- Collection:
- Veterans History Project: Oral History Interviews
- Title:
- Oral history interview of Thomas F. Erickson
- Creator:
- Pahr, Marilyn A.
Erickson, Thomas F., 1918- - Date of Original:
- 2004-08-11
- Subject:
- Stearman airplanes
Catalina (Seaplane)
Ventura (Bomber)
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Atomic bomb
Erickson, Charlotte
Urey, Harold Clayton, 1893-1981
Flynn, Errol, 1909-1959
Whitman, Walter, 1918-1944
Hanlon, Jack, 1917-1944
de Havilland, Olivia, 1916-
McKinney, Grange Bowen, 1920-
Melburg, Hugo
Tokyo Rose, 1916-2006
Yale University
Sears, Roebuck and Company
United States. Navy. Bombing Squadron 139
Lockheed Corporation
United Service Organizations (U.S.)
Intrepid (Aircraft carrier)
Bon Homme Richard (Aircraft carrier)
Naval Air Station Atlanta (Ga.)
Komandorski Islands (Russia)
Lockheed Ventura PV-1 (bomber and patrol aircraft) - Location:
- Northern Mariana Islands, Tinian, 15.0116123, 145.629297331134
Russia, Commander Islands, 55.02064205, 166.271543952243
United States, Alaska, Aleutian Islands, 54.7208948, -164.040866211618
United States, Alaska, Attu Island, 52.87849885, 173.027949934816
United States, Alaska, Shemya Island, 52.72274555, 174.100320244832
United States, California, Santa Clara County, Naval Air Station Moffett Field (historical), 37.415, -122.04806
United States, Florida, Jacksonville, Naval Air Station, 30.23583, -81.68056
United States, Florida, Seminole County, Orlando Sanford International Airport, 28.77605, -81.24506
United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
United States, Georgia, Atlanta Metropolitan Area, 33.8498, 84.4383
United States, Georgia, Cobb County, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, 33.919538, -84.51632
United States, Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station - Medium:
- video recordings (physical artifacts)
mini-dv - Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/quicktime
- Description:
- In this interview, Tom Erickson recalls his service as a Naval aviator in the Pacific during World War II. He describes the effect of the Great Depression on his family's life; his father had to leave the family home north of Chicago and go to Seattle, Washington, to find work. Although his father was a seventh grade dropout, his mother was Phi Beta Kappa, and his parents placed great emphasis on the children's education. He was accepted at Yale, where he worked his way through college. He recalls a church member giving him $300 to help him get started, and explains how it changed his life; he still contacts his benefactor every year. Although he had a business degree, he worked as an assistant receiving clerk and elevator operator and was working when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He remembers how the employees and customers huddled around the radio to listen to the news. He wanted to sign up for the Army Air Corps but was rejected because of a spinal defect. He enlisted in the Navy's pilot training program. He was in good shape physically, but was in the middle of failing the eye exam when the examiner was called out of the room; he memorized the lines of the eye test and passed. His was the first class to fly the new PV-1 bombers, which were the newest and fastest the Navy had at that time; he describes the crew structure and their eagerness to fly. His first duty station was in Alaska, arriving after the island of Attu had been retaken from the Japanese. He recalls their mission as twofold: flying reconnaissance missions and bombing raids to northern Japan. The purpose of the bombing missions was to give the Japanese the threat of a major invasion from the north and they did succeed in forcing the Japanese to move some resources from the south to defend their northern territories. He describes their planes being fitted with rubber boots, which pulsated and de-iced the plane and saved his life on at least one occasion. He describes the territory as being a vast tundra made up of ice and rocks. He describes the difficulty of flying in extreme conditions in the middle of winter and in the middle of the night. Formation flying was impossible and the flights were almost nine hours long. They had to fly by dead reckoning. He remembers the "last flight of bomber 31," during which one of the planes from his squadron never returned and was located in Russia many years later; one of his friends was on that flight. He also recalls a harrowing incident in which they flew off course, returning to base with only minutes of fuel remaining. He recalls an encounter with Errol Flynn in a latrine, and tells a story about Flynn and a blue fox. He describes Shemya Island as a flat rock that had been fitted for emergency landings. He remembers that they would play cards and read between flying days. After his tour in Alaska, he was sent to California for training on the PV-2, which he describes as being slower and safer than the PV-1. At this time he became a senior pilot and was sent to the Pacific. From Hawaii, he went island hopping through Kwajalein, Johnston Island and Truk. The mission at that time was to ensure the islands bypassed by American troops weren't being reinforced by the Japanese. He recalls that flying from Tinian was fun; the weather was good and they played softball and tennis. He remembers that he was playing tennis when they heard the war was over. While he was at Tinian the USS Indianapolis came through and there were rumors of a bomb aboard that would explode if it were touched. He describes sailing back to the United States to welcome home signs, going back to work and his courtship. He describes his experience being on a flight with one of the designers of the atomic bomb and that the designer had "prayed that it wouldn't work."
Thomas F. Erickson was a Naval aviator in the Pacific during World War II. - Metadata URL:
- http://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/cdm/ref/collection/VHPohr/id/159
- Additional Rights Information:
- This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.
- Extent:
- 1:00:03
- Original Collection:
- Veterans History Project oral history recordings
Veterans History Project collection, MSS 1010, Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center - Holding Institution:
- Atlanta History Center
- Rights:
-
