Fighting Her Father's War: The FIghting Tomcats

by M. L. Maki

  “Shit, good shooting,” says Klutz.

  “Thanks, where’s the boss?”

  “He’s a thousand feet up and kind of behind us.”

  “Can I climb?”

  “Yeah, go.” Bo-Bo pulls the stick back, saying “Grunt.” He’s pulls 9 g’s, standing the fighter on its tail. A Zero passes cockpit to cockpit only a few feet away. “Shit, man. That was close. Warn me about traffic, damn it!”

  “Sorry, dude, I didn’t see him.”

  “Open your fucking eyes, dude.”

  “I’m trying.”

  “Fucking, try harder. There he is.” Book is chasing a Zero in a tight circle. He pulls around, straightens out to line up a shot, and the Zero turns inside, out of his sights, and the dance repeats. “Hey, boss, break left and we can take him.”

  Book says, to Packs, “No damn it, my kill.”

  Packs says, “Just cover us, Klutz.” Then to Book, “Where are the bombers?”

  Klutz on radio, “Hey, boss, these are all Zeros and Nates. Where the hell are the bombers?”

  Lobster says, “Gold Eagle, Diamond 272, Raid one is all fighters. There are no bombers in this fight.”

  “Diamond 272, Gold Eagle, acknowledged.”

  Book to Packs, “Bombers or no bombers, let’s just kill them.”

  “There’s one rolling in on us?”

  “Tell them this is the main fucking attack.”

  Bo-Bo cuts across Book’s path, engaging a Zero that was lining up ahead of Book. “Gimme room,” says Book, diving back in again. This time a Zero anticipates his moves and puts several .30 caliber rounds through his wing. “Shit, we’re hit. Fuck! Not again.”

  Klutz shouts, “Book’s hit! Book’s hit!” Bo-Bo rolls in, putting rounds in the Zero which explodes. Klutz says, “Book, hit the burners and get clear.”

  Book says, “I’m still flying. Tell them, I’m still flying.”

  Packs says, ‘We’re still flying and the plane seems fine.” Another Zero tries to pull into their plane and Packs says, “Break right!” The huge ’14 rolls right and pulls into a tight turn.

  Klutz says, “Book, you’re losing fuel.”

  Lt. JG Shawn ‘Lizard’ Todd, ‘Papa’ Holtz’s RIO, says, “Book, Papa says take it to the barn. Bo-Bo, you escort.”

  Packs says, “Roger, Lizard. RTB.” To Book, “Papa says we go home, Book. We gotta go home.”

  Book accelerates out of the melee and flies toward the signal that tells them where the ship is, “Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m going, Packs. What shitty luck.”

  A6M REI-SEN “ZERO”, LT. KENZO KOIZUMI

  Lt. Koizumi sees the wounded American pull out of the fray and knows his wingman must follow. He rolls his fighter around, almost upside down, pulling in a tight turn, he fires a burst of 20mm and sees it trace across the big grey plane. The left engine explodes, bringing a smile to Kenzo’s face. As he though, they can be destroyed. Then he sees the canopy blow off and the two pilots rocket out of the crippled craft. “What is this?” He circles, avoiding other aircraft, and sees the parachutes deploy. Continuing the circle, he machine-guns the air crew, making his kill complete.

  KNIGHT 626

  Nob shouts on the radio, “Bo-Bo’s hit. Clean ejection.” On intercom, “Come on, Gunner, break right and kill the bastard.”

  Gunner says, “I’m in, watch traffic.”

  As they pull around, Nob shouts, “He fucking shot them! The mother fucker shot them!”

  Lizard says, “The boss says to stay calm, Nob. Focus on the fight.”

  Nob says, “He murdered them.”

  “I know, Nob, you and Johnny hang in there. We’re in bound with Jedi and a couple of Tomcatters.”

  ZERO FIGHTER

  Lt. Koizumi wheels below the fighters, looking for another target. He now knows how to kill the big planes, and he knows they use rocket seats to escape when hit. “Cowards.” He sees one of the big planes dive on him and he pulls up, twisting right to break their line. The plane flies past below him. It has been a good day.

  KNIGHT 626

  “Don’t fight him, Gunner, just shoot and scoot,” says Nob.

  Lizard asks, “Which one is he, Nob? The boss says to stay calm, okay?”

  “I’ll dive on him,” says Gunner. “Fuck, he’s good.”

  CHAPTER 20

  BOMBER RAID, NORTH OF USS CARL VINSON, 1346, 22 DECEMBER, 1941

  KNIGHT FLIGHT 3

  On radio, “All units, Ghost Rider 2, raid warning north, designate raid 2. Knight Flight 3, steer 010 and engage. Beefeater Flight 1, discard air to ground and follow Knight Flight 3. There are 120 tangos in bound at 250 knots on the deck.”

  Gandhi says, “Alright, brothers and sisters, illuminate. Full military and descend.”

  Swede says, “Let’s welcome Frosty and see what he has.”

  “Right,” on radio, “Frosty, Gandhi, good to have you with us. How many birds?”

  “We’ve got five, couldn’t wait for six.”

  “You have missiles?”

  “Sparrows and sidewinders.”

  Gandhi, “Save the sidewinders for bombers, it’s too easy for the fighters to break lock. Brother Swede wants us to attack in battle spread, shoot our sparrows, then follow them through the formation, and climb out for your shot. You guys him them right behind us and break right. Give us 15 miles to clear your missiles.”

  “Gandhi, Frosty, will do.”

  Then, “Gandhi, this is Dixie. I have four more 18’s a few miles back. I like your plan. We’ll hit ‘em and break left 15 miles behind the Beefeater flight.”

  “Thank you, Dixie, good to have you. Twelve miles, target bombers and light ‘em up.”

  Puck says, “Fox 1, Fox 1, Fox 1, Fox 1.”

  The others follow suit and the missiles shoot past the escorting Nate fighters, hitting the Nell and Betty bombers behind. The bombers can’t escape. Missile after missile hits as Knight Flight 3 follow their missiles in. Puck, “Splash three.”

  Speedy, “Splash two.”

  GQ, “Splash two.”

  Gandhi, “Splash three. Hit them and climb out.”

  With the low altitude, they can’t zoom through, instead, they pull out of their dive, nearly head to head, and take a snap shot with guns as they climb out. The enemy fire misses them, and the only one to score a hit on a bomber is Thud, who as he pulls out, does a barrel roll and hits a Nate, too. Gandhi says, “Hey Thud, show off.” As the four fighters climb out at steep 60 degrees, they hear the Beefeaters calling off, “Fox 1, Fox 1.”

  At 10,000 feet, Gandhi says, “Level out. Invert and reverse Immelmann.” Then, Dixie, “Fox 1, Fox 1,” as Frosty calls, “Break right.”

  Gandhi, “Knight Flight 3 rolling in. We’ll hit them with missiles, then guns.”

  Tracers reach out from the bombers as they dive. A Nate climbs in front of Spike to protect the bombers. She fires a 20mm burst and does a barrel roll to miss the explosive debris. Mid-roll, she sees another Nate trying for Swede. It’s below his field of view, so she adjusts her roll and fires, and misses. The Nate pulls vertical, still trying for Swede, the aggressive maneuver costing him his airspeed, but he’s getting his nose on Swede. Spike, still in the barrel roll, “Grunt,” and hits the airbrake, pulls the wings forward while pulling the stick into her belly, and throttling back her engines. They pull 9 g’s, but have the shot. She squeezes the trigger and the Nate explodes as the 20mm rounds hit. Then, it’s full right aileron, elevator down, right rudder, and full military on her left engine. The F014 whips into a right snap roll that should be impossible for so large a jet.

  Puck, “That maneuver was awesome, but my chiropractor is going to hate you.”

  “Sorry.”

  “No problem, you warned me, and it’s all good.”

  Spike and Thud are out of sparrows, so they fire two sidewinders each as they close to three miles, “Fox 2, Fox 2.” One of Spike’s missiles hits the left engine of a Betty, the other fails to ignite and falls into the sea.


  Speedy, “Two sidewinders failed to ignite. Switching to guns.”

  Swede and Hot Pants missiles each score another Betty. Then Spike says, “What the hell?” And takes a quick gun shot at a bomber, which bursts into flames. Then they climb in a barrel roll, firing at another. The second bomber pulls up, causing Spike to pull negative g’s in a reverse barrel roll, which she changes to a snap roll and adds power to pull away. Once in normal flight, Spike says, “What the hell? Who taught these guys to drive?”

  Puck says, “Last I checked, I think they’re the enemy. And, Spike, that was amazing flying, thank you.”

  Gandhi, “Knight Flight 3 is out. Clear field, Beefeaters.”

  “Gandhi, Frosty, Roger,” and the Beefeaters roll in.

  Then Gandhi says, “60 degree climb as before. Brother Swede wants a status. Be we good?”

  Puck, “Yep.”

  GQ, “We might have been hit, bit it feels okay.”

  Gandhi, “Level out and I will give you a good look. Spike, check Thud, then they can check us.”

  Puck, “Speedy, you have rounds through the left intake, check us.”

  Gandhi, “GQ, you have holes punched into the right elevator and right vertical stabilizer. My brother says you are done, finished, and completed for this day. Please give us a look.”

  GQ, “Gandhi, you’re clean. We don’t want to leave.”

  Speedy, “Puck, you’re good. Gandhi, we’re fine.”

  Gandhi, “You two escort each other home.”

  Speedy, “Our bird is flying great. We can stay.”

  GQ, “Do we have to hold hands? Our bird is flying fine.”

  Gandhi, “Our brother ain’t asking. He says, take it to the barn.”

  “Roger,” say Speedy and GQ in unison, and reluctantly, they head back to the Vinson, and Spike forms up on Swede as his wingman.

  Puck, “What’s next, boss?”

  Gandhi, “We stay in the fight while our fuel lasts. Let’s go.”

  Swede breaks left in a smooth 3 g turn, and she follows. The bombers have scattered into smaller formations, so they line up on six Kate torpedo bombers. Gandhi, “Okay, Spike, combat spread, through and pull, rolling in.”

  Puck, “Roger,” and Spike flies to alongside Swede. Now, it’s nothing but dogfighting: one on one.

  USS CARL VINSON

  Speedy, “Gold Eagle, Knight 212 requests marshal for Knight 212 and Knight 894. Both birds are damaged.”

  “Roger, Knight 212, do you need the barricade?”

  “Negative, Gold Eagle, we just have a few holes.”

  “Understood, Knight 212. Proceed downwind at 284. You land after Magic 1.”

  Magic 1, an EA-6B flown by LCDR Mark ‘Faster’ Harder commanding VAQ-133 Wizards detachment 2, traps as Thud makes the break.

  “Knight 212, call the ball.”

  “Roger, ball, 51.”

  Thud, “Hang on, compadre.”

  “Si, Senor.”

  His ’14 slams into the deck, catching the 3 wire. After parking, he high fives Speedy, then they climb down. Walking around their bird they see that four rounds hit, passing through the left intake from the cowl back to just forward of the engine.

  As Hot Pants is parking her plane next to theirs, Speedy says, “Shit, we’re lucky, man.”

  “Nah, just good.”

  “Good, hell, I’ll take lucky over good. What do you think, .30 cal. rounds?”

  “Think so,” and the Senior Chief walks up. AOCS Bruce ‘Fluffy’ Bond is a large black man with huge shoulders that strain his white long-sleeved t-shirt and float coat. The float coat says ‘SAFETY’.

  “Sir, what the hell did you do to your airplane?”

  Thud, “Just a little boo-boo, Senior, from a Betty dorsal gun, I think,” then falls quiet. Boo-Boo and Klutz aren’t coming home.

  KNIGHT FLIGHT 3

  Swede and Spike roll in on the Kates, a brief burst of gunfire and their RIO’s both says, Gun, guns. Splash one.”

  Spike sees they are only a few miles from the battle group, “Damn, Puck, we’re close.”

  Puck, “You’re right. Let’s kill these fuckers before they get fish in the water.”

  They roll in on the last four, splashing two more, and circle back in. Then, Puck sees the flash of missile fire from the USS Horne. He realizes there is no change of bearing, and shouts, “Missiles in bound! Chaff, chaff, break left!”

  Swede and Spike hit the chaff and turn violently into a dive, avoiding the telephone pole sized missiles flying right at them. The missile radar reflects off the metal fragments in the air, breaking lock, and the SM-1 missiles pass above them. Puck, “Navy ship, cease fire, cease fire, you’re shooting at friendlies.”

  “This is Horne actual, who am I talking to?”

  Gandhi, “This is Knight Flight 3, two Foxtrot one fours. You fired on us, sir.” Then, “Thanks, Puck. Let’s get the last two.”

  “Roger.”

  “My apologies, Knight 3. Status of inbound raid?” asks Captain John Rodgers of the USS Horne.

  Puck, “Splash one.”

  Gandhi, “Splash one.” He looks around and sees the Hornets have cleaned up the rest of the incoming bombers, “The Japs are swimming their way to hell, sir. You are clear.”

  Puck, on intercom, “We’re getting a little thirsty, Spike. Time to land or get a drink.”

  “Yes, Puck.”

  Puck, “Hey, Gandhi, we’re bingo fuel. How are you?”

  “Getting thirsty, too. Let’s head home. Gold Eagle, Knight Flight 3 requests marshal for two foxtrot one fours, coming in thirsty.”

  “Roger, Knight Flight 3, enter marshal, you are behind Beefeater 611 and 332.”

  They enter the pattern behind Lt. JG Rick ‘Jail Bait’ Funk and ENS Walt ‘Meat Head’ Jones.

  ON THE DECK

  Hot Pants and GQ do their own walk around with Senior Chief Bond. Their F’14 has eight holes in the right elevator and four in the right vertical stabilizer. Fluffy, says, “Damn it. Why are you coming back with holes in your plane? My beautiful planes deserve to stay pristine and unsoiled, like a, um,” he looks at Hot Pants.

  “Fluffy, there is one hell of a lot of lead flying around up there. At least, we brought them home.”

  IN MARSHAL

  “Knight 211, call the ball.”

  “Roger, ball, 48,” and drops to the deck, catching a rocky two wire, ending eight hours in the air. Swede, behind her, catches an okay one wire. They are directed to park with their tails sticking out over the water. As they are positioned, they open their canopies. Pulling off his helmet, Puck asks, “You okay, Spike?”

  “Yeah, tired and hungry. How are you? Good catch on those missiles. Thank you.”

  “I’m okay. It was a hell of a day’s work, and, you’re welcome.”

  Their plane captain, helping with her straps, “You okay, Lieutenant? How many kills?”

  “I’m not sure. How’s the ship?”

  Joe ‘Handy’ Washington says, “No hits. No hits on any of the battle group. Did we win the bet?”

  “I don’t know, Joey. Can you help me up, please?” He helps her climb out of the cockpit and down the steps to the deck. Puck wave him off, climbing stiffly out of the plane. Once he’s on the deck, he runs his hand along the side of the fuselage, pats it, and says, “Good Horse.”

  Spike smiles, “Would you two like a moment alone?”

  Surprised, he says, “No, um, all god. Let’s get to debrief. I see coffee in our future.” Smiling, Spike hobbles to the head.

  2000 FEET ABOVE TAKAO, FORMOSA, 1525, 22 DECEMBER, 1941

  Lt. Kenzo Koizumi wipes his face, again. Part of his canopy is shattered and his face is bleeding from many annoying cuts. But, his Zero is still flying. He takes a pass over the runway before landing as his radio was destroyed by the same cursed American rounds that hit his canopy. Looking down he sees a nearly empty airfield where there once was a mighty air fleet.

  He flies the downwind leg, p
raying his landing gear will extend. As it locks in place, he smiles. On his final approach he is much more relaxed. He lines up over the field and flares to land. As him main gear touches, he senses something wrong, a grabbing on the right side. Adding power, he lifts the right wing a bit, and the plane straightens out, but he has to land. As he touches down again, the right wheel grabs and spins the Zero nearly 90 degrees right. Then the tip of the wing touches the ground, and the plane flips up on its right wing, and it crumbles.

  He ends upside down, hanging from his harness. Cursing the US Navy, he releases the latch and falls a few feet onto his shoulder. Hearing a fire vehicle approaching, he struggles to free himself from the wreckage. Finally, he’s free and able to stand, but before he’s sprayed down with foam.

  CHAPTER 21

  BLACK KNIGHT SQUADRON READY ROOM, 1418, 22 DECEMBER, 1941

  The atmosphere in the ready room is quiet and somber as Spike walks in. No one is playing cards or goofing off. Instead, their talking in hushed voices waiting for CDR Holtz to arrive for the debrief. She walks over to Puck, Speedy, and Thud, passing Book at the podium. She has to step over Swede’s long legs in the aisle. As she reaches her seat, they all hear on the 1MC, “Good evening, Carl Vinson, this is your Captain. I regret to inform all of you that we lost four planes today. We have recovered Lt. JG Larry Stone and Ensign John Dover of the Blue Diamonds, and Dover was wounded. Of the Knightriders, Lt. JG Peter Greer and Ensign Larry Lewis successfully ejected over the jungle, but we have not yet recovered them. That mission is ongoing.

  “We lost Lt. Byron Bolen and Ensign Christopher Brandt of the Black Knights. Both were killed in their parachutes. It is the nature of warfare that people are lost, but acceptance of this reality does nothing to diminish the pain of losing a friend. Lt. Byron ‘Bo-Bo’ Bolen was 26 years old, born of a military family, his father serving as a Master Sargent in the Air Force. He graduated from the University of Colorado and was a member of the Black Knights for only five months. Ensign Christopher ‘Klutz’ Brandt was 27 years old. He was the first person in his family to join the military and graduated from Rochester Colgate University. He joined the Black Knights with his pilot five months ago. In those five months, they impressed everyone with their hard work and dedication. They were comrades, colleagues, and friends. They successfully engaged seven aircraft before being hit, and so they died aces. The loss of Lt. Bolen and Ensign Brandt tempers what has been, otherwise, a very successful day for Air Wing 9 of the Carl Vinson team.