WWII veteran sadly watches 61-year tradition fade away
Photos Courtesy Mickey Sherman
WWII Veteran Mickey Sherman joined the 312th Light Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps at age 20. The OCCC student said, after training, his entire unit relocated in the Pacific Theater of War. “We flew missions out of New Guinea and the Philippine Islands until the war ended in 1945.” The group just clebrated the last of 61 consecutive reunions.
Photos Courtesy Mickey Sherman
WWII Veteran Mickey Sherman joined the 312th Light Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps at age 20. The OCCC student said, after training, his entire unit relocated in the Pacific Theater of War. “We flew missions out of New Guinea and the Philippine Islands until the war ended in 1945.” The group just clebrated the last of 61 consecutive reunions.
MICKEY SHERMAN
News Writing Student
It started and ended in Oklahoma. 1942 was the year the 312th Light Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps was formed at Will Rogers Field. At age 20, I was one of several hundred men in the original group.
We trained at Cimarron Field, now Clarence C. Page Airport, west of Oklahoma City. The A-20 Havoc light bombers we flew were made by Tulsa Aircraft in Tulsa.
After training, the entire unit relocated in the Pacific Theater of War. We flew missions out of New Guinea and the Philippine Islands until the war ended in 1945.
It is only fitting that the last of 61 consecutive reunions wound up at the Waterford Hotel in Oklahoma City in late September.
Only two of us, Hank Eales of Arkansas and I, remained from the original roster. Bob Hester and I were the only two left from the Oklahoma City area. Fifteen others plus their families came from around the country.
Adding a sense of solemnity to some of the proceedings was the awareness that the rest of our mates are now flying A-20 Havocs in Air Corps Heaven.
Among our fond memories is the reunion here in 1998.
It was the best we ever had with 140 men and families attending. Al Good’s Big Band performed for us at the old Lincoln Plaza. Bricktown was just getting started and we took it in.
At this year’s reunion, the group was treated to a meal at Toby Keith’s Roadhouse, boat rides on the Bricktown Canal, and a visit to the Oklahoma City Memorial and the Air and Space Museum. We went to the Remington Casino and had lunch at the County Line Restaurant.
There’s some sadness to see the reunions disappear. Where else can we get together, tell lies and share memories of a time long ago? But we are now all over 80.
We loved the A-20 Havocs. They were great planes for their day.
How else would I, a young man from Baltimore, have been able to see Sydney, Australia, get malaria and dengue fever in New Guinea, and rescue the Philippine Islands with Old Douglas MacArthur.
It is hard, in the general’s words, to see “old soldiers fade away.”
