The Last Fighter Pilot Read online

  But the last living fighter pilot from that final mission over Japan had not come to celebrate all the changes that had occurred since 1945; he had returned at the invitation of the Japanese government to honor those with whom he had served. Here, on what had once been hell on earth, Japanese and American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines now stood together on a windswept day, saluting the handful of elderly warriors on both sides who were still alive. Jerry and a small number of American Iwo Jima veterans in their nineties stood side-by-side with, hugged, and even saluted a few of the equally old Japanese veterans who’d once been their mortal enemies. Many tears were shed for the fallen.

  As for the men of Jerry’s Seventy-Eighth Fighter Squadron, and the Seventh Fighter Command, most of them were gone now. Tapp, Vande Hey, and Crim had all became senior officers in the U.S. Air Force and lived to ripe old age before hearing the final call of Taps. Others, like White and Mathis, had given their golden years, a chance to raise a family and to die and rest in peace on the very soil of their homeland, to freedom’s cause.

  Jerry stood for both of them now, and for the three classmates who’d arrived together with him in Hawaii in 1943. Bob Roseberry had died on March 17, 2015, just two weeks before Jerry’s return to Iwo Jima. Bob Ruby had eventually moved to Battle Creek, Michigan and died in November of 1999. Al Sherren, of course, had given his life to his country on July 8, 1945, over Tokyo.

  Jerry stood, too, for Phil Schlamberg, whose death marked the end of the costliest war in human history. Phil’s memory would be carried on not only by his fellow pilot, but by his niece, Melanie Sloan, who researched his legacy long after his death, and by his great-nieces, Vanessa and Scarlett Johansson, both well-known actresses. Even with the tremendous talent in his family, however, Phil—shot down and killed at the age of 19 in service to his country—was the family hero.

  For as long as Jerry could stand on Iwo Jima, Phil and the rest of his fallen comrades would not be forgotten.

  The veteran’s face had worn over the passage of time. His body wasn’t as strong as it had once been, nor was his coordination quite as sharp. But still, even seventy years later, he fit proudly into his khaki uniform, with his silver captain’s bars pinned to his right collar. And his salute was as sharp as the day he had accepted his commission.

  His own life had been a series of twists and turns, triumph and tears, hope and tragedy, patience and perseverance. He never married the girl named Doris for whom his plane had been named. But he had spent nearly a lifetime with the true love of his life, Helene, who he met on a blind date on Good Friday, 1949. Helene had passed away on June 23, 2015, after sixty-five wonderful years of marriage. Her loss, so late in life, would be the most painful of all for the old fighter pilot.

  In perhaps the supreme irony of the veteran’s life, meanwhile, his son would marry a Japanese girl and move to Japan, and Jerry would learn to love, respect, and commune with the very people that he had once, with all his might, tried to kill, and who had taken the lives of the fellow airmen closest to him.

  Over the course of the war, Jerry had flown with a total of sixteen pilots who did not come back. And yet, there was no bitterness as his feet rested on the soil that had cost him and others so dearly.

  “The greatest honor of my life,” he declared before the ceremony started that wind-swept day on Iwo Jima, as he stood under the American flag brought to life by the powerful Pacific breeze, “was to serve my country.”

  Later, his aging hand would flash a final salute—a visible tribute to the invisible heroes now resting in peace in the heart of the island and depths of the sea.

  He was the last fighter pilot of their heroic cause, and he would stand with them forever.

  THE AIRMAN’S CREED

  I am an American Airman.

  I am a Warrior.

  I have answered my Nation’s call.

  I am an American Airman.

  My mission is to Fly, Fight, and Win.

  I am faithful to a Proud Heritage,

  A Tradition of Honor,

  And a Legacy of Valor.

  I am an American Airman.

  Guardian of Freedom and Justice,

  My Nation’s Sword and Shield,

  Its Sentry and Avenger.

  I defend my Country with my Life.

  I am an American Airman.

  Wingman, Leader, Warrior.

  I will never leave an Airman behind,

  I will never falter,

  And I will not fail.

  General T. Michael Moseley

  Chief of Staff

  United States Air Force

  April 27, 2007

  Washington, D.C.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  “No man is an island,” the poet John Donne said nearly four hundred years ago. Likewise, this book isn’t the product of an author isolated on an island, but rather of a team working together, each member with special roles, in sharp symmetry, to achieve the final result. To this team, my thanks are rendered below.

  Special thanks to my “west coast editor,” Jack Miller, of La Mesa, California, a veteran of the United States Army, a patron of the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and a supporter of the Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado. Thanks also to my “east coast editor,” Mary Lynne Landry, for her always-sharp editorial support.

  A huge shout-out to the pros of the Regnery Publishing team, especially to editor Nancy Feuerborn and publicist Loren Long, two of the best in the business.

  Thanks also to Alex Novak, Regnery’s fine acquisitions editor, and to my dynamic literary agent Chip MacGregor. Both are visionaries who supported this book from the beginning.

  Much appreciation goes to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation for supporting The Last Fighter Pilot and for inviting us to launch the book at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. As a junior in college, I attended President Reagan’s first inauguration in 1981. Now, thirty-six years later, to have the Reagan Foundation’s support of this book is a special personal honor.

  The mother of two great actresses and a member of one of the nation’s most talented families, Melanie Sloan is perhaps best known for her role in the entertainment industry. Now she leaves another great mark—this time as a historian. Melanie has diligently researched the life of her young uncle, First Lieutenant Phil Schlamberg, who on August 15, 1945, was killed in Japan, at the age of nineteen, becoming the final combat death of World War II. Thanks to Melanie for sharing her research, and for spending hours on the phone answering my questions. The nation owes her a debt of gratitude for introducing us to her heroic uncle, that he might finally take his rightful place in history.

  Finally, there is Captain Jerry Yellin. The man is a national treasure, and my efforts to thank him fail at the outset, for it is impossible to fully acknowledge a patriot, or adequately describe a legend. I’m grateful that he let me try to tell part of his great story. As Jerry has said, “The greatest honor of my life was to serve my country.” I’m blessed to call him a friend.

  Don Brown

  Charlotte, North Carolina

  May 21, 2017

  NOTES

  CHAPTER 6

  1. Allied war crimes tribunals later investigated this vicious and inhumane treatment of American flyers and prosecuted the Japanese officers after the surrender of Japan.

  CHAPTER 13

  1. Jerry’s description is from an interview with the New York Times and is further recounted in his excellent biography, Of War and Weddings, Kindle edition (Friendswood: Total Recall Publishing, 2011), 321-323.

  2. Ibid.

  CHAPTER 16

  1. The story is told by Jerry Yellin in Of War and Weddings, Kindle edition (Friendswood: Total Recall Publishing, 2011).

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  MAJOR WORKS OF MILITARY NONFICTION

  Bingham, Kenneth E. Black Hell: The Story of the 133rd Navy Seabees On Iwo Jima February 19, 1945. Charleston: CreateSpace Publishing, 2011.

  Bush, George W. 41: A
Portrait of My Father. New York: Crown/Archetype, 2014.

  Giangreco, D. M. Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945–47. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2009.

  Guillain, Robert. I Saw Tokyo Burning: An Eyewitness Narrative from Hiroshima to Tokyo. New York City: Doubleday, 1981.

  Hammel, Eric. “The 78th on 7 April 1945.” In Aces at War: The American Aces Speak. Pacifica: Pacifica Military History, 2007.

  Hatch, Gardner N. and Frank H. Winter. P-51 Mustang. New York: Turner Publishing, 1993.

  Lambert, John W. Night of the Samurai: 26 March 1945 Banzai Attack on Airfield #2, (as told by Air Force Personnel who survived it). In The Pineapple Air Force: Pearl Harbor to Tokyo. St. Paul: Phalanx Publishing, 1990.

  Lambert, John W. “Black Friday on the Empire Run.” In The Long Campaign. St. Paul: Phalanx Publishing, 2015.

  O’Leary, Michael. VIII Fighter Command at War. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012.

  Tallentire, Karen Jo. Fighting the Unbeatable Foe: Iwo Jima and Los Alamos. Outskirts Press, 2015.

  Werrell, Kenneth. Blankets of Fire: US. Bombers over Japan During World War II. Smithsonian Institute Publications, 1996).

  Yellin, Captain Jerry. Of War & Weddings: A Legacy of Two Fathers. Friendswood: TotalRecall Publishing, 1995.

  MILITARY AND AVIATION MAGAZINES

  Pope, Stephen. “Constant Speed Prop Basics: Tips for Getting the Most out of Your Constant Speed Propeller,” Flying Magazine, July 1, 2014.

  Tillman, Barrett. “The Mustangs of Iwo Jima.” Airpower Magazine, vol. 7, no. 1, pg. 30, January 1977.

  Wolk, Herman S. “The Twentieth Against Japan,” Air Force Magazine, April 2004.

  NEWSPAPER SOURCES

  Laurence, Charles. “George HW Bush Narrowly Escaped Comrades’ Fate of Being Killed and Eaten by Japanese Captors,” The Telegraph (London), February 6, 2017.

  Niebuhr, Gustav. “Hiroshima; Enola Gay’s Crew Recalls the Flight into a New Era,” The New York Times (New York), August 6, 1995.

  “Biography and Obituary of Brigadier General James Vande Hey,” Austin American-Statesman on Jan. 6, 2010.

  WEBSITE ARTICLES ATTRIBUTABLE TO SPECIFIC AUTHORS

  Tapp, Major James B. “7th Fighter Command History,” 7th Fighter Command Association. Accessed March 1, 2017. http://www.7thfighter.com/history.html

  Trueman, C. N. “The Fire Raids on Japan,” The History Learning Site, www.historylearningsite.co.uk. May 19, 2015.

  MILITARY GOVERNMENTAL SOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS

  OFFICE OF AIR FORCE HISTORY, Washington, DC, Air Force Combat Units of World War II, edited by Maurer Maurer (1983).

  UNITED STATES AIR FORCE PUBLICATION, 47th Fighter Squadron AAF, A.P.O No. 86, HISTORY OF THE COMMAND SECTION (1-31 March 1945) Document Declassified IAW Executive Order 12958.

  UNITED STATES AIR FORCE PUBLICATION, 47th Fighter Squadron AAF, A.P.O No. 86, HISTORY OF THE COMMAND SECTION (1–30 April 1945) Document Declassified IAW Executive Order 12958, signed April 17, 1995.

  UNITED STATES AIR FORCE PUBLICATION, 47th Fighter Squadron AAF, A.P.O No. 86, HISTORY OF THE COMMAND SECTION (1–31 July 1945) Document Declassified IAW Executive Order 12958, signed April 17, 1995.

  OFFICIAL USAF BIOGRAPHY, “Biography of General Curtis Emerson LeMay,” Accessed March 1, 2017, http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/106462/general-curtis-emerson-lemay/.

  OFFICIAL USAF BIOGRAPHY, “Biography of Major General Ernest ‘Mickey Moore,” Accessed March 1, 2017, http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/106180/major-general-ernest-moore/.

  OFFICIAL USAF BIOGRAPHY, “Biography of Major General Kenneth R. Powell,” Accessed March 1, 2017, http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/105934/major-general-kenneth-r-powell/.

  OFFICIAL USAF BIOGRAPHY, “Biography of Brigadier General James Vande Hey,” http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/105310/brigadier-general-james-m-vande-hey/.

  UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCE PUBLICATION. P-51 Mustang Pilot’s Flight Manual, AAF Manual 51-127-5, USAAF and North American Aviation, Reprinted by Periscope Film, LLC (2006).

  AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION, Honolulu Memorial—Tablets of the Missing, “Identifying gravesite of 1st Lieutenant Philip Schlamberg, United States Army Air Forces,” Accessed March 1, 2017, https://www.abmc.gov/database-search-results?search_api_aggregation_3=schlamberg&submit=Search.

  MILITARY WEBSITE ARTICLES WITHOUT SPECIFIC AUTHOR ATTRIBUTION

  “American Missions against Susaki Airfield (Chi Chi Jima Airfield) August 12, 1944–March 31, 1945,” Pacific Wrecks Website, Accessed March 1, 2017, http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/japan/susaki/index.html/.

  “Awards and Citations to Major James Buckley Tapp—Distinguished Flying Cross Citation for Extraordinary Heroism on 7 April 1945,” Military Times—Hall of Valor, Accessed March 1, 2017, http://www.valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=22979.

  “Before the 506th Arrived—7 April 1945—First VLR Mission to Japan”—History of the 506th Fighter Group,” 506th Fighter Group Official Website, Accessed March 1, 2017, www.506thfightergroup.org.

  “Composite list of P-51 Mustang Aces of WWII,” Mustangs. com Website, Accessed March 1, 2017,” http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/aces/aces_list.

  “Fighting Ends on Iwo Jima—March 16, 1945,” This Day in History, Accessed March 1, 2017, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fighting-on-iwo-jima-ends.

  “North American P-51 Pilot’s Check List,” Aerofiles, Accessed March 1, 2017, http://www.aerofiles.com/checklist-p51.html.

  “The Incendiary Bombing Raids on Tokyo, 1945,” EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2004).

  “The 78th Fighter Squadron, the ‘Bushmasters’ of the ‘Pineapple Air Force,’” Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society, Accessed March 1, 2017, http://hiavps.com/78th%20FS.htm.

  “Unit History 506th Fighter Group, (Including 457th, 458th and 462nd Fighter Squadrons) 1–30 June 1945,” 7th Fighter Command Association, Accessed March 1, 2017, http://www.7thfighter.com/506thfg/history/506th_history_june_1945.pdf.