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Memories Still Soar For Pilots Of The 475th
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Published: May 23, 2008
By now, the engines have been revved up and once again the P-38s have gathered into formation over the Pacific, with the specks of tiny islands barely visible in the distance.
The difference is that now the formations are but memories being retold at the Tampa Marriott Westshore, where members of the legendary 475th Fighter Group are already gathering for this weekend's reunion.
The 475th, organized in Australia, operated in the Pacific in 1943 and flew as part of the 5th Air Force. The group operated early on out of Port Moresby, escorting transports to the redundant-sounding Tsili Tsili and Bena Bene. They flew the twin-engined P-38s, already branded in Germany as the "Schwanze Teufel" ("Fork-tailed Devil").
Time is finally doing what the Japanese could not, and this weekend's gathering will number no more than 60 as the veteran pilots and their spouses come to town.
An Ace In Tampa's Sleeve
One was already here. Col. Perry "PJ" Dahl and wife Barbara live in North Tampa. He is a genuine ace, with nine enemy aircraft shot down and another probable. His story reads like a summer movie blockbuster. You can read more by going to www.475th.org, the unit's Web site.
Dahl grew up sitting on the bow of a tugboat his dad manned out of Seattle, carrying oil to Alaska, which today seems like carrying coal to Newcastle.
"I would read comics about World War I flying aces. It was my dad who would always be saying '23 skidoo,' which meant to scram out of a place real quick." That was the name Dahl would paint on his P-38.
Move ahead to November 1944.
Dahl was sleeping in a swamp somewhere in the Philippines, where it had been raining for weeks. They got the call to go after a shipping convoy near Leyte Island. Dahl got up in the dark to get ready for the mission, which was delayed when a Japanese Zero made a strafing run over the airstrip.
It was hours later that his squadron was caught up in a dogfight, while below, B-25s were making bombing runs on the enemy convoy.
A Midair Detour
Dahl and his P-38 were looping when he was suddenly slammed in a midair collision. He looked around to see his plane on fire.
"As I stood up to go over the side, the whole airplane exploded and I tumbled into the air. The fire burned every hair on my head." Floating down, he saw another chute below him. It was the Japanese pilot. The Japanese pilot hit the water first, as his chute drooped over him, and both disappeared into the deep.
Dahl landed in the middle of the Japanese convoy, inflated his dinghy and watched as the battle unfolded around him. He would drift through the night, land on shore and take a shot at someone who approached him. Fortunately, the round was wet; the man he shot at, a Filipino guerrilla fighter, rescued him. They dressed Dahl as a native to hide him from the Japanese and eventually got him back to the American side.
You need to read the story in its entirety. A better bet would be to hang around the lobby over at the Marriott this Memorial Day weekend, where Dahl and his buddies will be swapping stories that might seem wilder than the new Indiana Jones movie - only they really happened.
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