Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:47 | His training completed, Fred VanLaningham joined a special composite squadron of fighters and torpedo bombers as an aviation machinist's mate. He had dual roles as a mechanic and a gunner.
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Once Fred VanLaningham decided he was going to join the Navy, he had to get his parents permission because he was only seventeen. No way, you must graduate first. So he went to see if the principal could help him.
After boot camp at Great Lakes, Fred VanLaningham had excellent test scores because his high school principal altered the physics course to prep young men for military tests. He had his pick of training locations and headed to aircraft mechanics school.
The machine gun in the turret of the torpedo bomber had a fire interrupter that was supposed to prevent the gunner from shooting the tail or the wings of the aircraft. Fred VanLaningham was on a training flight over the California desert and manning the gun when it went haywire and did just that.
Aviation machinist's mate Fred VanLaningham was stationed in San Diego when he got the news that his brother had been killed in Normandy. He finally shipped out to the Pacific but his commander had him transferred to another unit where he wouldn't have to fly as a gunner.
Aviation machinist's mate Fred VanLaningham kept 'em flying in the Pacific and he was very happy when President Truman dropped the bomb. He could go home now but there was a problem. The trains and planes were full and the highway had a long line of hitchhikers. How would he get there?
On the island of Anguar, two sailors decided to have a quick draw contest. No one's going to shoot, we just want to see who's the fastest. What could go wrong? Fred VanLaningham remembers that fiasco. Years after the war, he traveled to the Pacific again as part of his job and got to see Ground Zero at Hiroshima.
In high school, Fred VanLaningham had played the marimba and the drums, so it seemed natural to join the Drum and Bugle Corps when he joined the Navy. It didn't sit well with one of his commanders, though. During his technical training, he got to meet up with his brother, who was on maneuvers nearby.
All sailors remember what happens when you cross the equator. Fred VanLaningham recalls that day and the outrageous rituals. It was special because they also crossed the International Date Line.
During a stop at the Admiralty Islands, Fred VanLaningham had a nice R&R. A little too nice because his buddies from his old unit were there.
