9 January, I participated in another strike on Formosa. This was the beginning of a period during which I was not very satisfied or happy. A number of the pilots had lost their wingmen in combat. For some unknown reason, I was reassigned from McBrayer to another pilot. Most of the squadron was made up of former "E" Base instructors. I had been observing their reactions both aboard the carrier and in flight. I concluded that many of them were cocky, egocentric, and stupid. I didn't like most of them. But under these conditions, there was no alternative but to accept my assignment.

 

Over the East Coast of Formosa, we ran into heavy anti-aircraft fire. As we strafed and rocketed some shipping, a Jap Zero suddenly appeared. As the plane fired and sailed on past, both the man I was flying wing on, and I got a quick shot, but the Jap disappeared into the clouds before we could tell if we had made a kill. By then it was time to head for home. The overcast was heavy, and we had about a 500 foot ceiling. We had not had an opportunity to drop our bombs, so on the way home, this jerk decided to drop his into the sea, rather than take it aboard. At the time of the drop we were about 150 above the water surface. The bomb was armed, and exploded on contact with the water. At the time, I was flying about 800 feet behind this jerk, and the bomb's concussion was so strong I thought I had been hit. He was killed on a mission a few days later, and although I had known him only a short time his loss was very depressing.

 

Once again the Japanese Fleet became the object of search. It had been reported in the South China Sea, between the Philippines and the mainland. On the night of 9-10 January 1945 Task Force 38 slipped through the Bashii Channel between Formosa and the Philippines into the South China Sea, an area never before invaded by the Fast Carriers of the Third Fleet. It was an eerie night. Communications monitored the Jap radio stations in the area, to determine if our movements had been detected. Once again our luck held, and we entered the area undetected. All went well until an SBD pilot from the "Jeep" Carrier Fleet off Luzon spotted our Task Force. Evidently he meant to speak only to his rear seat man, but instead of using intercom, he broadcast on a radio frequency. When he said: "Man, look at all those carriers! That must be the whole Third Fleet", he caused much consternation among the Commanders of the Task Group. What had been a closely guarded secret, was now broadcast to the world.

 

For the next two days, long searches, up to the extreme range of 300 Nautical miles were conducted without success. Where was the Jap Fleet? No more reports were received, so on 12 January, Strikes were launched against Saigon, French Indo China, Cape St. Jacques, and any enemy shipping in the area.