TULE LAKE SAMURAI III

B-17G 43-7216

Ground Crew Chief: MSgt. Tommy Oyama

 

CREW  ROSTER

Medals x6  
Mission Pilot Co-Pilot Bombardier Navigator Flight Eng. Radioman Ball Gunner Port Waist Star. Waist Tail Gunner
1st Lt. 2nd Lt. 2nd Lt. 2nd Lt. SSgt. Tech Sgt. Sgt. Sgt. Sgt. Sgt.
Miss. Flown 23 (33) 5 (6) 23 (33) 23 (33) 14 (21) 23 (33) 9 (14) 7 (10) 7 (10) 7 (10)
  LA., CA SF, CA Upland, CA LA., CA LA., CA Sacramento, CA Pomona, CA Sacramento, CA Banebridge Island, WA Seattle, WA
Ploesti Shimizu, Kenji Honda, Allen Hiromeni, Joe LW Takai, Ben LW Kitano, Harry LW Kashiwagi, Dean Yoshimura, Paul Kano, Greg KIA Kishi, Wayne Ono, John
Piombino Shimizu Honda Hiromeni Takai Kitano Kashiwagi Yoshimura Mifune Kishi Ono
Toulon Shimizu Honda Hiromeni Takai Kitano Kashiwagi Yoshimura Mifune Kishi Ono
Milan Shimizu LW Honda Hiromeni Takai Kitano Kashiwagi Yoshimura KIA Mifune Kishi LW Ono
Ploesti Shimizu Honda KIA Hiromeni Takai Kitano Kashiwagi LW Hiromi, Gene Mifune Kishi SW=Home Ono SW=Home
Brasov Shimizu Wakamatsu, Pete Hiromeni Takai Kitano Kashiwagi LW Hiromi Minaga, Yuki LW Soma, Bill LW Sakamoto, George LW
Bucharest Shimizu LW Wakamatsu Hiromeni LW Takai Kitano Masaoka, Mike Hiromi Watasuki, Glenn Ishida, Sam Masaugi, Roger SW=Home
Wiener-Neustadt Shimizu Wakamatsu Hiromeni Takai Kitano Kashiwagi Hiromi Minaga Soma LW Sakamoto
Piombino Shimizu Sulu, George Hiromeni Takai Kitano Kashiwagi Hiromi Minaga Soma Sakamoto
Cesena Shimizu Sulu Hiromeni Takai Kitano Kashiwagi Hiromi Minaga Soma Sakamoto
Ferrera Shimizu Sulu Hiromeni Takai Kitano Kashiwagi Hiromi Minaga Soma Sakamoto
Avezzano Shimizu Sulu Hiromeni Takai Kitano Kashiwagi Hiromi Minaga Soma Sakamoto
Wiener-Neustadt Shimizu Sulu Hiromeni Takai Kitano Kashiwagi Hiromi Minaga Soma Sakamoto

 

SPECIAL CREW ABILITIES:

Radioman Kashiwagi: applies a +1 modifier to a ditching attempt provided the radio is operational.

Lucky Charms earned: Shimizu, Hiromeni, Takai, Kashiwagi (used mission 56), Yoshimura, & Ono.

Lucky Charms earned after Toulon mission: Kishi

 

Crew History Notes:

Crew trained at Randolph Field before deploying to ETO.  Nine crew members flew 2 missions in Tule Lake Samurai.

Sgt. Kishi flew on Florence, Verona, Reggio Emilia missions with Yoshikawa crew on Divine Wind.

MISSION RECORD - Aircraft flew 4 missions as Nature's Misfits.

Mission

Target City

 Target Type

Bomb Run

 Fw-190 Claimed/Dam Me-109 Claimed/Dam Me-110 Claimed/Dam
56

Ploesti, Romania

 Marshalling Yards 0 2 0 0 2 0 1
57 Piombino, Italy Industry - Steel 0 - - - - - -
58 Toulon, France Naval Base 30 - - - - - -
59 Milan, Italy Marshalling Yards 0 2 4 2 1 - -
60

Ploesti, Romania

 Marshalling Yards 5 2 1 0 1 0 0
61

Brasov, Romania

 Aircraft Factory 20 1 1 3 4 1 0
62

Bucharest, Romania

 Marshalling Yards 0 3 1 1 0 0 0
63

Wiener-Neustadt, Austria

 Aircraft Factory 30 0 1 0 0 0 1
64 Piombino, Italy Marshalling Yards 30 - - - - - -
65 Cesena, Italy Marshalling Yards 30 - - - - - -
66 Ferrera, Italy Marshalling Yards 30 - - - - - -
68 Avezanno, Italy Marshalling Yards 20 - - - - - -
63

Wiener-Neustadt, Austria

 Aircraft Factory 20 0 0 0 0 0 0

TOTALS

 Avg: 16.5% 10 8 6 8 1 2

MISSION NOTES

Mission

Notes

56

 Replacement aircraft for Tule Lake Samurai II.  Returned with damage to the starboard wing root, rudder, port aileron, tail plane, to the tail section oxygen system, bomb bay doors will not open, superficial damage to the nose, pilots’ compartment, radio area, fuselage, waist areas and 4 casualties.  Claims: 1 Fw-190 apiece by Sgts. Ono & Kishi.  Replacement: Sgt. Mifune.
57 Returned without damage or casualties.
58 Returned without damage or casualties.
59

Fell-out-of-formation during inbound leg near Verona (zone-5) and returned alone with starboard cheek gun, starboard elevator, starboard waist heater inoperable, damage to the rudder, port wing outboard tank holed and leaking, superficial damage to both wings, the fuselage, to the waist, tail, bomb bay and pilots’ compartments and 3 casualties.  Claims: 1 FW-190 & 1 ME-100 by 2nd Lt. Hiromine, 1 FW-190 by Sgt. Kitano and 1 ME-109 by Sgt. Yoshimura. Replacement: Sgt. Hiromi.
60 Returned with bomb bay doors inoperable, rafts destroyed, damage to the Norden bombsight, to the oxygen system for the navigator and port waist gunner, port wing root, superficial damage to the bomb bay, starboard wing, tail, fuselage, and 5 casualties. Claims: 1 Fw-190 apiece by 2nd Lt. Hiromeni and Sgt. Ono
61 Returned with port wing flaps, bomb controls and chin turret inoperable, wing root damage to the starboard tail plane, the starboard inboard fuel holed, superficial damage to the #4 engine, to the fuselage, to the tail, waist, pilots', bomb bay compartments and 4 lightly wounded crewmen.  Claims: 2 Me-109s, 1 Fw-190 & 1 Me-110 by Sgt. Hiromi and 1 Me-109 by SSgt. Kitano.  Temporary replacements: TSgt. Masaoka, Sgts. Watasuki, Ishida & Masasugi
62 Returned with starboard landing gear and starboard waist gun inoperable, damage to the starboard waist gunner’s oxygen supply, to the rudder (65%), to the port wing (60%) and starboard wing roots (20%), the starboard tail plane root (35%), superficial damage to the fuselage, on both wings, to the #2 & #3 engines, to the bomb bay, nose, waist compartments, and 3 casualties.  Claims: 2 FW-190s & 1 ME-109 by SSgt. Kitano, 1 FW-190 by 2nd Lt. Hiromine.
63 TSgt. Kashiwagi, Sgts. Minaga, Soma and Sakamoto rejoins crew.  Dropped out of formation over Yugoslavia on return leg (zone-4) and returned with tail compartment heating system inoperable, damage to the oxygen supply system to the flight engineer, superficial damage to the port and starboard wings, to the nose, pilots’, bomb bay, radio room and waist compartments, and two casualties.
64 Returned without damage or casualties.
65 Returned without damage or casualties.
66 Returned without damage or casualties.
68 Returned without damage or casualties.
69 Returned with damage to the port wing root and superficial damage to the tail section and no casualties.

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