Memorial Day - 2022

The alarm went off at 4am.

It was October 15, 1944. Andy Tarapchak, 24 years old and already a Captain in the Army Air Corps, hit the thing to shut it up. His first impulse was to throw it out of the tent. He was still tired from yesterday's mission. He rolled out of his cot, ran the razor over his face, checked for blood, then jumped into his flight suit and headed out of the tent for the morning briefing. As he walked along the dirt path, his co-pilot, 2nd Lieutenant Ed Ochen, joined him. Andy looked past the briefing tent to the line of B-26 bombers being prepped for today's mission. The mechanics were pulling the propellers to pump any residual oil or fuel out of the cylinders, and loading the fuel, 5000 pounds of bombs, and the ammo for the 50 caliber nose guns and the 30 caliber tail guns. Those guns were manned by the Navigator/ Bombardier SSgt Joe Tverdak, and the Tail Gunner Corporal Jake Yungling. Radioman SSgt Frank Micculli sat behind the pilot's station, and Flight Engineer, George Cardinale who maned waist guns and tended to the engines and other systems completed the crew.

After the briefing, which told them they were headed for a mission in eastern France, Andy, Ed and the rest of the crew walked over to their plane. Andy never added any nose art to his plane, but the crew had named the ship "Sky Queen". The crew climbed into their positions and ran through the pre-flight checks. After a bit of finessing the throttles, Andy got the left Pratt & Whitney Wasp radial engine running, then let Ed start the right. Smoke bellowed out of both engines but they settled down into a mild roar, shaking the entire plane. Andy concentrated on the take-off procedures. The B-26 had small wings and had a reputation for being a "Widow Maker" since it was hard to fly and took care to get into the air with a full load.

From Andy's notes after the war:

"We both stood on the brakes and I shoved the throttles full forward until the plane shuddered. We then released the brakes and started our takeoff. At the far end of the runway we still did not have enough flying speed so all we could do was lift up the wheels. We staggered off of the runway and fortunately we were on the edge of the coastline on the English Channel. Once we crossed the cliff, we eased the plane's nose forward and had about 200 feet above the waterline to pick up airspeed and begin to fly."

The flight to the target was relatively uneventful until they got close to the target itself. Then flak began to explode in the air around the formation of bombers. Sky Queen's left engine took a hit, but it managed to keep running. The nose gunner switched roles and became the bombardier who guided the ship to the target while Andy and Ed focused on avoiding flak and watching tor German fighters. After dropping their bomb load, Andy turned back toward home. The left engine was now running very rough and it became obvious they were not going to make it home. They were over Belgium when Andy realized he had to find a place to land. He spotted a beet field and lowered the landing gear. Both Andy and Ed fought for control and kept the plane on track for the crash landing. They hit the ground hard and the nose gear collapsed as they slid to a stop. Every one on board was alive, but they were far from safe. The air around them was full of German Me-109 fighters and British Spitfires engaging in fierce dog fights. They knew German patrols probably would be looking for them.

As the crew climbed out of the plane, they were spotted by members of the French Underground. Thankful they were not in the hands of the Germans, the crew followed the underground fighters who took charge of getting them back to England. As they walked along, Andy spotted a German ME-109 as it was hit by fire from a Spitfire and started to burn in the air. He saw the pilot bail out of the plane. He had no parachute! Andy saw the pilot fall into the woods near where they were walking, so several men went over to see if they could find him. They did, but the sight was going to be hard to forget.

Andy and his crew made it safely to the coast, then rode in a small boat back to England. After a few days of debriefing, the crew picked up a new bomber and got ready for more missions.

The alarm went off at 4am...

All told, Andy flew 186 hours of combat missions in two years. I have his records from those flights but the targets are not mentioned. Andy was awarded 10 Air Medals for his heroic flying in harm's way.

Andy left the service and never flew in an airplane again. He and his wife, Evelyn settled in Washington D.C. and lived next door to my parents when I was born. I grew up listening to Andy's stories. I heard versions of this story several times, each telling added a few more details. Defending freedom was very important to Andy and that great generation of men and women who went off to war. I knew at an early age I was going to follow his lead. I hope Andy was proud that he helped push me to my 20-year career in the United States Air Force.

Memorial Day is the day we honor those who served, fought, and died in the defense of freedom in this world. Andy did not die in service to his country, but he served his country until the day he died. I suspect many veterans do just that as well. This is not a day of celebration, or a day just marking the start of summer. It is a day to respect service to this country, especially service in combat that ended in the ultimate sacrifice.

Andy lived to be 96. On my last visit to see him in a retirement home near Annapolis, where he and a handful of other WWII veterans spent their time telling their own war stories, Andy told me he was 103!

God bless all those brave soldiers! Rest in Peace, Andy!