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WWII US AIR CORPS BRIGADIER GENERAL L.G. SAUNDERS LETTER AFTER AIRPLANE CRASH

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Why is it I have never heard of Brigadier General Saunders before? A quick search yealded all kinds of information. This guy was the real deal.

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https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=80df076e0135cd10JmltdHM9MTcyOTk4NzIwMCZpZ3VpZD0xZjJkZDU2Mi1jYmVmLTZmYjktMWQ4My1kYWY5Y2ExNDZlMDUmaW5zaWQ9NTM2Mg&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=1f2dd562-cbef-6fb9-1d83-daf9ca146e05&psq=WWII+US+AIR+CORPS+BRIGADIER+GENERAL+L.G.+SAUNDERS+LETTER+AFTER+AIRPLANE+CRASH&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudW50b3RoZWJyZWFjaC5uZXQvMTk0Mi8xMS8xOC9sYXZlcm5lLWctc2F1bmRlcnMtbmF2eS1jcm9zcy1jaXRhdGlvbi8&ntb=1

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The name on the letter kind of had me wondering, turns out  his nickname was Blondy.

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Experience for Air General
Berkshire Evening Eagle ~ Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Thursday, January 14, 1943 

HEADQUARTERS SEVENTH AIR FORCE IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC (AP) -- Brig. Gen. Laverne G. Saunders, who led six bombing raids on Japanese shops and bases in the Solomon Islands, and met fighter opposition in each raid, believes a day and night shelling was the worst experience he had in more than five months in that area.

"I wouldn't want to go through another night like that," said the general, who has just come out of the Solomons for the first time since he entered that battle area in July.

"We had just returned from raiding Buka (on the northern tip of Bougainville Island) where we hit tow Japanese transports. Coming over Guadalcanal we saw our own destroyers firing their antiaircraft guns.

"I was afraid they might be mistakenly shooting at us. Then I saw 30 Japanese bombers overhead. They dropped a string of bombs but missed the Guadalcanal landing strip, so we landed and they left. This was about 12.30 PM.

"We thought that would be all for the day, but the Japs came over again. We dove into a bomb crater which was covered by a few palm tree trunks. The trunks seemed to be too widely spaced, so we pulled them closer together. The raiders succeeded in damaging the field runway.

"Then wham!  At 6 PM, old Millimeter Mike ( a Japanese 75 mm field gun) started shelling the field and everybody hit the foxholes again. They dumped bombs on us all night and kept at least two bombers overhead at all times. 

"At 1 AM all hell broke loose! Two enemy battleships and some cruisers began working us over. Let Burroughs tell you about that."
Lieut. Hulbert Burroughs of Los Angeles, son of the writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, laughed and said, "That night I jumped into the garbage dump."

Gen. Saunders continued the narrative: "There were two atheists in near-by foxholes. Pretty soon one of them yelled to the other in a foxhole 50 feet away, 'Brother, do you see the light?'

"'Not yet,' the other atheist shouted back. 

"A little later the first man yelled again. 'Brother, do you see the light now?'

"Then somebody in my foxhole shouted, 'Just stick your head out of this hole and you'll see plenty of light'

"The shelling continued until dawn. It was a tough night.

"People who read about a shelling don't think much of it, but those who have gone through such a shelling don't want any part of it."
 

Dave

Dave

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I had one of his uniforms ages ago (maybe 30 years). My great uncle was still alive at the time and remembered Saunders as his coach on the Army football team during his time there (he was class of 1938). My great uncle later served with him in India with the first B-29s. 

 

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24 minutes ago, Dave said:

I had one of his uniforms ages ago (maybe 30 years). My great uncle was still alive at the time and remembered Saunders as his coach on the Army football team during his time there (he was class of 1938). My great uncle later served with him in India with the first B-29s. 

 

Dave, Everything I have read about Brigadier General Saunders indicates he was a first rate Officer. I'm wondering why I am just now learning about him. I'm looking for info on the B-25 he went in on.

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Date:Saturday 16 September 1944

Time:01:25

Type:    
North American B-25D Mitchell

Owner/operator:United States Army Air Force (USAAF)

Registration:41-30456

MSN:

Fatalities:Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 4

Other fatalities:0

Aircraft damage:Destroyed

Location:Piardoba/ 2mi NE -    India

Phase:Take off

Nature:Military

Departure airport:Piardoba India

Destination airport:Khargpur, India

Narrative:
Crashed on takeoff. Piloted by Gen. LaVerne G. "Blondie" Saunders of the 58th BW and XX Bomber Command. Blondie survived, but lost part of his leg or foot. He also lost his future as CO of the 58th BW. The three other passenbers were Anthony S. Vierling (survived), Edward J. Brown, Jr who died and Maybelle Hostetter, an Army nurse, who also died. They were attending the grand opening of an Officers' CLub in Piaradoba. Left therre at 0125 and crashed in the jungle 2-3 miles out. A plane piloted by Co. Alfred Kalberer and Gen. LeMay found the crash site, landed, and then found the plane. Saunders had an engine crushing his foot.

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"Crashed on takeoff. Piloted by Gen. LaVerne G. "Blondie" Saunders of the 58th BW and XX Bomber Command. Blondie survived, but lost part of his leg or foot. He also lost his future as CO of the 58th BW. The three other passenbers were Anthony S. Vierling (survived), Edward J. Brown, Jr who died and Maybelle Hostetter, an Army nurse, who also died. They were attending the grand opening of an Officers' CLub in Piaradoba. Left therre at 0125 and crashed in the jungle 2-3 miles out. A plane piloted by Co. Alfred Kalberer and Gen. LeMay found the crash site, landed, and then found the plane. Saunders had an engine crushing his foot." ...Attending the Grand opening of a club? Hmmm. Nurce Hostetter was married, but that photo with her and Anderson is one her husband wouldn't like. On Sgt Edward J. Brown JR,'S find a grave site no real information is provided. I assume he was the flight engineer. Nothing I have found tells why the B-25 crashed. Even Boughers list gives no information. I asked Pacific Wrecks if they have anything on the B-17 or B-25. I have found nothing on Anthony S, Vierling. I assume he was the co pilot. Another source says Saunders was the only survivor. Crashing 3 miles after takeoff is interesting.

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AAIR gives the crash date as September 18, 1944

 

Search results for: B-25D / 41-30456 /  Saunder / 

Crash Date
YYMMDDAircraft TypeAircraft S/NSquadronGroupHome BaseCommandAction CodeDamage CodePilotCountryStateLocation

440918B-25D41-30456Hq__20

KCRT

5

Saunders, La Verne G

IND

_Piardoba/ 2mi NE

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