Page 6 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt, October 2020

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Remembering: A WWII vet’s story

by Senior Airman invade Kyushu, the kamikaze pilots were with no brakes, no hydraulics. I still don’t
LEALA MARQUEZ really killing them,” Hayes said. “We were know how he did it.”
assigned to bomb some of those airfields While his squadron helped cripple Japa-
56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
in Kyushu. Of course, I don’t think we did nese combat lethality and disrupt enemy
Black and white photos portray a strong, much damage, they had so many kamikazes. shipping, another squadron determined the
smiling young man preparing for war, a They’d teach those kids how to take off but outcome of the war.
beautiful snow-covered Mount Fuji with wouldn’t teach them how to land.” “The 504th Bomb Group was put together
B-29 Superfortresses flying by and aerial Because Hayes had so much experience in the United States and we had three squad-
photos exhibiting the remains of war-torn as an instructor, he said his squadron usu- rons within the group,” said Hayes. “They
Hiroshima. ally led the daylight missions. took one of these squadrons and formed the
Today the image is much different. Cur- “I always felt the responsibility,” Hayes atomic bomb group. We went overseas with
rent photos of the man feature an individual said. “If you miss the target you put a hun- just two squadrons, normally it’d be three.”
who is much older; time had changed his dred guys at extreme risk for no reason. You The 393rd Bombardment Squadron, which
face and had taken its toll on his health. had to concentrate on what you were doing.” dropped the atomic bombs, was in the 504th
Organs failing, the World War II veteran Attention to detail paid off during one of BG until September 1944, when it transi-
spent the rest of his days in hospice sur- his most memorable missions targeting a tioned to the 509th Composite Group.
rounded by his family. But in this man chemical plant in Koriyama. “We’d been overseas for about six months
there lived a story, one of his service during “Our group destroyed 70% of the target and here comes our other squadron,” Hayes Courtesy photo
World War II as a bombardier in Japan. His and was the only group to hit the correct said. “They set them up in a separate squad- 1st Lt. Ralph Richard Hayes, 20th Air
history changed the world’s history and target,” Hayes said. ron on Tinian. We built an officer’s club, so Force, Army Air Corps, 421st Bombard-
he was the last one in his crew who could His group was awarded a Distinguished they’d come down there and start bragging, ment Squadron bombardier, poses for
share the story. Flying Cross for the mission. Today, the and we told them ‘you’re going to win the a photo June 7, 1945, during World War
In 1941, 21-year-old Ralph Richard Hayes decoration is proudly displayed amongst war, when we’ve been here winning it with- II. Hayes and his crew of 10 men com-
joined the U.S. Army Air Forces following pleted 35 missions during the war: 14
the attack on Pearl Harbor. Several B-29 Su- precision daylight, 11 low-altitude night
“The war started, and I hitchhiked from perfortresses fly fire raids and 10 night-mining missions
California to Albuquerque,” Hayes said. “My near Mount Fuji in Japanese and Korean waters.
brother was already there, and we decided I in Japan during
might as well enlist because we were going World War II. The officer and served until Dec. 29, 1979, retir-
to get drafted anyway. They were drafting photo was in pos- ing as a lieutenant colonel. He was a father
everybody.” session of Ralph of five kids, grandfather to six and great
Traveling from two schools in Texas, one Richard Hayes, for- grandfather to nine. His children explained
in Florida and one in Nebraska, then 1st mer 20th Air Force, their father never spoke about his time in
Lt. Hayes taught other aviators as a bom- Army Air Corps, the war until he visited reunions.
bardier instructor and received additional 421st Bombard- “He had one of his reunions and asked
training in radar school before leaving to ment Squadron me if I’d go to it with him,” said Bill Hayes,
employ his skills in combat. His squadron bombardier, who Richard Hayes’s son. “I got to meet a lot of
left on Christmas Eve of 1944 to Hawaii, served during the people that were in his group and it was
then Saipan, an island in the Northern WWII in Japan. The kind of an eye opener. They had some pretty
Mariana Islands and south of Japan. B-29 was a heavy hairy missions. My dad started talking about
Hayes was assigned to the 20th Air bomber used by some of the missions, flying back with a plane
Force, Army Air Corps, 504th Bombard- the United States that had a hundred holes in it, some in his
ment Group in the 421st Bombardment during WWII and diaries, he’d just sit and show you pictures.”
Squadron. He was the bombardier on a B-29 Courtesy photo the Korean War. His children shared the pride they felt in
with an 11-person crew including aircraft their father’s history and the importance of
commander/pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, other medals and tokens from his time out them the whole time?’ Finally, one day telling his story.
navigator, gunners, an engineer, and radio overseas — among them were small shards they did. They dropped the damn bomb then “I think it’s important for everyone to un-
and radar specialists. of metal — shrapnel that had been lodged dropped another bomb, and pretty soon, after derstand what sacrifice is,” Bill said. “People
“Our 35 missions consisted of 14 precision into their B-29s during missions. Damaged Japan finally gave it up, we had the signing made [these sacrifices] when they were 20
daylight, 11 low-altitude night fire raids and aircraft were a regular occurrence and, he of peace.” years old. I think we were very fortunate,
10-night mining missions in Japanese and explained, when a B-29 was too damaged it On Aug. 6, 1945, the B-29 Enola Gay, flew none of us had to make any sacrifices like
Korean waters,” Hayes said. was simply swapped out for a new one. He over Hiroshima and dropped the first atomic that.”
Low-altitude night fire raids entailed shared stories of gaping holes in the aircraft bomb. Three days later the B-29 Bockscar, As Hayes relayed his stories, he showed
firebombing major cities in Japan. The wing and treacherous missions home. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. remorse for lives lost, for his fellow soldiers,
crew’s mission to Tokyo was the first mission One mission over Iwo Jima was much Shortly after, Japan surrendered and so and for Japanese civilians and pilots.
executed at the low altitude of 6,000-7,000 worse than others. marked the end of the war for Hayes. “I think one thing that people don’t under-
feet. Hayes said he could see the light from “I couldn’t believe our airplane could fly,” According to Hayes, 150 Airmen from the stand was there was a lot of post-traumatic
the fires for hundreds of miles. In the end, Hayes said. 504th made the ultimate sacrifice during stress disorder (PTSD) that was not diag-
firebombing left a fifth of Tokyo destroyed. He said the aircraft had been hit hun- the war. Hayes left behind the chaos of war nosed or treated, that’s why the war was
“The first raid on Tokyo was something dreds of times and was littered with holes. aboard a naval vessel on a three-week jour- never talked about,” said his daughter Mary
you never want to see again,” Hayes said. “The life rafts were blown out of the air- ney to return home. Scherdnik. “He still carries that, the amount
“The fire was so intense you could see it for plane and they hit the vertical stabilizer. Seventy-five years later Hayes remem- of killing. Even though it wasn’t face-to-face
mile after mile. Seventeen square miles was Our hydraulics were shot out. The brakes bered his experiences and recalled his crew, they all came home with some real scars that
burned right out of the middle of Tokyo.” were shot out. I don’t think anyone had been fondly knowing they were the reason he they carried around for 75 years.”
Some missions the crew completed sup- able to make a forced landing yet.” returned home safely and that he was the Despite the scars, as Hayes shared his
ported the U.S. Navy, including destroying Hayes’ crew made the harrowing flight last of them alive to share their story. WWII stories for one of the last times, he
kamikaze airfields. Kamikaze pilots from from Iwo Jima to Tinian Island in their “[Our] radio operator was scared to death laughed at the drinking antics of his old crew
the Japanese Special Attack Units were battle-damaged aircraft. He said the odds all the time but did a hell of a good job,” re- and the interesting people he met, all the
developed to counter U.S. advancement in were against them because, even if the B-29 called Hayes fondly. “We had a radar operator while his story continued. It continued until
the Pacific. Their mission was to fly their survived the 730-mile trip, their pilot would who was only 17 — really good-looking kid. his last breath. At 100 and a half years old
aircraft into U.S. naval vessels. During have to land the nearly decimated aircraft. We had one gunner who was the old man in on Aug. 27, 2020, Hayes passed away peace-
WWII, according to Britannica, Kamikaze Hayes said, through incredible skill and a the crew and the only guy I ever knew that fully in his home while surrounded by loved
pilots sank more than 30 Allied vessels and miracle, their pilot landed the aircraft safely. enjoyed war — you couldn’t keep him out of ones. He is one of the last to have actually
damaged hundreds more. “I’ll swear he’s an amazing pilot, Sid the airplane. They all died several years ago.” lived what many people just learn about. He
“When [the Navy was] getting ready to Hale,” said Hayes. “He landed that airplane After the war, Hayes became a Reserve is the history of this nation.