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28th Bomb Group

Where Were You On September 11th?

No .... I'm not referring to the terrorist attack in New York City, which I also watched all day long on 9/11/2001. My September 11th was one of my most memorable days. It came in 1943 on a bombing mission to Paramushira in the northern islands of Japan.

I was a T/Sgt. Photo Gunner with the 404th Bomb Squadron (H) in the 11th Air Force. I flew with a different crew on just about every mission the squadron was involved in, since we were short of photographers. On 9/11/43 I was flying with the J.J. Jones crew. On the plane that day were: Lt. Jerome J. Jones, pilot; Lt. Raymond K. Underwood, co-pilot; Lt. James S. Elliott, navigator; Lt. Roy L. Lemons, bombardier; S/Sgt. Walter E. Rodd, top turret; S/Sgt. Vale W Wright, radar operator; S/Sgt. Jack Leffler, tail gunner; S/Sgt. Charles Beech, gunner; T/Sgt. Dwight C. Lambe, engineer; T/Sgt. John Stroo, radio man; and T/Sgt. Alexander D. Ciurczak, photographer.

We took off on the 10th of September, 1943 from Adak Island and headed to a forward base on Attu Island at the end of the Aleutian Island chain. The idea was to give our B-24s the necessary range to the target by using an extra bomb bay tank for the long overwater Bering Sea flight.

On September 11, 1943 at 0800 we took off along with every available B-24 and B-25 of the 11th Air Force and headed west. This was not like an 8th Air Force mission. With two dozen aircraft, this was one of the largest show of bombers in the North Pacific theatre of operation. No fighter escort, just lots of gunners manning .50 caliber guns from two turrets on each plane (we had no belly turrets on the B-24s), two waist guns and two flexible guns in the bombardier's compartment and two forward fixed guns mounted under the deck operated by the pilot from the cockpit.

The following is taken from my diary: September 11, 1943: Took off at 8 o'clock for Paramushira. Trip was uneventful on the way out, but after the bombs dropped on the target our flight was attacked by a flock af Zeros. We all headed for the deck, and when we got there we stayed at about 50 feet. Major Gash's ship on our right wing crashed in the water not over a hundred feet frorn us due to enemy fighter action (Feuer was the photographer on that ship). It sure was a shock to see them hit the water; for I knew the crew well since l flew with them on other missions, especially Walter Feuer whom I have known since I first joined the Army.

The Zeros kept coming. We got, hit above the bomb bays. All our radios were knocked out and another shell put a big hole in our deicer tanks and hydraulic system. It's lucky we didn't blow up. I went up to the flight deck to tell Lambe (our engineer) about the deicer tanks. Just as I stuck my head in the door, two 20mm shells hit the top hatch and went off when they hit the armor plate of the top turret. The plane was filled with smoke. When it cleared a bit I climbed in to talk to Lambe, who was standing behind the pilot and copilot. Just then a shell hit the front windshield, hitting the copilot in the.face. Lambe and I got the copilot out of his seat, sat him in the corner and Lambe got into the copilot seat. I took care of the copilot. He was bleeding like a stuck pig. I ripped open all the first aid kits I could,find and put on all the bandages, but the blood kept on coming. I then ripped off my winter underwear, for it was the cleanest thing I could think of, and wrapped it around his head and face leaving an opening near his mouth so he could breathe. The blood slowed up so I gave him some sulfanilamide tablets. He was sure taking it well, didn't squawk one bit, even when I gave him a shot of morphine in the leg to ease the pain. A shell hit alongside me, just above the radio table, and the felt lining of the plane caught fire. I put it out by pulling the felt loose. The Zeros finally left and was I glad, and so was the rest of the crew, especially the pilot for it was a hard job flying the plane with one hand (the shell that came through the front windshield had also hit him in the right arm.) It's a good thing that Lambe, our engineer; knew a lot about flying and he really helped the pilot. When we were sure the Zeros had gone for good, Lt. Lemons, our bombardier, came up to the flight deck, and we cleared the empty shells from the top turret and made a place for the copilot to lie down. We had a few blankets and bed rolls in the plane so we wrapped them around him to keep him warm.

The Rufe was born out of the Japanese Navy's need for a single-seat fighter that could be used primarily from military installations on small Pacific Islands, where it was impossible to build landing fields. Except for the addition of floats and some minor structural changes, it was almost identical to the Zero in design and performance. Here, Rufes defend Japanese shipping from American B-25s and P-38s during the Aleutian campaign.

Then I left the flight deck and went to the back of the ship where the gunners were talking about the Zeros they had shot down. Rodd, the top turret gunner, found a hole rnade by a 30 caliber bullet in the bill of his hat (he wore it with the bill turned up.) There were a lot of happy gunners, four Zeros to the ships credit. (Top turret - one; fixed nose guns -one; tail gunner - one; left waist gun - one.) Our happy spell didn't last long, for when the engineer tried to transfer fuel from the bomb bay tank to the wing tanks, he found that the pump wouldn't work. That meant that we had about one chance in ten of making it back to Attu. The pilot gave the order to toss everything out of the plane that was loose. Everything went out the bottom hatch; machine guns, cameras, radio equipment, and we even chopped the armor plate out alongside the gunners position and tossed that out the bottom hatch. We all put on our life vests and went up forward so the ship would fly better. I don't know about the others, but that's when I started to pray and think. I guess this was the hardest I ever prayed in my life. The thought that kept running through my mind was not being able to see Kitty, my wife, again. The engineer and I climbed into the bomb bay and tried to fix the fuel pump. No use; we didn't have the tools. All we could do was pray. According to the gas gauge, we had enough fuel left in our wing tanks to fly until 6 o'clock. The navigator told us we would hit land at 5:55. I relaxed a little, for l knew if the weather was clear we coul find the field. At 5:15 we were told to go to the back and prepare for a crash landing. We packed our sleeping bags against the rear bulkhead. While this was going on, the radio operator was helping the pilot fly the ship. We all stuck our noses to the windows to look for signs of land.

At 5:55 we spotted land and our hopes went up. Fog was rolling in, no sign of the airstrip. The ship banked sharply and headed away from shore. We didn't know what was going on, but found out later that the pilot couldn't find the Attu landing strip and headed for Shemya, sixteen miles away. It was 6 o'clock and our gas gauges read empty. We were flying on borrowed time. Landing gear went down. We heard the wheels hit the end of the strip and we all jurnped out and hailed a Jeep, sending the driver for an ambulance. We all helped the co-pilot out the ship and waited for the ambulance. The mission was over. Looking the ship over later, we found that it was full of holes, and it's a wonder it didn't fall apart.

I'll always remember the co-pilot as we helped him out of the ship at the end of the flight. His head was covered with my bloody underwear. He was standing and he wanted to pee. Someone said, "Pee in your pants." He said, "Are you kidding?" The ambulance came after he relieved himself near the nose wheel and climbed onto the stretcher. They slid him in and away they went. Although I had tossed out the cameras when we got the word to lighten the load, I kept the exposed film magazines and headed to the base photo lab. Great pictures. Wasn't able to keep a set ("Classified").

I will always remember September 11, 1943.

Al Ciurczak, Father of our 2ADA/Fulbright Librarian, Alexis Ciurczak. Reprinted with permission from Bomber Legends. Editor’s Note: Retired U.S. Air Force Capt. Al Ciurczak received two DFCs during his Aleutian Island tour. The Journal 2nd Air Division. Volume 44 Number 2, Summer 2005.

The 28th Bombardment Group started out in Dec, 1939, as the 28th Composite Group. It was activated on Feb. 1st, 1940 and it was redesignated the 28th Bombardment Group (Composite) In Dec. 1943. During the period of 1941 to 1943, the aircraft flown by the group included the P-38, P-39, P-40, B-26 and LB30's. From the time period of 1944 on, the group used B-24 and B-25 bombers.

The group operated solely in Alaska from Feb. of 1941 until the end of WWII. The group saw early action in helping to repel the Japanese ships that were attacking Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in June of 1942. The 28th BG flew missions against the only Japanese help US land on the North American continent during WWII- Attu and Kiska Islands in the Aleutian Island chain of Alaska. From the time that the Japanese left those islands, until the end of the war, the 28th BG flew missions against the Japanese bases in the Kurile Islands. These missions included bombing and strafing airfields, military installations, shipping and other targets, as well as photo reconnaissance missions to help with the the planning of other operations.

The 28th BG was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its' operations of April 1944 to August 1945, during which its' attacks on the targets based in the Kurile Islands forced the Japanese to move some of their valuable air power to this region, therefore reducing the available air power in the southern areas, which in turn helped out the Allied forces attacking there.

The group, being a composite group, consisted of bomb squadrons and fighter squadrons for a period of time. The two fighter squadrons, the 11th pursuit and 18th pursuit, were only attached to the group for a short time. The 11th was assigned to the Western Theatre of Operations, and attached to the Provisional Interceptor Command, Alaska, from 2 Jan '42 until 2 Feb '42. Then assigned to the 28th Composite group, they were there from 2 Feb '42 until the 7th of June, '42. From there they were moved to the XIth Fighter Command, and became a squadron for a new group, the 343rd Fighter Group.

The 18th Pursuit Squadron was also only with the 28th Composite Group for a short time, although longer than the 11th was. Formed on Feb 1, 1940, they were assigned to the 28th Composite Group on 24 Feb, 1941, and moved to the XIth Fighter Command, and the 343rd Fighter Group on the 7th of June, 1942.

The Aleutian Warriors The history of the 11th Air Force and Fleet Wing 4 in the campaign during the early part of WWII along the 1,000 mile chain of islands from Alaska to Asia. This is a forgotten war fought in a forbidding land. Describes Dutch Harbor's bombing, the invasion of Kiska and Attu and the subsequent air battles against both the Japanese and the elements.

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