Air Force Page #3

west of Manhattan except Jersey.

- I can use some of that coffee.

- I was just talking to the navigator.

- You know who his father was?

- Sure. Monk Hauser.

- Who's that?

- How old were you in the last war?

Older than you.

I was over on the other side.

And you never heard of Monk Hauser

with Eddie Rickenbacker's squadron?

Well, what do you know?

Was that Lieutenant Hauser's old man?

That's him. I knew him. He was plenty good

till they knocked him down.

Yeah, he sure was.

- Well, why ain't this kid of his a pilot?

- Tried too hard.

Yeah, like a lot of others.

- That's funny.

- What?

Hickam radio went off

right in the middle of a weather report.

- Maybe it faded out.

- It didn't sound like it.

- What is it? What is it?

- Wait.

Hey, Peterson, who you got tuned in,

Orson Welles?

- Shut up.

- Now...

Shut up.

Better tell the captain.

Radio operator to pilot.

Radio operator to pilot.

- Go ahead.

- Sir, Hickam Field's off the air.

I don't know what I've picked up.

You can listen in on R-2.

- What's that?

- I don't know.

- Chinese?

- No, Japs.

Number four to Major Roberts.

Number four to Major Roberts.

Stand by, Irish. I hear it.

Keep off the air.

01104 to Hickam radio.

01104 to Hickam radio.

Hickam radio, answer.

Hickam radio, answer, please.

01104 to Hickam radio.

A flight of B- 17s to Hickam

want landing instructions.

Hickam radio, answer, please.

Give me landing instructions

for a flight of B- 17s.

Hickam radio, give me a call, please.

01104 to Hickam radio.

Silence your radio!

Keep away from the field!

We're being attacked by enemy aircraft.

We're being attacked by enemy aircraft.

Land elsewhere. Land elsewhere.

Roberts to flight.

We're going into emergency fields.

You know where they are.

I'll take the one furthest north,

number nine, furthest south...

...the rest of you, in between.

Get on the ground

and stay there till you're clear.

You're on your own.

Peterson, send the crew chief up here

right away.

Get the rubber boats ready.

Pass out.45s and ammunition.

- Where do we go, Monk?

- Turn 120 degrees until I figure it out.

Okay, 120 degrees she is.

- I wish we were there.

- Yeah.

- If we only had machine-gun loads.

- I still got a throwing arm.

I'll heave a wrench

if any of them come our way.

Get the rubber boats ready.

- Pass out side arms.

- I've done that.

- Tell everybody to keep their eyes open.

- Yes, sir.

Put your life vests on.

Keep an eye out upstairs, kid.

- Put your life vests on, boys.

- Hey, sarge, is this really on the level?

You guess.

Winocki,

I told you to put your life vest on.

Relax, sergeant.

This is some kind of drill, and you know it.

Personally, I wouldn't care

if you left it off. Here.

Thanks, brigadier.

- Navigator to pilot.

- Go ahead.

Change course to 135. We ought to be

on the ground at Maui in 22 minutes.

Right, 135.

This one really is smaller

than a postage stamp.

Little more. That's about it.

- Looks like it here.

- Hold it there.

- Think it'll work, sergeant?

- It'll hold all right, sir.

- We gotta see if she'll retract.

- Because I made a mess out of the landing.

A wonder you got her in at all, sir.

This field wasn't built for the Mary-Ann.

Hey, captain, something's moving

over there in the brush.

Why, it's the lieutenants.

- You fellas look like you've had a trip.

- We did.

- Yeah, where's the water?

- Right here.

- You find the other field?

- Yeah, but no ammunition.

- How many of our flight there?

- Two. Both of them okay.

- Hi, there, Tommy.

- Hi.

- That accounts for everybody.

- Yeah.

Two more landed at Molokai,

and Roberts and the rest made Hickam.

- Cracked-up landing. Nobody was hurt.

- What have you heard?

- Nothing since noon.

- Sound bad at Hickam?

Doesn't sound good.

We had a little trouble ourselves

on the way back.

- What?

- Somebody took a crack at us.

- What do you mean?

- Just that.

We saw men in a cane field

and headed for them.

- They started popping away with rifles.

- Local Japs. Friendly fellas.

We lost them back there,

three or four miles.

I hope you did.

- Better get back to your bombsight, Tommy.

- Yeah.

Step on it, sergeant.

- Douse that light! Let's get out of here!

- Knock those wedges out.

Winocki, cut it out.

Knock this one out first.

Got this one.

- All right, shove!

- Shove.

Everybody in the ship!

- How do we get out of this chicken yard?

- We got in, didn't we?

Hey, they ain't kidding.

Did you see that bumblebee?

- Lock it.

- Locked.

Check the tanks

and see if they've been hit.

Yes, sir.

All right, all right. Let me alone.

- All right, all right.

- How are you feeling, Winocki?

- I owe you one for this.

- Yeah?

How far do you think you'd have gotten

in that brush?

They'd have cut you down

before you got to first base.

- Instead, you did it.

- Don't you know this is just a drill?

We could've had a fine scrap

with them snipers.

Couple of shots in the right place

could have set this ship afire.

Use your head, Winocki,

and stop trying to prove something.

My job is tail gunner.

What's yours, lecturing?

No. My job is to keep this thing flying.

05564 to Hickam Field.

05564 to Hickam Field.

Shut off your radio. Stay where you are.

Don't get off the ground.

05564 to Hickam.

Just cleared emergency field on Maui.

- Have to come down.

- Okay.

- Give me a call just before you come in.

- Roger.

Pilot to crew.

Take a good look at Pearl Harbor.

Maybe it's something

you'll want to remember.

Damn them. Damn them.

Now ain't you glad

you're getting out of the Army?

05564 to Hickam.

- Go ahead.

- Approaching the field from the south.

- Coming in for a landing.

- We won't be able to give you any lights.

- I can get in without them.

- Take the west side near the hangars.

Watch out for bomb craters

on the runway.

- Good luck to you.

- Roger.

Pilot to crew. Fasten your safety belts.

- Might be a rough landing.

- All set, sir.

All checked for landing.

- Give me full flaps.

- Flaps coming down.

- Landing lights.

- Lights.

Air speed 110.

One hundred.

- Captain Quincannon, sir.

- How are you, captain?

You made a good landing.

You were told to stay where you were.

- Yes, but we had to get out.

- Why?

- We were being shot at by snipers.

- At Maui?

- We didn't wanna lose the airplane.

- No, no, of course you didn't.

Didn't know about that.

You did the right thing, then.

Well, we've had our troubles around here

too, as you can see.

Yes, sir.

They certainly did a complete job of it.

What happened to those P-40s?

Three trucks arrived from Honolulu

this morning.

When the first Jap plane showed up,

the trucks went down the field...

...smashed the tails off every ship

on the land.

They sure had a field day.

Took the first round, but there'll be others.

- Yes, sir.

- Which one of you is McMartin?

- Me, sir.

- I have some bad news for you.

- You're wanted over at the hospital.

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