Intermission Story (12) – CBI – Eye Witness Account
Richard Sherman trained as a bombardier and navigator for B-25 bombers. He served in the 11th bomb squadron. He served 13 months in China, during which he flew 52 missions and was shot down once. During that time, only seven men from his squad were lost.
He was shot down on February 13th, 1944. What they thought was a Chinese fishing vessel was a Japanese warship in disguise.
Sherman used his “pointy-talky,” a Chinese-English dictionary, to communicate with the Chinese to get help getting to a place where they could get picked up.
One of the Chinese told him that the dictionary wasn’t necessary – he spoke perfect English. The Chinese took the Americans by charcoal-powered bus, occasionally stopping to stir the charcoal. At every village they came to, the people held a celebration. Sherman has a piece of cloth, signed by the Chinese, as a memento of this time. Only later did he learn that the Japanese would have killed him and the Chinese who signed the cloth if they had found it.
Sherman claims he didn’t have enough sense to be scared. That, along with his training, kept him from panicking – but there would be tense times while in China.
Raids into China were typically scheduled in the morning. The flight to pick up Sherman and his crew was later in the day. The Japanese were bombing the American airfield, so the flight kept getting pushed back.
The flight crew was told to contact the Chinese for instructions on where to land. As the day turned to night, the crew was unable to see a runway when someone on the radio told them to “put your wheels down and get ready to land.” Suddenly, kerosene lamps outlined the strip.
Sherman’s parents had received telegrams stating that he was MIA. Now they received one from the Red Cross stating that they should disregard any previous message. At that point, they knew that he was OK.
As a bombardier, Sherman sat towards the front of the plane. Once, his plane was hit by Japanese fire, sending Plexiglass into his arms and face. Seventy-one years later, an x-ray technician noticed that he had a foreign object between his eyes. Since it had been there so long without causing issues, it was decided to keep it there. Sherman received the Purple Heart for that mission.
Gen. Claire Chennault always knew where his men were, according to Sherman. Chennault was not one to kid around, but if you did your job, you would have no trouble from him.
After WWII, Sherman worked at Olin Mathieson. One day he received a phone call asking how quick he could get his clothes together and get to Cincinnati. Five days later, he called his wife Pat to tell her he was in Germany. The Russians and Germans had moved tanks to the Berlin Wall, making the U.S. nervous. Sherman was put in charge of the automotive division, which was required to be able to pack up and move overnight, if necessary.
Chennault continued to be connected throughout Sherman’s lives. Their son became friends with Chennault’s grandson when they attended Neville High School together. Also, the Shermans, along with Nita Brinson and others, helped start the Aviation Historical Museum that is now known as the Chennault Aviation and Military Museum. Sherman has some memorabilia on display in the museum.
They also have several paintings that Chennault painted after retiring from the military.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Personal Note –
Please check out the honor365 site– they are honoring Smitty today !!!!
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Ben Angel – Native Tewa American; Las Vegas, NV; US Army, Military police
Colin Bower – Queensland, AUS; RA Air Force, WWII
Michael ‘Red’ Cerio Sr. – Emira, NY; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Antietam
Anthony Formosa – San Francisco, CA; US Navy, WWII
Edward Gray – Newark, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division, Bronze Star
Ty Hardin – Austin, TX; US Army, Korea, 1st Lt., pilot; (beloved actor)
Richard Klenoski Sr. – Saginaw, MI; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Lt.Colonel (Ret. 26 years)
James Lancaster – Denver, CO; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO
Hugh McCormick Jr. – Baltimore, MD; US Navy, WWII, ETO, Cmdr. (Ret.) subchaser SC-525
Harry Patrie – Celina, OH; US Navy, WWII
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Posted on August 14, 2017, in First-hand Accounts, Uncategorized, WWII and tagged 1940's, CBI, History, Military, Pacific, POW, Tributes, WW2, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 77 Comments.
A wonderful story, GP! Keep them coming!
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I’m sure trying, but don’t want to suddenly run out of room before we reach the end of the war!!
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Seldom remembered today is the fact that Gen. Chennault established the Flying Tiger cargo plane company.
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Many ideas get lost in history and fade away – it’s up to you and the rest of us to keep reminding people!
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Such a fascinating story
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I am so glad you found it interesting, Mary Lou!
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Such an interesting story, GP. We had some unknown heros among us! Thanks for bringing them to us! Christine
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I thank you for reading it, Christine. I realize many seem to repeat, but until people realize how awful war is and that the 57 different conflicts going on right now had better stop – I’ll keep telling them!!
I know you understand, but don’t want you to be getting bored!!
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Never bored, GP! People need to read about war fallout! Seems there’s more concern about personal gripes/opinions now. Fighting and forgetting about our strong US culture & history. Makes no sense!! Keep the stories coming! 🎉 Christine
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I hear ya and so agree!!
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Every now and then a detail in one of the stories you post here stops me cold. This time, it was the charcoal powered bus. I just can’t get my mind around that. More exploration is necessary! I also was reminded of Anna Chennault, and her role in the story. I just finished reading about her in the Wiki, and I had no idea she and General Chennault lived in Monroe, Louisiana, after their marriage (dividing their time). Louisiana still had anti-miscegenation laws at the time, so he had to have his will probated in D.C., since the marriage wasn’t legal in Louisiana. What a world, sometimes! But, at least they were accepted in their neighborhood — no doubt in part due to his warime exploits.
It’s neat that Smitty is being honored today, too. I’m off to read that, now, before it isn’t today any more!
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Thank you for continuing on with the research and bringing it to us. I love how some of the readers help to make this blog a part of each one of us!!
Thank you for reading the honor365 post, Linda.
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Unrelated to your post, we ran across a [free] PDF you might be interested in: http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/Publications/Details/241/How-Not-To-Run-An-Air-Force-Volumes-1-2.aspx
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Thank you very much. I greatly appreciate you thinking of me.
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What a fascinating tale! Thanks for highlighting Richard Sherman’s life and war experiences.
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Thank you for taking the time to read it!!
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Wow, you do bring us such intriguing stories, GP!
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Thank you, but I do need more on the women – you think?
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What a great story.
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I thank you for coming by to read it today. The CBI Theater of Operations has been clearly ignored and these men deserve recognition.
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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Thank you for helping to remember the CBI Theater where so many gave so much and have been left obscure for far too long.
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Reblogged this on Ancien Hippie.
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Thank you, Penny. Stories from the CBI Theater are so often overlooked and unknown.
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Thank you for sharing Richard Sherman with us! And for honoring him in such a wonderful way! I don’t think we will ever understand what our soldiers go through, but hearing their stories helps us to AND reminds us to be grateful for each and every one of them.
HUGS!!! 🙂
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Very true. I’m hoping to put some history into the lives of people and perhaps, by chance, find one or two who continue the research and remembrance. Thank you for coming by to read this.
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I noticed the death of Ty Hardin, The male equivalent to Elizabeth Taylor I believe, married 8 times, a glutton for punishment!
I was interested to read more of Richard Sherman, went to Google could find nothing on this man, plenty about some football player of the same name, but nothing about somebody that matters. Seems to be what Google is all about these days; nothing in Wikipedia either.
Richard Sherman: one tough looking hombre! Liked the look of this man and was curious for more.
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I know some of the sites you went to, as I probably hit the same ones trying to find photos of the man. I’m glad I was able to instill curiosity into one of my readers/friends, but disappointed in the lack of history I found.
As far as Hardin’s, Taylor’s or any other Hollywood marriages, I always thought of them as ‘legalized love affairs’.
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Sums them up precisely
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I too was disappointed, they waste time and space on those mot really worthy of it
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Agreed!!
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Another wonderful story, GP. Thank you!
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Always a pleasure, Jennie.
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excellent post
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Thank you.
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Always such interesting stories!
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What I find so interesting about them is the fact that they are true stories, and not Hollywood recreations.
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Reblogged this on John Cowgill's Literature Site.
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Thank you, John. It’s great to see a renewed interest in WWII these days. I think maybe all the DNA/Family History searches may be a deciding factor here.
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You are very welcome.
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Great story, GP. Thank you.
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You are very welcome, John.
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🙂
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The comment above about not hearing of ‘disguise ships’ before … navies have been doing it for many years. The Australians lost a cruiser (HMAS Sydney) to a merchant ship that blew them out of the water when they toddled over for a friendly look at it.
Sydney was lost for generations but the wreck was found recently.
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Some do not study history as we do and you have to admit, our school systems don’t help much these days, neither does the media for that matter!
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I love the bit about him not having the sense to be scared 🙂 Great article about your dad, too!
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It’s funny I’ve heard a lot of veterans say that. Most attribute it to be so young at the time.
Thank you, I was very honored that honor365 asked me to put dad’s name in.
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Very interesting post. These eyewitness accounts are great. I’ve helped teach English to students in Chile, and struggled to learn a bit of Cantonese in college, I’ll look up the bilingual book – I’d like to see how they did these.
I’ve always been struck by these stories of vets, who had a few years to grow accustomed to civilian life, and then jumped right back in for the Berlin crisis or Korea. The airlift was an impressive display of skill, landing planes more than once a minute.
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I don’t think anything could compare with synchronization, eh? They pulled off the impossible. Thanks for reading here today, Robert.
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‘Pointy-talky’–great name. God’s hand in that man’s future.
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Isn’t THAT the truth!! 🙂
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It is great hearing stories of the human spirit persevering.
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We humans are much stronger than we give ourselves credit for. Some people let that strength come out and others give up.
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I read about Richard Sherman over the weekend. The fact that he is still carrying a piece of B-25 Plexiglass around between his eyes 71 years later is incredible! Great story GP.
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Thanks. Where did you happen to read the article? I’ve had this post in my drafts for about 6 months now.
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I read it in a copy of Fly-Past magazine. My father usually buys it, I came across it yesterday.
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Thank you.
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You are welcome GP.
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Interesting—I’ve never read anything about China’s role in World War II. Thanks!
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They didn’t do as much as they were paid by FDR to do. They were too busy fighting the Red Chinese army rather than the Japanese.
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So much for that fight….
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I am happy they are honoring Smitty! He deserves every bit of recognition and I love your memes today. Kept me laughing😂
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I try, friend – I sure try.
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Amazing to learn about this shot-down. I Never heard of disguise ships before
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Sort of a paraphrase from Shakespeare, “There are stranger things in this world than we can imagine.”
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Your link for the honor365 site reverts back to this page.
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Thank you, I only just discovered that and it should be fixed now. Jeez – you’d think I’d have the hang of putting in links by now, eh?!! 🙂
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Great story. I love the eye-witness accounts. BTW, your link to honor365, points back here 😦
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Thanks for telling me – I’ll get right on it!!
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I found Smitty’s story but I thought you’d want to know.
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Can’t imagine how it happened. You’d think I’d have the hang of putting in links by now – wouldn’t you?!! 🙂
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That’s another great story of endurance and survival, GP. The mention of the ‘Pointy-Talky’ brought back memories. During my time as an EMT in London, I once picked up a Japanese couple, as the husband was unwell in the street. His wife had a small book containing pictures like Sherman’s book, and she used it to explain to me what was wrong.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I always knew they were given books for translation, but never knew exactly what to type in to get an image – finally found it here. Who would have thought Pointie-Talkie?
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I appreciate your help.
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I appreciate your interest in the history of this era.
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