of money just so he could be there for a week. But she wouldn't stand for it. His refusal was not negotiable. In a shot the money was wired to Budd and he was on a plane home.

  The plane stopped all over the place, Washington, D.C, St. Louis, and other small airports along the way, but finally Budd was home and with his sweetheart.

  Budd enjoyed his week long furlough but he didn't get much sleep. He tried to take advantage of every moment with his sweetheart. Eventually the time came, all too soon, for Budd to say goodbye to Faelela. He gave her a hug and a reluctant goodbye kiss. They both knew that there was always the possibility that this would be the last time that they would see each other, at least in this life anyway.

  Budd boarded the plane back to Langley Field Air Force Base. A few days after his return, Budd was assigned to a brand new fortress to take overseas to his assigned base in Loggia, Italy. This was the one. The name the boys stenciled onto the plane was “Boomerang”. A boomerang flies forward, but then it comes back. And that's what these young men wanted to do--come back.

  Budd watched as some of the loaders carried boxes of “C” rations and stacked them in the bombay. After the rations were loaded, Budd and the crew boarded the plane. They were off!

  After some stops along the way, the plane finally landed in Floggia, Italy. It was a warm and balmy fall. Budd had a friend stationed in Floggia, named Rulon. Before their first mission, Budd and his friend, Rulon went into Floggia to get to know the people and to go to a movie in an old Roman type theater. The Italian people treated them with great respect. After their excurtion, Rulon said the he would come and meet Budd at his tent another time and they would do something fun again. Budd's tent was located on a hill in a group of tents.

  Budd's first mission was to the Polesty Oil Refinery in Rumania. This was one of the major German life lines for fuel. It had been bombed once from a mission coming out of Africa and once from another mission coming out of Italy. Budd's crew were part of the final mission to destroy this refinery. Also involved in this mission were other planes such as B-17s, B-24s, and some light bombers.

  Budd could already feel sweat dripping from his armpits while boarding the plane to take part of his first real mission. As his plane neared the target and began to descend to a low level, they were so near the ground that a twenty-two rifle could have brought them down. The flak (anti-aircraft fire) was so black that Budd felt like he could get out and walk on it. As their plane went over the target, Budd made himself as small as possible in the tail. They hit their target and got safely away, but Budd could see many planes and crews falling to their deaths. It was his first frightful experience of the war.

  Back at camp, Budd's crew was commended for their successful mission and reminded that they had but twenty-four more to go. Once twenty-five missions were completed, Budd would be able to go home. At the far end of their tent city was a natural cave. In this cave, the men had a library, a movie theater, and a club. It was cool and inviting in the cave. At night, however, the bats swarmed around the men. It was crazy at first, but they quickly got used to the bats. The club was well stocked with Italian wine and champagne. This is where the men would go to get the day's mission off of their minds.

  During the day, when the men were not flying, they would sit by their tents and play poker, sitting at a fold up table. The men had a pet monkey, which one of the crewmen had brought back from Africa. The guys named him Max and he was the mascot. He was a screechy little devil. He would hop up on Budd's shoulder and Budd would take him to the date tree and Max would have a feast. He was Budd's little friend.

  Chapter 27

  The crew of the B-17 got into the plane and took their positions. It was a cold dark night. Budd and the other gunners (two waist gunners, and ball turret gunner) assembled in the radio room for take-off. After the plane was in the air, the gunners went into their positions. The two waist gunners, Steven and Anthony, went into position in the middle of the plane while the turret gunner, Christopher, squeezed into the small sphere or turret on the underside of the plane and curled himself into a fetal position. The turret had to be hand cranked to revolve the hatch inside the plane. Budd crawled around the tail wheel and seated himself. He then plugged in his heated flying suit, oxygen, and intercom. He took a kneeling position with his knees resting on the padded supports and his legs doubling back. Not the most comfortable position to be in for hours.

  Budd's plane was the third plane in the squadron to take off, heading for a steal factory in Czechoslovakia. When they were directly above the target, the bombardier dropped the bomb. As the two planes ahead of them flew upwards after dropping their bombs, Budd's crew watched in horror as the two planes collided, killing all men on board instantly. Immediately, Pep, the pilot dove the plane down to avoid being hit by the falling pieces of the broken planes. When the plane suddenly dove downward, Christopher, the turret gunner, thought that the plane was going down. Instinctively he pulled the ball up to get out, but Christopher forgot to turn off the power. Rather than falling out of the plane and releasing his parachute, as was his plan, he was caught with his arms pinned to the catwalk of the plane. Immediately, the crew cut the power and hand cranked him out and back up into the plane, in fifty below temperatures. Christopher was safe, but traumatized and shook up.

  When the men returned to their tent city, although it was now morning, the crew was ready to hit the sack. Taking off their suits and climbing inside their sleepin
g bags, they deserved the rest. Christopher was still shaken up. He was escorted to the medical facility where he would be examined to see if he needed to be sent home. Budd said goodnight to Max, the monkey who was just waking up.

  And so it went, mission after mission, Budd straining his eyes looking for enemy fighters. The crew enduring many close calls. Many missions were of a twelve hour duration. Being brave and young, Budd took it in stride, but the fear was always there. Enemy fighters zoomed through the squadron and it became a bedlam of shouting and roaring guns. “I got him!” was often heard as a fighter would go down in flames. Budd saw a fortress spiraling toward earth. One chute opened, then another, then it exploded. Eight of the ten men lost their lives in that one. Tension was always high, especially right around the target. After dropping the bomb on the target, the ascent back up was chilling Enemy fighters backed off and waited around the fringe area of the target for the cripples to come out. They would pounce on them like snarling wolves. First, the flak or big jagged pieces of shrapnel tore at the plane sounding like gravel as the anti-aircraft guns fell short of their target. The little pieces were deadly if one were to hit the plane. Then Budd heard the fatal word from the cockpit, “Feather number two.” This meant that two of the engines were out.

  Coming off the target, Budd's crew became a victim of those vicious wolves. This happened to Budd's crew twice. On both occasions, they were forced to limp home on one engine. They were coming home on a wing and a prayer. It was fifty degrees below zero, but the sweat dripped down their backs. When they returned to friendly skies, the tension was released like air from a balloon. Now the crew could sit back and enjoy a tasty C ration. Budd could imagine the warmth of the shower he would take upon his return. They were still alive. That's what mattered most.

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