Bataan Books

Books which have been written by those who served on the USS Bataan (CVL-29)

1.

Title- The Second-Luckiest Pilot, Author- Don K Tooker, USMC, VMF-212, Naval Institute Press 2000. The book includes stories of several of the author’s Naval and Marine flying experiences between 1947 and 1968, but most of the accounts were provided by other pilots whom he came to know over the years. Where does the title come from? Tooker relates a remarkable story of survival after his Vought F-8 jet caught fire and went out of control while he was refueling over the Pacific Ocean, and he had to parachute into the sea. As it happened, however, Tooker’s experience was not as miraculous as what happened to one of his squadron mates the very next day. That guy’s parachute never fully opened, and he fell 15,000 feet-yet survived to tell the tale. This book is available at http://hub.ebay.com/buy
2.

Title- Stand Well Clear, Author- Don K Tooker, USMC, VMF-212, Naval Institute Press 2003. A follow-on of sorts to the author’s The Second-Luckiest Pilot. Stand Well Clear is a light-hearted treatise of airborne antics and ground-based hi-jinks. This publication is more than just a stroll down memory lane; it actually covers some of the history and the realities of the early days of airborne combat. Don Tooker, a decorated naval pilot who earned his wings in the Korean War and retired with some seven thousand flight hours under his belt, presents some of the folly of his flight experiences with humorous yarns of ground collisions, of trying to find a spot to land in the Korean DMZ with a fuel gauge reading empty and a host of others guaranteed to interest and amuse. This book is at http://hub.ebay.com/buy . PLEASE NOTE: Colonel Don Tooker, USMC, passed away in October 2004.
3.

Title- Their Life in My Hands, Author- C. Edgar “Iron Mike” Mikronis, USN, VF-41, Mountain Lake Publishing. This is a story of “Mike’s” four and one-half years in the Navy as a Navy Aviator and Landing Signal Officer (LSO). It tells of his part in putting General Patton ashore in Casablanca, and of being shot down and taken prisoner by the Germans and Vichy French. Upon release from captivity he was returned to the U.S. where he underwent LSO training and was assigned to the USS Bataan (CVL-29) and further to the USS Franklin where he experienced being blown over the side, recovered and returned to Franklin before returning to the “States”. This book can be obtained from the author- C Edgar Mikronis, 2399 Tatum Terrace, The Villages, FL 32162. The price is $10, plus $2 for S&H. PLEASE NOTE: "Iron Mike" Mikronis passed away in November 2006.
4.

Title- Okasan, Author- Harold P Armstrong, S1c, USN, Published by Carlton Press, Inc, New York, NY (1993)- A Hearthstone Book. This book presents the memoirs of a Navy Frogman during his Navy Underwater Demolitions career from 1943 until 1968. The author makes fine use of his abilities as a storyteller and instructor to excite and titillate his readers about the life of a Navy frogman. PLEASE NOTE: Harold Armstrong passed away in 2001.
5.

Title- Thunder on the Flight Deck, Author- L Victor Strub, LT, USNR. This is an unpublished article written near the end of WWII by LT Strub who was the Assistant Landing Signal Officer (LSO) on the USS Bataan (CVL-29). This is his interpretation of shipboard life in general and the flight deck in particular.
6.

Title- Looking Over my Shoulder, Author- Gil Johnson, VT-50. This is an unpublished article which relates Gil’s U.S, Navy WWII experiences.
7.

Title- Night Flight of a Hellcat, Author-L. Victor Strub, LT, USNR. This is an article that was published in the January 1945 REDBOOK. This is the story of how a Navy Pilot brought his battered plane back to a carrier after action in the far Pacific, and as night was closing in.
8.

Title- Family Ties.......and a Few Loose Ends, Author- Wayne Von Stetten, WWII. Published by Brookshire Printing, Lancaster, PA. The title says it all. This is Wayne's personal story of his family and his life to date, and includes remembrances of time spent on the USS Bataan (CVL-29).
9.

Title- I was There, A True Story, Author-Michael Tomecko, WWII. Published by Vantage Press, Inc, 419 Park Ave. South, New York, NY 10016. A compelling memoir of Mike's growing up in "a typical Pennsylvania Coal Town" during the depression, his U.S. Navy experience aboard the USS Bataan (CVL-29), and his Post-War rehabilitation and Working Career.
10.

NEW!!!Sept 2008 Title-"VS-931 AntiSubmarine Squadron". Author-J. Robert Wagner, Korea. Available from www.authorhouse.com or may be ordered by phone at 888.280.7715. This is a history of ASW Squadron VS-931 and describes, in detail, the incident aboard USS Bataan involving an AF2 from VS-931 which hit the ramp during a Car-Qual landing in December 1951, resulting in the loss of the pilot.

WORLD WAR II

PICTURE OF WORLD WAR II

CLOSE CALL

Air Group With Planes

Commissioning Reception

Division Officer

WAR PAINT

The Bridge

Bataan

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BATAAN HISTORY





Why We Are Called Bataan Just ten short hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese planes surprised US forces again at the main US air base in the Philippines on the island of Luzon. After two weeks of diversionary tectics, the main Japanese invasion force landed at Lingayen Gulf on December 22, 1941. Japanese General Masaharu Homma's 57,000 troops waded ashore against a typhoon and the resistance of US trained Philippine reservists. Homma landed tanks and artillery later that day, and began advancing south toward Manila, despite the valiant efforts of Major General Jonathan Wainwright's Philippine Scouts, including the 26th Cavalry which suffered losses of 80 percent of its forces. On Christmas Eve, 1941, more of Homma's forces landed to the east of Lamon Bay and advanced toward Manila, preparing to crush the American-Philippine forces in a "pincer" maneuver. General Douglas MacArthur put into effect plan "Orange 3"; the original plan for defense of the island. The Philippine Scouts heroically opposed the Japanese advance while the main forces complied with MacAruthur's order to withdraw to the Bataan Peninsula, leaving behind the food and medical supplies crucial to the support of their units.Why We Are Called Bataan

Why We Are Called Bataan Just ten short hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese planes surprised US forces again at the main US air base in the Philippines on the island of Luzon. After two weeks of diversionary tectics, the main Japanese invasion force landed at Lingayen Gulf on December 22, 1941. Japanese General Masaharu Homma's 57,000 troops waded ashore against a typhoon and the resistance of US trained Philippine reservists. Homma landed tanks and artillery later that day, and began advancing south toward Manila, despite the valiant efforts of Major General Jonathan Wainwright's Philippine Scouts, including the 26th Cavalry which suffered losses of 80 percent of its forces. On Christmas Eve, 1941, more of Homma's forces landed to the east of Lamon Bay and advanced toward Manila, preparing to crush the American-Philippine forces in a "pincer" maneuver. General Douglas MacArthur put into effect plan "Orange 3"; the original plan for defense of the island. The Philippine Scouts heroically opposed the Japanese advance while the main forces complied with MacAruthur's order to withdraw to the Bataan Peninsula, leaving behind the food and medical supplies crucial to the support of their units.
Having captured the Philippine capital of Manila on January 2, the Japanese command assumed that victory was assured. A small Japanese reserve force was tasked with clearing the Bataan Peninsula of remaining opposition forces. On January 10, these Japanese troops met up against an Allied stronghold just north of the Abucay line at Mt. Natib. On January 22, the American-Filipino fighters were forced to retreat further into the Bataan Peninsula. The rugged terrain forced a slowdown in the Japanese pursuit, and the Allies were able to establish another stronghold further south on Mt. Samat. On February 8, Homma received reinforcements from Tokyo, and began to regroup for another assault on the Bataan Peninsula. The continued successful opposition of the American-Filipino fighters to the Japanese takeover of Bataan provided the hope needed to the United States homeland that the battle in the Pacific was not lost. In March 1942, General MacArthur received orders to escape to Australia and take over as Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific Theater. He reluctantly left Bataan with the now famous proclamation "I shall return." General Wainwright assumed command of the remaining allied forces on Bataan. While relatively well armed, they were living on one-quarter the prescribed combat rations and had virtually no available medical supplies. Malnutrition and disease were becoming rampant. Hunger and sickness eventually accomplished what the Allies' Japanese enemies could not. Homma's forces continued to grow to approximately 67,000 troops. By April 3, the Japanese shelling of Samat turned the mountain into a hill of charred coals. The odds against the American-Filipino troops remaining on Bataan became overwhelming, and on April 9, 1942, with face in palm, Major General Edward King surrendered all forces on the peninsula. Thousands of prisoners were taken almost immediately by the Japanese. With so many Allied fighters spread throughout Bataan, it was days before the word of surrender reached them all. Many could not believe what they were hearing, escaped into the mountains, and continued to fight. General Wainwright was able to escape to the island of Corregidor off the southern tip of the Bataan peninsula. When Japanese forces entered Mariveles, they has accumulated 76,000 prisoners, most of which were sick, wounded or suffering from malnutrition. The Japanese supply line was barely sufficient to support their own troops, so the prisoners were forced to walk the 65 miles of treacherous terrain to the prisoner of war camp, Camp O'Donnell, to the north. The infamous "Death March" has begun. Many members of the prisoner garrison were systematically executed, but the sick and weak were pushed to exhaustion before being bayoneted or beat to death with the butt end of the their captors' rifles. Many of the 54,000 who reached Camp O'Donnell would succumb to disease of torture while imprisoned. Within two months of surrender, more than 21,000 men perished. The Bataan "Death March" is known as one of the greatest inhumanities of WWII, and also as one of the greatest displays of heroism and human will power on the part of its survivors. By May 6, on the island of Corregidor, Japanese troops forced the surrender of General Wainwright and all U.S. and Allied forces in the Philippines. In would be two-and-a-half years before General MacArthur could fulfill his promise to return and retake the Philippines from the Japanese. This ship commemorates those who served and sacrificed in the Philippines in the name of freedom in the Pacific.