Logbook questions - John Condon

[Snaker]

I purchased a log book recently with several other items from an army soldier named George Bechtel.  When studying the log book the cover has two names:  J P Condon written on the name line and also Bechtel's name written at the bottom of the cover.   It is an earlier logbook as it has the slide in clasp on the back.  There are four flight entries all from 1932 and description of one of the flights in the back of the book.  All the other pages have lists of movies and songs.  I am wondering if J P Condon named on the cover is the same person who later helped plan the Yamamoto attack.   He was stationed at Anapolis in 1932 which corresponds to the flight enteries.  I just cannot figure out why the army soldier would have had this book with his stuff??  Any thoughts or discussion is welcome.  See photos for details.  

[R Leonard]

John Pomeroy Condon was at USNA, a Midshipman 2/c in 1932, class of 1934.  These were aviation indoctrination flights for midshipmen conducted under VN-8D5 out of the Naval Air Detail Annapolis air station across the Severn from the academy by aircraft brought in for the purpose with a rated naval aviator actually driving.  Note that there were a number of passengers/crew aboard each flight, a 2d pilot, 1 to 2 crewman, and 5 to 7 midshipmen, all noted as 2d classmen.  Would not have been surprised if each of the midshipmen aboard each flight got to spend a few minutes in the 2d pilot seat.

 

In the 1932 time period LT Haynes (Haynes, not Hayne) was probably Phil LeRoy Haynes from VP-8S; LT Ketcham (Ketcham not Ketchum) probably Dixwell Ketcham assigned to USNA; LT Johnson probably either, or possibly both, LT Douglas Pollock Johnson or LT William David Johnson, both out of NAS Hampton Roads; LT Morris was probably LTJG Loren Arthur Morris assigned to VP-7B.

 

Mission of the Naval Air Detail was for the training of midshipmen as required, usually with 2 to 3 utility planes and “. . . such as required . . .”  Naval Station Hampton Roads had VN-6D5 with VN type aircraft “ . . . for primary training of line officers . . .” and VJ types for “. . . advanced training of line officers and reserves.”  Also stationed there was VJ-4D5 with VJ types for general utility purposes and VX-1D5 with VJ types “. . . and such planes for experimental purposes as may be assigned.”  This would probably explain the XP4N types.

 

All of the aircraft listed were patrol type flying boats though I note he has b/n 8486 as a PM-2 . . . 8486 was not a PM-2, it was a Fairchild XJ2Q-1, the Fairchild Model 71, a commercial transport purchased by the USN for evaluation.  I suspect he has the type, PM-2, correct, but the b/n incorrect.  The XP4N-1 was a product of the Naval Aircraft Factory, a further development of the PN-11 with a wider hull.  The P3M-2, b/n 8414 was a Martin patrol plane, this particular one a upgrade conversion from the P3M-1 with upgraded engines and an enclosed cockpit.  The PM-2 was the Martin version of the NAF PN-12, a twin engine biplane flying boat.  The -2 had an enclosed cockpit.

 

1st Lieutenant John P Condon, USMC, was designated a naval aviator on 23 December 1937, #5462

 

From his obituary in the Golden Eagles Chronolog:

 

“Major General John Pomeroy Condon was born on December 20, 1911 in Hancock, Michigan. He graduated from high school in Houghton, Michigan in 1929. He attended Severn School in Severna Park, Maryland before entering the U. S. Naval Academy in 1930. He graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD in 1934, where he was Captain of the lacrosse team his first class year and an all-American. The lacrosse team also beat Army that year. Following graduation, he attended The Basic School (TBS) at the Philadelphia Navy Yard where he graduated in 1935.

 

“Following TBS, Lt. Condon's tours of duty included sea duty in USS Pennsylvania and company officer with the Sixth Marines. He reported to flight training in November 1936, and was designated a Naval Aviator in December 1937. He joined Marine Fighting Squadron One at Quantico in 1938. He was promoted to Captain in July 1940. Departing Quantico in October 1940 for temporary duty at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he joined Marine Fighter Squadron 121 and moved the squadron to San Diego in December 1941. He was promoted to Major in May 1942, and embarked for the Pacific in January 1943. During the next six months he saw service on Guadalcanal with Fighter Command, Solomon Islands. As the Operations Officer of Fighter Command, he was responsible for planning missions for the Marine, Navy and Army Air Force squadrons in the area. It was here that he planned the mission to intercept and shoot down the aircraft carrying Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Japan's Navy Minister and Commander In Chief of the Combined (Japanese) Fleet. Admiral Yamamoto was on an inspection tour of Japanese units in the southwest Pacific. The U. S. had broken the Japanese code and knew their itinerary for the Admiral and his party. The operation took place on 18 April 1943. As Admiral Yamamoto's planes arrived over Bougainville in the northern Solomons at 0935, they were met by 16 P-38 Lightnings of the Army Air Force. The Admiral's plane was shot down by one of the P-38's and he died in the crash. In his official history of the Naval war in the Pacific, Navy Rear Admiral Samuel Elliot Morrison said that "...the neat, planned kill was equivalent to a major victory." Major Condon was awarded his first of four Legion of Merit with Combat "V" for his service on Guadalcanal with Fighter Command, Solomon Islands. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in July 1943 and became Commanding Officer, Fighter Command, Forward Echelon, 1st MAW. In September, he led his command ashore at Bougainville. After returning to the States in 1944, he became Group XO at MCAS Santa Barbara. July 1945 saw him on Okinawa as Operations Officer of MAG-33 until he became CO of MAG-14 in September. In November, he became XO of MAG-31 and returned with MAG-31 to the States as the CO in July 1946. The period August 1946 to April 1948 saw then Lieutenant Colonel Condon in Washington, D.C. as Liaison Officer to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air). In April 1948 he was transferred to MCAS El Toro as CO of VMF-311, the first Marine jet squadron on the west coast.

 

“He attended the Air War College at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Alabama in August 1949, and was promoted to Colonel that same year. Upon graduation in 1950, he was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he served until April 1952. He arrived in Korea for combat duty in May where he commanded MAG-33 and MAG-12. MAG-33's squadrons were the first Marine jets in combat and MAG-12's F4U Corsairs saw the last combat for that magnificent propeller driven fighter in the Marine Corps. He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross during combat action in Korea.

 

“Colonel Condon reported to Headquarters Marine Corps in 1953. In August 1953, he was transferred down to the Marine Corps Educational Center, Quantico, Virginia where he became the Chief of Staff in August 1954. He left Quantico in February 1956 for the 2d MAW at Cherry Point where he became the Assistant Wing Commander in May 1957.

 

“In April 1958 he reported for duty as Deputy Director for Operations (J-3) Division, H.Q., U. S. European Command. He was promoted to Brigadier General on 1 July 1958. In June 1961, he assumed command as CG, 1st MAW, in Iwakuni, Japan. He was promoted to Major General while he was CG, 1st MAW. He left Japan and reported to El Toro as CG, 3d MAW, which was his final tour of duty until he retired on 1 October 1962.

 

“Following his retirement from the Marine Corps, General Condon joined North American Aviation and the Rockwell International Corporation for a final fourteen year career in industry. He ended his industry career with retirement from Rockwell in 1976. At the time of his retirement, he had just completed two years as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Alliance of Businessmen. He had been selected as a loaned executive from Rockwell International, where he was then Assistant to the President of the Corporation.

 

“Besides a B.S. in Engineering from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1934, General Condon also earned an MBA in Administration from the University of California, Irvine, in 1969 and a PhD in Administration from UCI in 1975. He was a past President of the Marine Corps Historical Foundation and a recipient of its Heritage Award. He was the author of a history of Marine aviation on aircraft carriers that is scheduled to be published by the U. S. Naval Institute Press. He was also a member of the Early and Pioneer Naval Aviators Association (The Golden Eagles), the Marine Corps Association., USNA Alumni Association, longtime Treasurer of the Naval Academy Class of 1934, and a very active golfing member of the Belle Haven Country Club.

 

“Major General John P. Condon, USMC (Ret.), died on 26 December 1996 of Lymphoma and an aneurism at his home in Alexandria, VA. Services were held in the Naval Academy Chapel on the 31 December with interment in the Naval Academy Cemetery. General Condon is survived by his wife Jane of Alexandria, Virginia; four daughters: Wendyn Anson of Boulder, CO; Mary Condon of Penngrove, CA; Jan D'Esposito of Islamorada, FL, and Catherine Condon of Laguna Beach, CA; seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.”

 

Just some aimless wandering about the internet and various tomes on the bookshelves and files in the cabinets; made for a mildly amusing morning.

[Snaker]

Thank you for that additional information!  These additional details are fascinating.

 

This indeed looks like it is Condon's logbook from 1932.  Why Betchel had it we will never know.  

 

I also attached another picture of a narrative description of one the flights that Condon wrote in the back of the book.  

 

 

[Adam Lewis]

John P Condon wrote an excellent book covering the late war deployments of USMC Corsairs on aircraft carriers (US Naval Institute Press 1997).  He was personally involved and knew many of the COs and other officers.    

At only 132 pages it's a very decent history plus interesting USMC/USN viewpoints on this era and its impact on future 'Marines on Carriers' deployments.

Adam Lewis

[Adam Lewis]

This was meant to go in the thread on Condon.

[Snaker]

Thanks for sharing about that book Adam.   I see they have a copy on Amazon.   I might have to pick it up!

[johnnydesign]

Sneaker, thank you so much for posting these images. My name is John Bertola and John Condon is my grandfather and namesake. Looking at your photographs it seems to me, based on his handwriting, that he did his five initial flights as a midshipman and then the book was repurposed by someone else. Including that list of records from the 1940s. Please let me know if there's some way I can convince you to share the rest of his notes. You've given me other members of my family such a thrill for this notebook to have resurfaced after so long. Thanks again!

[Snaker]

Hello!   Here are pictures of all the pages your grandfather had written on.  There were not that many but I am glad to share them with you. There was also a picture with writing on the back that he must have used in his studies.  Not sure if the writing on the back means he was overseas in 1931 but he could have been!  I couldn’t attach it to this post properly so it ended up being upside down.

[johnnydesign]

Snaker (hopefully not auto-corrected to "Sneaker" this time), thanks so much for this. It's an amazing time that we live in that total strangers can connect a few dots across such a long period of time. I'm off to work this morning but I look forward to going over all of this later today. Thank You! -JohnB