Quentin passed away on December 28, 2008. His contact with all of you and the information he was sharing here meant a great deal to him, so we will continue to maintain his web site for a very long time. Quentin was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery Friday, 2/27/09, to full honors and an Air Force flyover of four A-10 Thunderbolt II jets. Washington's ch. 5 WTTG covered it on that night's news and Sunday 3/1, the Fox News Channel had a short piece on it. Photos from the ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery can be found at the following site.Update: On 1/11/18, Quentin's beloved wife, Jackie, passed away. She is now buried with Quentin at Arlington National Cemetery. They are together once again. |
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We are the boys of World War II. We are dying off at the rate of 1,500 a day -- that's 45,000 a month. That number will steadily increase until the unyielding laws of mathematics give us an increasing rate of deaths, but a decreasing number of deaths -- the remaining pool will have become too small.
Taps is just one sunset away.
But in our lifetimes, we made a difference. We had the good fortune to live during a time when honor, patriotism, and character were important. We stepped up to defend freedom, and put our lives on the line for the "cause." It was a moment in history that may never occur again.
World War II was the defining moment of the 20th Century. For millions of young American men, it had an impact on them that would forever be a part of their lives. Their personal experiences defy description -- the trauma and tragedy they experienced would be theirs alone to endure.
I flew
most of my combat
missions with the 391st Fighter Squadron of the 366th Fighter Group.
The 391st Fighter Squadron still exists as a part of the U. S. Air
Force. Their nickname is "Bold Tiger," and is worn on the right
shoulder patch of their flight suits. I have incorporated this name
into my e-mail address:
boldtiger@quentinaanenson.com
For information about obtaining Quentin's personal
documentary, "A Fighter Pilot's Story," you can email Quentin's
daughter at
his boldtiger address. |
A
Sad Happenstance of War--
|
![]() Twenty Days In Normandy July 15, 1944 through August 3, 1944This was the first of several intense periods of war we had throughout the last six months of 1944 and the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. For the pilots of the 366th Fighter Group, it was an especially brutal time. We had moved from England to Normandy on D+12 about a month earlier, and living conditions were still rather spartan. Our food primarily consisted of K-rations with an occasional pot of dehydrated stew. But at least we were now under cover with about six men to a pyramidal tent, sleeping on standard army canvas cots. We even had a jerry-rigged shower made by mounting two wing tanks on a wooden stand.But Allied forces were stalled in Normandy. The Germans had pinned us into the hedgerow country, and daily Allied gains on the ground were measured in hundreds of yards, if any. Right behind our tent area in an apple orchard was an American 90mm anti-aircraft battery, and almost every night a couple of German planes would fly over. These 90mm guns and a thousand others spread across Normandy would open fire, and the sky would be filled with tracers and falling shrapnel. Uninterrupted sleep was uncommon. Here is a brief report of some of my missions during this time frame:July 15, 1944: Dive bombed the railroad bridge on the Seine River at Rouen, France. Halfway through the 60 degree dive from 8,000 feet, I took a direct hit in my right wing from a 40mm flak shell, leaving a large hole completely through the wing. I am sure I was praying as I pulled out of that dive, expecting the wing to collapse any second. If it had, I would have had no chance to bail out -- the G-forces would have pinned me in the cockpit. Thirty minutes later I was safely on the ground at our airstrip in Normandy. July 17, 1944: Coutances, France. Dive bombed bridge. ME-109s and FW-190s attacked us in our dive. Our top cover flight of four P-47s engaged them. July 24, 1944: Attacked along front lines. Dive bombed and strafed German troop concentrations. Heavy flak. July 27, 1944: Morning mission, armed reconnaissance. We destroyed two tanks and several trucks. My element leader, 2nd Lt. Paul Bade, was killed within 40 feet of me. July 27, 1944: Afternoon mission, armed reconnaissance along front lines. Strafed anything that moved behind German front lines. Intense flak. Battle damage. July 29, 1944: Gavrey, France. Dive bombed bridge and tanks. Intense flak. My bombs hung up, so I had to carry them back and land with them still attached to my wings. Fuel warning light had been on for 20 minutes. Because of weight of the bombs I had to land at high speed. Plane in front of me was slow in clearing the runway. He had not heard my repeated calls, "I'm landing hot. Clear the runway." I overran him near end of the runway. This photograph of the plane that didn't clear the runway shows that two pilots were very lucky that day. ![]() August 1, 1944: Tours, France. Armed reconnaissance. Strafed train and vehicles. Hit by flak. All pilots very tired from stress of continuing combat. August 3, 1944: Scrambled in a hurry to dive bomb German tanks counter-attacking near Mortain. Over Vire I took several 20mm flak hits. Fire in the cockpit and supercharger. Tried to bail out but canopy was jammed from flak hit. Crash landed at our base. Knocked unconscious, dislocated shoulder in crash landing. After this mission I was given several days leave in London to recover. I was back flying missions on August 10, 1944. (Note: current x-rays still show damage to shoulder and three ribs broken by shoulder harness).
366th Fighter Group Casualties - July 24, 1944 through August 2, 1944:July 24: Captain Vernon Taylor shot down by flak. July 26: 1st Lt. Robert Ackerly. Hit by flak. Bailed out -- plane was on fire. July 26: 1st Lt. John Englehart. Hit by flak. Bailed out. July 27: 1st Lt. Charles Ray. Strafing with bombs on. Hit by flak --- crashed and burned. KIA. July 27: Capt. Jack Engman. Hit by flak. Plane was on fire. Bailed out at 8,000 feet, but chute did not open. KIA. July 27: 2nd Lt. Paul Bade. Hit by flak at low altitude. Tried to bail out, but was too low. KIA. Waved to wingman an instant before he crashed. I was that wingman. July 28: 2nd Lt. Robert Jones. Shot down by flak. Injured in bailout. July 28: 2nd Lt. Clinton Mendenhall. Hit by flak in his dive. Crashed in flames. KIA. August 2: 1st Lt. Kenneth Roberts. Hit by flak over Vire. Crashed on edge of town. KIA. |
The story below was written by Lt. Martin Engler, who was a pilot with the 391st Fighter Squadron, 366th Fighter Group during some of the heaviest fighting of World War II. I was aware of the events of the mission he describes, and asked him to write it for inclusion on this web site.
QCA After
flying for about thirty minutes, we picked up their signal "Loud
and Clear," and they were able to give us their exact position. We had
no trouble locating them, and quickly ascertained they were in the
middle of a major tank engagement. Since I was leading that day, it was
my job to make an "Identification Pass" over the engagement to
positively establish just where our troops were and where the Germans
were in order to plan an effective attack, and not endanger our own
ground forces. I
advised my squadron of my intent to make the identification pass and
that I would be right back. The old Thunderbolt rolled over, and down
we went hell bent for leather. As I passed over the battle area, I felt
the old T-Bolt go "Bang," shudder, and in its own inimitable way tell
me it was hurt. I scanned the instrument panel, and saw my oil pressure
drop to zero, and the oil temperature start for the ceiling. I looked
outside and saw a lot of oil exiting the cowling, and the cockpit was
getting a little hot! It
was decision time – I jettisoned my two 500 pound bombs
and started looking for a place to put the hurting bird down. I was too
low to parachute and I did not like that idea anyway. I now was
beginning to see a little bit of fire around the cowling so I knew I
had to get down fast. All of a sudden I did see a small clearing, and
headed straight for it. Wheels up, flaps down and here we come! The old
Thunderbolt lived up to it's reputation as a rugged piece of machinery
for it just bumped along and skidded to a very abrupt stop. Now
was the time to survey the situation and see what came next. In the
landing I had hurt both of my shoulders as the harness kept me from
going into the instrument panel. But I was still mobile. Off came my
seat belt and I got out of the cockpit as quickly as I could. All of a
sudden I was aware of a lot of noise. The noise of course was gunfire
and it was loud and nearby. Well, if I was in a battle, I had better do
what John Wayne would do, so I pulled out my Colt .45 pistol, stood on
the wing and peered over the airplane to try to spot the enemy
position. I spotted them alright – there were five German
tanks on a ridge firing right over my aircraft at a group of American
tanks behind me, and who in turn were firing at the Germans. I have to
tell you that big old Colt .45 looked pretty insignificant as I looked
down the barrels of those tank cannons. About
this time two very wonderful things happened. First, my squadron
began it's attack on the German tanks and that did a job of turning the
tide for our forces. It gave me a chance to see the devastation a
squadron of Thunderbolts could bring to bear. The second wonderful
thing was when all of a sudden I heard a lot of clattering and engine
noise as one of our tanks came crawling up over the wing of my
airplane. The hatch on that thing opened up and I heard some of the
most beautiful words I have ever heard – "Get your ass in
here!" I
climbed into the tank, parachute and all. They took me back to the
rear where a doctor worked on my shoulders. Following that I was in
pretty good shape. Next, they took me to the head of the column, where
they introduced me to their Colonel. He reached into his pocket and
withdrew a flask and offered me a drink. I said "No thank you, sir."
Then he said "What can we do for you?" I said "You already did it by
picking me up out of that battlefield – but could you call my
squadron and tell them I'm OK?' He picked up his radio and said "Hello,
Foxhunt Squadron. We've got your fair-haired boy with us!" I
spent two weeks with the marvelous Third Armored Division and had
some most interesting adventures with them – but that's
another story. Marty
Engler I
first got to know Glenn when we were both assigned to Luke Field,
Arizona, for Advanced Flight Training. While he was down the alphabet
some distance from me and, therefore, we were housed in different
barracks, we became good friends during the time we were there. Our
flight training started in At-6s, then moved up to P-40s -- our first
actual combat fighter plane. On January 7, 1944 we marched up the same
platform to receive our pilot wings, and to be commissioned as 2nd
Lieutenants. We then were assigned to Harding Field at Baton Rouge to
transition into P-47 Thunderbolts. In early May 1944 we shipped out for
England on the U.S.S. Brazil, heading for the war in Europe. I
was assigned to the 366th Fighter Group, and Glenn went to the 362nd
Fighter Group, 377th Fighter Squadron. We both ended up flying from
landing strips in France shortly after the invasion of Normandy. The
following notes were made while I was talking to Glenn by telephone in
1996: "On
August 8, 1944, I was flying at 13,000 feet on a mission near
Paris, when I was hit by 88mm flak. Oil covered my canopy, and it was
apparent I was going down. Doing things exactly as I had planned, I
trimmed the plane to roll left, then dived head first out the right
side. The next thing I knew, I was trapped in a vacuum under the belly
of the plane – which was apparently created by the prop wash
and air coming over the top of the wing. Oil was all over me and the
plane, and I had to get my hands and knees against the belly of the
plane and push myself off. I landed on a small haystack, and within a
short period of time I was picked up by the Germans. Unfortunately,
they were members of the SS, and instead of being sent to a POW camp, I
was sent to the concentration camp at Buchenwald. "Eighty-one
other American airmen were held there. On two occasions I
was told that I would be shot the next morning; they would go through
the whole process of preparing for the execution, then change their
minds. At the end of three months I was nothing but skin and bones, and
felt I was approaching death. Then the Luftwaffe interceded, and all of
the Americans at Buchenwald were transferred to Stalag Luft 3. With the
approach of Russian and American forces in late April 1945, we were all
able to walk away to safety. But I am still haunted by those events in
1944 and 1945." I
last saw Glenn on July 10, 1996, when I went to Sacramento, CA to have
dinner with him and his family. We had a wonderful evening, reviewing
those days so long ago. For those few hours we were once again young
fighter pilots, remembering the buddies we had lost and the amazing
events of our wartime lives. The photograph below was taken by Glenn's
wife, Sandy, on that evening of July 10, 1996 at their home. Glenn
had been fighting cancer, and a few months later it again struck him.
He died about six months later. But I will always remember him as he
was, when we went through flight training and shipped overseas
together. His incredible stories about bailing out of his P-47, and his
time in Buchenwald are truly unique. Such was the world in which we
lived.
DOWN
AND OUT
(A WAR STORY)
Luke Field – Class of 44-A"From
the time I first went into combat, I could see that the odds were great
that I would ultimately be shot down. Each night while lying on my cot,
I would review the procedure for bailing out. I wanted to have
everything clearly fixed in my mind, so the process would be as close
to automatic as possible.
The Endless Trauma of A Deadly Combat MissionBy Quentin C. Aanenson Up to this time most of the Germans had been crossing at night to escape our attacks, but on this particular day – with Patton’s tanks rapidly approaching them – the Germans were forced into trying to cross during the daytime. It was late afternoon near the town of les Andelys when we suddenly spotted them. What happened during the next 10 minutes will stay fixed in my memory as long as I live. The German troops were crowded on barges, in small boats, just anything that would float. We caught the barges in midstream, and the killing began. I was the third plane in the attack, and when I pulled in on the target a terrible sight met my eyes. Men were desperately trying to get off the barges into the water, where large numbers of men were already fighting to make it to shore. My eight .50 caliber machine guns fired a hundred rounds a second into this hell. As the last P-47 pulled off the target, the first plane was making its second strafing pass, and the deadly process continued. In about three passes we had used up our ammunition, so we pulled up and circled this cauldron of death. I don’t know how many men we killed that day, but the numbers had to be very high. All of the pilots were quiet as we flew back to our base in Normandy – there was no radio chatter. We each shared the agony of what we had just done. We were traumatized, but there had been no other option. If we had let them go, we knew that they would be killing American boys in a couple of days. In my nightmares I still vividly picture that scene. After more than 50 years, it still haunts me. I deal with it, but think for a moment what it must be like to have to deal with it. There is no glamour in war. You kill people – and you see your friends die. The only honor involved is what you yourself bring to the process. You try to do the job you know you must do – and you try desperately to keep your sanity. But you are forever changed. You are no longer young; in a matter of months you have aged years. Though you have physically survived, you have lost more than life itself; you have lost part of your soul. |
Quentin
&
Jackie Aanenson & Ken Burns in Los Angeles in
July 2007
Ken
Burns, the outstanding documentary filmmaker, broadcast his great epic
documentary, entitled The
War,
on PBS beginning September 23, 2007. I was honored to be involved in
many episodes of this show.
For highlights of the world premiere of The War, click here. |
For information about Quentin's personal
documentary, "A Fighter Pilot's Story," you can email Quentin's
daughter at
his boldtiger address. Artist
William R.Farrell of New York City has created an impressive
painting of Captain Quentin Aanenson standing with his P-47 Thunderbolt
airplane. This painting, the Thunderbolt
Patriot, pays tribute to those
pilots who served their country in time of war. A photo of this
painting and information about it can be found by
clicking here.
Wesley Johnston's Dad's War