[mhackl]

BY MICHAEL OVERALL
Tulsa World Staff Writer

They had been out partying until 3 a.m., so when the Japanese attacked at sunrise the two American pilots jumped out of bed and pulled on the only clothes they had within Teasy reach. That’s how Ken Taylor ruined his tuxedo pants. Dogfighting above Hawaii, Taylor’s plane was riddled with bullets, one ripping through the cockpit, narrowly missing his head before it ricocheted and exploded, fragments tearing into his leg. [font=Arial]Decades later, when Taylor told the story to his friend John Meek, he didn’t complain about the wound. “He was upset about his pants,” Meek says. “He never talked about his injury.” In December 1941, the Tulsa World and other newspapers across the country ran stories that declared Taylor and his friend George Welch “the first official heroes of World War II” because they were the only American pilots to get off the ground and fight back during the Dec. 7 attack. A native Oklahoman just like Taylor — who went to high school in Hominy, northwest of Tulsa — Meek has tried for five years to persuade the U.S. military to give Taylor its highest honor, the Medal of Honor. Two weeks ago, Meek went to Hawaii to conduct further research into Taylor’s actions at Pearl Harbor. [font=Arial]When he got back to his current home in Arizona, he was posting new photos to his Web site — www.pearlharborhero.net— when Taylor’s wife called. “She told me that he had passed away that Saturday night,” Nov. 25, Meek said. “He didn’t live to see it, but I’m not giving up.’’ Taylor deserved the Medal of Honor, and his death doesn’t change that, Meek said. After the war, Taylor served in the Air Force with Meek’s father-in-law, and after meeting at a family dinner party, the two became good friends, despite being a generation apart in age. “I didn’t know that he was a big hero,” Meek remembered. “You would never know it talking to him. He never boasted, never bragged.” On the 30th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, Meek threw a party for Taylor at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. And Taylor finally shared his story with the other guests. But even then, he acted as if it had been easy to take off and fight against 300 enemy planes with only one wingman on his side, Meek said. And he left out many of the most thrilling details, such as the bullet ripping into his leg. It would take several more years for Meek to drag the full story out of him. “Heroes don’t talk about their own heroism — they just don’t,” said Meek, who became acquainted with several Medal of Honor recipients while working in public affairs in Washington, where he was involved with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

“If there’s one thing that I’ve seen that heroes all seem to have in common, it’s that they don’t consider themselves to be heroes. They were just doing what needed to be done.” On this day sixty-five years ago, Pearl Harbor needed to be defended. U.S. forces were caught so offguard that most planes at the major air base, Wheeler Field, were parked in a group out in the open — an easy target for the attacking Japanese. But by lucky coincidence, Taylor and Welch’s P-40 fighters were parked at an auxiliary field, unmarked on Japanese maps and therefore untargeted. They raced to the field in Taylor’s Buick and were the only Americans to counterattack, Meek said. Their actions became highly publicized in the early days of the war, and were later celebrated in several books and movies, including the 1970 Hollywood epic “Tora! Tora! Tora!” Taylor and Welch received the Distinguished Service Cross — a high honor, but not enough for Meek. Meek has a theory why. After their first dogfight, Taylor and Welch landed to refuel and reload their guns with higher caliber ammunition. An officer excitedly jumped on the wing of one aircraft and ordered them to get out of their cockpits and stay on the ground, where it was safer. Taylor and Welch disobeyed those orders and took off again, downing several more Japanese aircraft before the attacks ended. “They had a reputation for being troublemakers,” Meek said. “They were also known as the hottest pilots around, but they weren’t by-the-book.” Welch died in 1954. And now — with Taylor gone, too — it’s time to overlook the flaws and give both heroes the honor they deserve, Meek said.

“It’s long past due,” he said. “They both should’ve lived to see it.”

[wmosner]

Great article.

Not one word about Pearl Harbor in the front section of the Baltimore Sunpaper today.

[STARMAN 352ND]

That was a great article on the pilots.
This is the day we rememeber those we lost on Dec 7th..
JP

[1250ships]

Originally Posted by mhackl

In December 1941, the Tulsa World and other newspapers across the country ran stories that declared Taylor and his friend George Welch “the first official heroes of World War II” because they were the only American pilots to get off the ground and fight back during the Dec. 7 attack.”

This bit is wrong- they were not the only pilots to get off the ground and fight back. According to one of the Army's histories:

Another flight from Haleiwa had a less happy result when one of its planes, a P-36, was shot down by machine-gun fire from Schofield Barracks. Six P-36's managed to get into the air from Wheeler Field during the attack, and four of them engaged the nine enemy planes which attacked Bellows Field. American pilots claimed two of the Japanese, and one of their own number was shot down.

If you are a hero for getting up and mixing it up in a P-40 you certainly are for getting up in a P-36. There is an inexpensive 1/72 P-36 model representing one of the aircraft. All plastic and certainly not up to Easy Model quality but for under $10 I was satisfied.

[bsmith13]

Thanks for posting that. I hope Congress does the right thing and awards the medal.

[SkyBuffalo]

Great story about Ken Taylor. But the info. from 125oships is correct. I have this plane, too. I don't know what company its from or where exactly I got it. I just remember I got it a couple of years ago as a freebie from an online store that goofed up an order of mine. It's not much in the way of great diecast, but it's got the best story of any plane I have. Here it is :

Curtiss P-36 Hawk, Lt. Philip Rasmussen, Wheeler Field, Oahu, December 7, 1941

Attack on Pearl Harbor, Sunday morning, December 7th, 1941 :
Twenty seven Aichi “Val” dive bombers had bombed the ordered rows of planes at Wheeler Field and fighters began to strafe from a loose counter-clockwise formation. All 60 new P-40s were a burning shambles. Lt. Philip Rasmussen ran to the flight line in his pajamas and found himself watching the P-40s exploding and cooking off like oversized firecrackers. Men of all ranks tended wounded and dying, tried to save planes and equipment, or just tried to fight back somehow. Downwind under dense black smoke, a handful of older P-36s somehow remained undamaged. Soldiers wrestled them into revetments and worked like demons to fuel and arm them. It was very dangerous work. Gasoline ignites easily, and the only belted ammunition was in a burning hanger with live rounds cooking off! But a group of soldiers whose names are now lost to history armed and fueled 4 obsolescent P-36s in the middle of the attack. Lt. Lewis "Lew" Sanders picked Lieutenants Neil Norris, Phil Rasmussen, and John Thacker to accompany him. As he led them out, Norris searched for a better fitting parachute, and Lt. Gordon Sterling just climbed into his plane. Handing his watch to a mechanic, he said “See that my mother gets this. I won't be back”. The planes took off downwind through the smoke around 0850.

At 11,000 feet, Fighter Control vectored them toward Bellows Field. Sighting eleven planes below at 6000 feet, Sanders signaled to engage (wondering what happened to Norris), and they dove. Sanders left a plane smoking and falling off, 360ed to clear his tail, and saw Sterling shooting at a plane in a near vertical dive. A Zero split S-ed onto Sterling's tail and Sanders then got on his. Sterling's P-36 and his target fell blazing and his pursuer dove, trailing white smoke. When Sanders pulled out of his dive, there were no planes to be seen, only sky and water.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen had shot up a "Val" dive bomber, and was set upon by two Zero fighters. He survived by ducking into a cloud. Thacker couldn't get his guns to work and made toothless dry runs at the enemy. They got wise and damaged him; he flew inland to escape. Sanders got on the tail of another fighter and as they climbed, he found himself being badly outmaneuvered. He was somehow able to disengage with a newfound respect for the highly nimble Zero. Intelligence would later try to tell him the Japanese had no aircraft so maneuverable, but Lew Sanders had just been there and done that! He had survived a major violation of future US fighter doctrine:
Don't go one on one and try to outmaneuver a Zero!

Rasmussen defied gravity and flew back with over 500 bullet and cannon holes in his plane: it was scrap. His landing looked like a stunt pilot doing the drunk act at a state fair. He asked for another plane. Still wearing his pajamas under his flight suit, he had some fight left, but there wasn't another plane for him. Sanders made two more flights that day, dodging friendly fire both times, but the Japanese were gone.


Although the Hawk was designed for the USAAC, its only combat with that service was at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 when it scored the first US kills of the Pacific war. Thirty-nine Hawks were part of the USAAC defense at Pearl, posted to 78 Sqdn., 18th PG and 46 and 47 Sqdns., 15 PG. Lt. Harry Brown of the 47th PS was one of four Hawk pilots that got into the air and destroyed 2 Nakajima B5N2 Kates of the second wave. Some reports indicate as many as 10 Hawks became airborne, scoring four kills. This action has been detailed in a number of sources.


BOOYA! What a way to start your day! 500 bullet holes while in your PJs!

[bsmith13]

I've heard of these pilots before...where did you get the story?

Couple of things to pick nits with, the USAAC was redesignated the USAAF in June of 1941. Most WWII veterans refer to it as the "Air Corps", but it was the "Air Force" by the time the shooting started. Also, though the P-36 only saw combat at Pearl Harbor, the H75 export version saw combat in France in the spring of 1940, where it was overmatched by the Bf109. Funny thing though, when the Fw190 first showed up, RAF intel tried to tell the pilots that they were encountering captured H75s; H75s that apparently had been upgraded to the point where they could outperform Spitfire Mk Vs.

[SkyBuffalo]

I copied the story from a website online. I don't remember where exactly. But it matched the info. from the model plane's original box, plus it matched info. I found online from the Honolulu Gazette that ran a story about the P-36 pilots shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack.

[STARMAN 352ND]

You look at the P-36 and it has a nose like a Wildcat and a tail like a Warhawk.
I remember that story on Rasmussen and the P-36 Hawk's during the attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7,1941.
But the P-40's and that of Ken Taylor are the ones your hearing about all the time and it seems they forget about Rasmussem and the P-36's.
JP