500th BS (345th BG) reunion - The Rough Riders

Antipodean Andy · Sep 10, 2008

One of the four squadrons that made up the 345th Bomb Group - The Air Apaches.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20080909-NEWS-80909026

OGUNQUIT, Maine — They flew 10,609 sorties in the Pacific in World War II and logged 58,562 combat flying hours. They are the 500th Bomb Squadron, the Rough Riders, one of four squadrons of the 345th Bomb Group. And last week, 18 of its remaining members convened in Ogunquit for their biennial reunion.

Organized in 1942 at the Columbia, S.C., army air base, the squadron worked its way across the Pacific, ultimately ending up on the island of Ie Shima, just off the coast of Okinawa in July, 1945. Along the way, they battled their way across New Guinea and the Philippine Islands.

"It took a year to go (across New Guinea)," said Lynn Baker of Boulder, Colo., one of the squadron members. "The Japanese were still active there. We then went to the island of Leyte in the Philippines, then to San Marcelino on the island of Luzon and then to Ie Shima. From there, we could hit the main island of Japan. That’s where we were the rest of the war."

The squadron lost 177 planes during the war, but also destroyed 260 Japanese vessels, damaged 275 more, and destroyed 367 planes, according to a brief history of the squadron.

"We lost more aircraft than the others, but we also did more damage," said Bob Bynum of Oneonta, Ala., who served in the military intelligence unit of the squadron.

Because of his position, Bynum said he got to know everyone in the unit. "I helped brief crews before they went out and de-briefed them when they got back," he said. "We lost 200 men and I can still pull up about two-thirds of them in my mind. I knew them."

Indeed, Bynum and colleague J.W. Albright compiled a listing of all members killed in action, the date they died, and the circumstances. The listing, known as the Roll of Honor, was prepared for the group’s reunion in Las Vegas in 1981.

Shortly after arriving in the southwest Pacific, the squadron’s fleet of planes was converted from B25 medium altitude bombers to minimum altitude strafer bombers, a significant change. "They flew at 50 feet above, firing 50 caliber machine guns," Bynum said. "That happened pretty soon after we arrived in New Guinea. We were the tree top terrorists."

Squadron member Marvin Leventon of Baltimore said he still remembered things that happened during their tenure in the Pacific. "We were really too young and stupid to be scared," Leventon said. "But we were there when it ended. The week after the atomic bomb was dropped, we went over Nagasaki. It was amazing to see."

The squadron held its first reunion in 1983 in Washington, D.C., with about 200 members attending. Over the years, the number has dwindled as the members got older. The Ogunquit reunion was hosted by a trio of family members who thought the idea of bringing the group east was a good one. The leader was Diane Pomeroy-Hathorn. She was assisted by her son, Andrew Pomeroy and her mother, Jean Burbank.

"They did a fine job," Bynum said.

The group will meet again in two years in Dayton, Ohio. Bynum said he would be there because you never knew what might happen.

"The first reunion we had, we had three people that had been listed as missing show up," he said. "They each took 10 or 15 minutes to tell their story. It’s always very emotional for me. I knew them all, as I said."
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"The 500th Bomb Squadron Association Home Page"

Kyt · Sep 11, 2008

There are so many units who participated in the Pacific/Far East who no one has heard of. They don't get the same recognition as those fought over Europe, and yet often endured so much more.

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500th BS (345th BG) reunion - The Rough Riders

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