209428 Edward Charles Gille United States Navy USS Saratoga from:Chicago My Grandfather Edward Gille, served aboard the Saratoga during World War 2 as an Aircrewman. One of his last memories he writes about was the attack on Rabaul on November 11th, and how he and his pilot, "Smokey" Stover, we're hit. They were going to try to make it back to their ship, as neither wanted to bail out over Japanese territory. They had a fighter escort out of the area, but after that a decision had to be made. Bail out (No!), land back on the Saratoga (Not a popular idea with the crew and commanding officer due to the fact that they could lose control and cause serious problems, and cause damage to the flight deck and potentially injure crew members.), or ditch and (hopefully) get rescued. Opting for their third choice, they dumped their load and headed for the screen of destroyers around their carrier. Smokey tried to land as flat as possible, but it was still a hard hit, and my Grandfather hit on his left side, including his head. He doesn't know what happened to his pilot, Smokey, but eventually he was picked up by a rescue crew from one of the destroyers.
|