Perspectives On Black
Tuesday Over Namsi in the words of Paul
Dickerson, Rt. Gunner, and Dewell Turner, Lt Gunner on Griner's B-29
Paul: "We took the shell
in no. 3 main (fuel tank) and fuel started pouring out over the wing & down
the right side over my blister. When the fuel went over the blister it
made the blister milky . . . I could not see out of it anymore . . . I
then went off interphone and took care of Lt. Thorton who took shrapnel in his
arm. On landing we went off the left side of the runway. Major
Griner gave the crew the option to bail out. None did.
[Paul told me on the phone that Maj. Griner was substituting for their regular
Aircraft Commander]
Our C.F.C. (central
fire controller), S/Sgt Slagowski got a MiG, confirmed by 4th F.I.W. Pilots at
debriefing at K-14. 4th F.I.W. Intel debrief said the MiG pilots were
Russian."
Dewell: I flew that mission as a gunner with Major Griner's crew. I was on TDY to the 307th. I had no crew assignment at that time and flew several missions as a substitute for crew members who were unable to fly. I was assigned this mission in the early morning of the day of the mission. The CQ woke me about 2:30 a. m. and told me I was going. I did not get any pre-flight briefing and did not help with the pre-flight except for the very last minute just before boarding. The short notice was probably good for me because I had little time to contemplate the gravity of that mission. As I recall, Major Griner and the CFC interviewed me a bit before take off and assigned me the left seat.
Paul Dickerson's account matches my recollection. I saw the tires blow out upon our landing when Major Griner locked the brakes to stop us. I also recall that a bomb hung up and had to be manually jettisoned before we landed. I think the bombadier and CFC did that chore. I saw the MIG go down after the CFC hit it. I remember the debriefers at Kimpo really pressed me about what I saw. Major Griner gave us the option of bailing out, but all the regular crew wanted to stay with the plane, probably because the radar operator was wounded and could not jump and they did want to leave him. I wasn't about to jump alone. Everyone had great confidence in Major Griner and he did a fantastic job getting us down safely. The first thing the gunners did after landing was to clear the guns. When we looked for the lower forward turret cover to remount it after clearing the guns, we could never find it. No telling what happened to it. Someone probably thought it would never be needed again. They were right.
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