My Dad, Marion Ernest Winter, was a Hellcat Fighter pilot on the WASP (CV18) during WWII, assigned to VF-81 (Known as the Freelancers) from November 1944 until January 1945 when his F6-F was damaged by heavy Anti-Aircraft Artillery during a bombing mission of a Japanese airfield on Formosa. Forced to ditch his plane in the South China Sea off the coast of China, he was miraculously rescued by Chinese Fishermen and avoided capture with the help of the same Chinese underground that aided the historic Doolittle Raid of "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo". My father's nickname was "Crash", not because of his war experience but from his time as an Allstate Texas Football player. Tragically ironic that he was killed in a collision with a fire truck while driving to his Dental Practice in 1964. I inherited most of my Dad's war memorabilia, photos and documents from his incredible War experience. A few years ago, I obtained from the Emil Buehler Naval Aviation Library at 1750 Radford Blvd, Suite C, Pensacola FL 32508-5402 his personnel records that included a copy of Report of Casualty that indicated he was missing in action. Additionally, I was able to obtain a copy of a book titled "THE STING OF THE WASP - Memoirs of a Navy Fighter Pilot WWII" written by Lt. William A Grant., USNR (Ret.) which was a daily journal of his experiences and the missions he survived while assigned to the WASP from Nov 7, 1944 to April 5, 1945. Sadly Bill Grant and most of the aviators of that "Greatest Generation" he served with have passed away.[1]</ref>
- ^ The Sting of the Wasp Memoirs of a Navy Fighter Pilot WII, Copyright 1997 by William A. Grant, Jr., Library of Congress Catalog Number 97-93107, ISBN 0-965-77260-8
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