A BIT OF HISTORY: "...I served with VB-141 from September 1943 to July 1944. Flew in Crew # 13 with Morehead and Smith as the Pilot and Co-pilot respectively. Shrader and Albino were the ARM and AMM. I was the AOM and turret gunner. Also, I flew with several different pilots and co-pilots as well as other crew members in the squadron. I remember one flight when Mr. Clinton Lemmon was flying in crew #13 as the co-pilot, and thank God,; as it turned out, his quick reaction to a very serious situation on that flight saved us from diving into the Target area on the ground. He and I have discussed the flight on several ocassions. I joined VB-141 wih Harry Rorer and Art Moriondo after attending Code School in San Juan, Puerto Rico in September 1943. An aside, Art went down in the fatal flight on December 1943 with Crew #2. I was transfered in July of 1944 and later served aboard the USS Salerno Bay (CVE 110). I was discharged from the Navy in April 1946. I remember many incidences that I was actively involved in. I would like to reminisce about these incidences with anyone from VB-141 (it was later designated VPB-141 in October 1944). Several thoughts in passing: I was the youngest in the squadron by two years. I was 17 at the time. Guys in the squadron taught me to drive in Curacoa so that I could perform my duties as a driver of the crews to their planes when my crew had "Ready Duty". The first time that I was left to drive I had to drive Messr. Griggs and some Admiral (I think?) into Wilmstadt (spelling?) and I was so nervous that Mr. Griggs told me to get in the back and he drove around town and back to the base. You should have seen the look on the face of the Guard on duty when we come back tru the post. Some one found some blockage in the Pitot tube of our plane. As a result, we had to take the plane on a test flight and cheek it out for reliability. This happened in San Juan, PR. The runway was so short in Baranquilla that we had to use %5 flaps to get airborne in a hurry. The approach in NS Roosevelt Roads, PR, (actual name is Ensanada Hts.?) PR. was really scary as was the take off in NAS Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The picnic in Curacoa with the drunken donkey, the very large Iguana that Conners (I think it was him) crawled up close to it thus blocking its' avenue of escape. Your right, he turned on Conners. Well Conners moved in a big hurry to let the iguana have its' escape route back. I recently made contact with Art Moriondo's family. We had some discussion and I sent a package of VB-141 and some pictures (of him) and related data. I think they have some Closure now. Art and I were very close. We went to school together and joined VB-141 the same day. The time we caught the guy stealing in Curacoa. He brandished a gun and the tough talking guys in the squadron took off and he escaped but was caught and transfered off the Island. I switched crews with Joe Merigiliono the very day that he went down on 12/23/43. To this day, I have been trying to locate the "Ready Duty" Officer that day. He approved the switch. Joe approached me because he had been flying with Lomas and Bowers and he wanted to stay with them. The squadron had just gone thru a reorganization and reassignment of personnel. Many in the squadron were aware of this and we discussed it at length often. There are many more thoughts but I'll save that for a later date...THOMAS, Vincent Vintho@aol.com..." [18NOV2002]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...LOCKHEED PV VENTURA and HARPOON - by Jack McKillop..." http://www.microworks.net/pacific/aviation/pv_ventura.htm [23JUN2002]

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"VP-141 History Summary Page"

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