Pearl Harbor survivor tells his story during visit to Pentagon

(From the U. S. Department of Defense)

In 1940, William P. Bonelli, 19, had no desire to join the military. The nation was not yet at war, but Bonelli, who followed the war news in Europe and Asia, said he knew deep inside that war was coming, and probably soon.

Bonelli spoke during a Pentagon visit yesterday.

Rather than wait for the war to start and get a draft notice, Bonelli decided to enlist in the Army to select a job he thought he'd like: aviation.

Although he wanted to be a fighter pilot, Bonelli said that instead, the Army Air Corps made him an aviation mechanic.

After basic training, he was assigned to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, where he arrived by boat in September 1940.

On Dec. 6, 1941, Bonelli and a buddy went to a recreational camping area on the west side of Oahu. That evening, he recalled seeing a black vehicle parked on the beach with four Japanese men inside. The vehicle had two long whip antennas mounted to the rear bumper. Bonelli said he thought it odd at the time. Later, he added, he felt certain that they were there to guide enemy planes to targets.

Early Sunday morning, Dec. 7, Bonelli and his buddy drove back to the base. After passing Wheeler Army Airfield, which is next to Honolulu, they saw three small, single-engine aircraft flying very low.

"I had never seen these aircraft before, so I said, jokingly to my friend, 'Those aren't our aircraft. I wonder whose they are? You know, we might be at war,'" he remembered.

A few minutes later as they were approaching Hickam, the bombing started. Since they were on an elevation, Bonelli said, they could see the planes bombing the military bases as well as Ford Island, where Navy ships were in flames, exploding and sinking.







Bonelli and his buddy went to the supply room at Hickam to get rifles and ammunition.

"I got in line," he said. "The line was slow-moving because the supply sergeant wanted rank, name and serial number. All the time, we were being strafed with concentrated bursts.

"Several men were hit but there were no fatalities," he continued. The sergeant dispensed with signing and said, 'Come and get 'em.'"

By 8:30 a.m., Bonelli had acquired a rifle, two belts of bullets and a handgun with several clips. He distinctly remembered firing at four Japanese Zero aircraft with his rifle and pistol, but there was no indication of a hit.

Bodies were everywhere, and a bulldozer was digging a trench close to the base hospital for the burial of body parts, he said.

All of the hangars with aircraft inside were bombed, while the empty ones weren't, he said. "There is no doubt in my mind that the Japanese pilots had radio contact from the ground," he added.

In 1942, Bonelli's squadron was relocated to Nadi, Fiji. There, he worked on B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers as a qualified engineer, crew chief and gunner.

In 1943, Bonelli resubmitted his papers for flight school and was accepted, traveling back to the United States for training in Hobbs, New Mexico.

He got orders to Foggia, Italy, in 1944 and became a squadron lead pilot in the 77rd Bomb Squadron, 463rd Bomb Group. They flew the B-17s.

Bonelli led his squadron in 30 sorties over Austria, Italy, Germany, Hungary and Czechoslovakia until April 1945, just before the war ended.

The second sortie over Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, on Oct. 23, 1944, was the one he recalled as being the worst, with much of the cockpit blown apart and the rest of the aircraft shot up badly.







For the next few days, Bonelli said, he felt shaken. The Germans on the ground were very proficient with the 88 mm anti-aircraft weapons, and they could easily pick off the U.S. bombers flying at 30,000 feet, he said.

Normally, the squadrons would fly in a straight line for the bombing runs. Bonelli said he devised a strategy to deviate about 400 feet from the straight-line trajectory on the next sortie, Nov. 4 over Regensburg, Germany.

The tactic worked, he said, and the squadron sustained lighter damage. So he used that tactic on subsequent missions, and he said many lives of his squadron were undoubtedly saved because of it.

When the war ended, Bonelli had a change of heart and decided to stay in the Army Air Corps, which became the Air Force in 1947. He said he developed a love for flying and aviation mechanic work. He stayed in and retired after having served 20 years.

He also realized his dream to become a fighter pilot, flying the F-84F Thunderstreak, a fighter-bomber, which, he said, was capable of carrying a small nuclear weapon.

After retiring, Bonelli got a career with the Federal Aviation Administration, working in a variety of aviation specialties.

Looking back over his military and civilian careers, he said he was blessed with doing jobs he loves, although there were, of course, some moments of anxiety when bullets were flying.

He offered that a stint or career in the military can be a rewarding experience for ambitious young people.

***

The Buck Starts Here: Harry S. Truman and the City of Lamar, the first book to tell the story of the 33rd President of the United States and the city where he was born, is available at the Truman Birthplace and Lamar Democrat office in Lamar and at The Book Guy, Changing Hands Book Shoppe and Always Buying Books in Joplin, as well as in paperback and e-book formats from Amazon at the links below.

Bombing of Pearl Harbor changed life of Lamar's Richard Chancellor

(The following post is an excerpt from my just-published book The Buck Starts Here: Harry S. Truman and the City of Lamar.)

Even with the patriotic fervor that was gripping Lamar and the United States in February 1941, no one held parades to honor the second man drafted into military service.

(Photo: Ione and Richard Chancellor during World War II.)

Only a day earlier Richard Freeman Chancellor, the 24-year-old son of Travelers Hotel owner H. C. Chancellor and his wife Pearl, watched as the first draftee was saluted by the community, complete with a gathering on the square and music from the Lamar High School Band.

Things did not work out as planned for the number one draftee, who flunked his physical when he reached Fort Leavenworth.







So draftee number two was summoned and had to get there by the next day.

Instead of crowds and stirring music sending him on his way, Richard Chancellor waited with his mother as the clock neared 3 a.m. for the bus to arrive at the Travelers Hotel.

Chancellor boarded the bus at 2:58 a.m., a time that remained forever etched in his mind.

When he arrived at Leavenworth, one of the first people he encountered was Captain B. L. Roberts, the former Lamar High School principal and coach.

After he passed his physical and made it through basic training, Chancellor, despite his dream of flying, was placed in an armored unit at Fort Knox in Kentucky that had a mix of old timers and the new draftees.

The old timers did not like having us in their outfit. At all formations we were required to line up separately from the regulars and instead of bunking in the nice brick barracks, we were out on the porches, which were used for calisthenics, drill and instruction during inclement weather.

That location caused problems for Chancellor and the other draftees.

Being on the outside, it was impossible to keep the dust off our beds and equipment and as a result, we rarely passed inspection.

It was not long before Chancellor and some of the others who had college backgrounds gained the respect of the regulars with their technical expertise.

Chancellor was promoted to corporal and was assigned to accompany the battery commander at all times.

Chancellor and the First Armored Unit were sent along with other units to conduct field maneuvers during the first part of July 1941, first in Louisiana, then southern Arkansas and finally in the Carolinas.

The men in the unit knew the score.

“It was quite evident,” Chancellor wrote years later, “that the government was of the belief that we would soon become involved in the war in Europe and they were preparing us as fast as they could with the equipment that was available which at that time was very outdated and scarce.”

After months of maneuvers, the unit returned to Fort Knox December 7, 1941 and began unloading their trucks and taking their personal gear into the barracks.

“Pearl Harbor has been bombed by the Japanese,” someone called out. During the rest of that day, as the men continued to unload the trucks, they listened to news accounts of what President Franklin D. Roosevelt described as “a day that would live in infamy.”

It was a shock to all of us and especially to those of us who were draftees as we were nearing the end of our mandatory year of service and were looking forward to getting out.

As we learned, we had a lot more time to serve, but now we knew why.

After Pearl Harbor, Chancellor recalled, all leaves were canceled and training intensified.

“We were moved out of the barracks and into tents and new equipment started arriving and security was tightened.”

Shortly after that, a notice was placed on the bulletin board that had a profound impact on Chancellor’s life.

“The Army Air Corps would be coming through conducting interviews and testing for those who wanted to become members of combat crews.”

Richard Chancellor would finally get his chance to fly.

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The first Joplin signing for The Buck Starts Here: Harry S. Truman and the City of Lamar will be held Saturday, December 14, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Always Buying Books in Joplin. The book is also available at the Truman Birthplace and Lamar Democrat in Lamar, Changing Hands Book Shoppe and The Book Guy in Joplin and in paperback and e-book from Amazon at the links below.

Remembering Dick Ferguson and the Day That Will Live in Infamy

Today marks 78 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor ushered the United States into World War II. 

Whenever December 7 rolls around, I think of my old friend Dick Ferguson, who survived that attack and did his best for much of his life to make sure that others learned about the importance of that date to American history.

Reprinted below is a Turner Report post I wrote about Dick Ferguson November 8, 2008, shortly after his death and have repeated each year on December 7:

One of the first interviews I did after hiring on as a general assignment reporter at the Carthage Press in April 1990 was for a feature on the retirement of Dick Ferguson from his position as president at Financial Federal Savings and Loan.

Much of that story was based on the things he planned to do during his retirement. Turns out he was a bit premature. Richard Frazer Ferguson never reached a traditional retirement. In the 18 years since his "retirement," he kept working in one capacity or another right up until almost the time of his death Friday at age 88.

Dick Ferguson always put his community first as he proved when he stepped in two times after that initial retirement date to serve as interim director of the Carthage Chamber of Commerce. He also worked part-time for the Chamber for several years.

When Liberty Group Publishing ended my newspaper career in May 1999, one of the first people to contact me was Dick Ferguson, who sent me a much-appreciated card, saying he had noticed my name was no longer on the masthead and he wished me well in whatever I decided to do next. Having heard a few rumors about my departure not being voluntary, he added a postscript saying he thought The Press had made a mistake.

During my nine years at the Press, I had either interviewed Dick or had one of my reporters do so each year when Dec. 7 came around. Dick Ferguson was stationed at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, "the day that will live in infamy," and over the next 66-plus years, he did his best to keep the memories of that day alive, attending reunions and speaking to school groups.

After I left the Press, I was one of those teachers who called Dick and asked if he could speak to my writing classes at Diamond Middle School. He spent the afternoon at the school and enthralled my students with his tales on Pearl Harbor and World War II.

After he spoke to one of my eighth grade classes, he asked if the students had any questions. A girl in the back row, raised her hand and said, "Mr. Ferguson, your stories are so interesting. Who won that war?"

Naturally, I was mortified both for the girl and for Dick, since it appeared that one of my students was not aware of the results of the sacrifices he and his fellow servicemen had made to keep America safe.

My horror grew as another student chipped in and said, "I'd like to know, too, Mr. Ferguson. Who won the war?"

Thankfully, most of the students seemed to know the U. S. and the Allies won World War II. The two students' reaction did not faze Dick in the slightest. He calmly and politely answered their questions.

When the final bell rang at 3 p.m., I walked Dick out to his car and apologized to him for the two students. He laughed it off and said, "Don't worry about it. That happens almost everywhere I go."

That was why it was so important for Dick Ferguson and others like him to make sure the memories of those days were kept alive. Dick did that, not just through his countless presentations for schools and civic groups, but also through his writing.

His book Look Back Once More focusing on his memories of Pearl Harbor, remains to help make the past accessible to future generations.

A world without Dick Ferguson is hard to contemplate, but it seems fitting that he was called home just in time for Veterans Day.

***
Dick Ferguson's book Look Back Once More is available at Amazon.

December 7, 1941: Neosho after Pearl Harbor

The timing for the opening of Camp Crowder in Neosho could not have been better.

Just five days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the first 50 troops arrived only 92 days and four hours after ground was broken for the facility.

When the first troops arrived 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, December 2, 1941, the parts of the camp that had been completed were two barracks designed to house 63 soldiers in each, a mess hall, warehouse facilities, and a post exchange.

Camp Crowder was one of many bases constructed during the buildup to war in 1941.

The camp was named for Gen. Enoch Herbert Crowder, the Missouri native who authored the Selective Service Act, which was critical to the U. S. during World War I and then administered it.

The Neosho location was chosen because of its proximity to the conjunction of the Frisco and Kansas City Southern railroads, as well as its location near U. S. highways 66 and 71.

During the week prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 551 carloads of building materials, machinery and supplies arrived out of 4,443 that had arrived up to that time.

***


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Among those who were stationed at Pearl Harbor December 7 was Lt. Roy Gene Anderson, who was on the U. S. S. Minneapolis and was just 17 days short of his 26th birthday when the Japanese attacked.

The Minneapolis was at sea, about eight miles from Pearl Harbor doing gunnery practice when the attack occurred.

Anderson, the son of Roy and Ila Gene Anderson, and a graduate of Neosho High School and the U. S. Naval Academy, was cited for his bravery when the Minneapolis was attacked by the Japanese five months later and eventually rose to the rank of rear admiral.







***
Activities continued as usual in Neosho, albeit with an added patriotic tinge.

On Tuesday, December 9, an open house was held at Neosho High School. More than 350 parents were ushered into the building by members of the Girls Drum Corps and the female members of the Glee Club.

After everyone was seated, the high school orchestra, under the direction of Lucille Lane and Carol Cline, performed several selections.

Cub Scout Tommy Hosfelt led the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by Mary Margaret Anderson, standing in the middle of a blue spotlight, leading the audience of in a rousing rendition of
"God Bless America."