CV Princeton, P-51, and V-2 Rockets

This new stand alone release based on the legendary War in the Pacific from 2 by 3 Games adds significant improvements and changes to enhance game play, improve realism, and increase historical accuracy. With dozens of new features, new art, and engine improvements, War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition brings you the most realistic and immersive WWII Pacific Theater wargame ever!

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Canoerebel
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CV Princeton, P-51, and V-2 Rockets

Post by Canoerebel »

Yesterday at lunch, I sat beside three WWII vets purely by chance. I was at a Sons of the American Revolution meeting for which I was to be the speaker. The vets were trim, nicely dressed, polite and well spoken.

The first to arrive, Jim Milner, served in the Army Air Corps, mainly as a P-51 pilot with the 8th Air Force. Earlier in the war, he flew a P-47, but from his comments he seemed to consider himself, first and last, a flyer of Mustangs. He spoke with enthusiasm about the speed and maneuverabiilty of the Mustang. He also had high regard for the B-17, but he saw too many of them go down.

Then Jim Clark arrived. He was a musician on the USS Princeton and wore a cap bearing the legend "CV-37, USS Princeton." This confused me, thanks to my AE education and partial ignorance. I asked him, "Wasn't the Princeton a CVL?"

He replied, "No. It was a full-sized carrier."

I still wasn't absolutely sure, so I asked him if she carried divebombers (knowing that CVLs mainly carried Avengers and fighters). He replied, "Yes, she carired everything, dive bombers, torpedo bombers and fighters."

At that point, I knew my knowledge on the matter was incomplete. You guys know, or will have guessed by now, that the Princeton was the full-sized carrier that succeeded the CVL of the same name. CVL-23 Princeton was sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. CV-37 Princeton was launched July 8, 1945 and commissioned that November.

According to Clark, Princeton was in or near Guantanamo Bay when the war ended. The ship and several others sailed for New York. The musicians from each ship practiced together (I think on Princeton) and then marched together at the Navy Day parade in New York City just after VJ Day.

Clark recalled a divebomber coming in for a landing on the Princeton one day at sea. (I got the impression this was during the war, but I can't say positively since she was only afloat for a month before VJ Day). He described the divebomer suddenly nose diving straight into the see. They didn't find a piece of wreckage.

The third WWII veteran at the meeting was a preacher named Warren Jones. He told about undergoing buzz bomb attacks while in London (I beleve he was US Army). AFter the war in the 1950s, he attended seminary at Emory University in Atlanta. He was valedictorian and got to meet the speaker at the graduation ceremony, Dr. Werner Von Braun, who was by then an American citizen. Braun, of course, had worked on the V-2 rocket. At the graduation ceremony, Jones told Braun about undering the V-2 attacks in London. Braun teared up and shook his hand.

After the war, Clark taught at a school in Louisiana. In 1970, he came to Rome, GA, to serve as the bandmaster at Berry College. He remained there until retirement in 1987. He lives today in an assisted living home.

Jim Milner, the P-51 pilot, lives at home. His wife died a few years ago. I think Jim grew up in Atlanta, but his family (or part) came to Rome long ago. His brother is a well-known farmer just south of town.

Warren Jones is in his 90s and still lives at home. He was a preacher in Rome for many decades and is a well known historian and radio personality.

"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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dr.hal
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RE: CV Princeton, P-51, and V-2 Rockets

Post by dr.hal »

Fantastic stories, thanks for sharing. You never know who you are going to sit next to in odd places. I was in a pub on the "Black Isle" which is in Scotland north of Inverness (it's not an island but a spit of land) and there was this old chap there drinking his pint. It was crowned in the pub so I sat at his table (after asking permission) and we got to chatting (unfortunately I didn't get his name) and he said he was in "the war" and was in Corvettes in the North Atlantic. Well anyone who knows the Battle of the Atlantic knows that Corvette duty was a hard thing to be part of. Well it turned out that he was on the corvette that helped to sink U 99 Otto Kretchmer's boat. He said he was a coxswain and that his boat picked Kretchmer out of the sea. Not sure if it is true (as the history doesn't seem to mention a corvette being involved) but is certainly was interesting to talk with him!
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Lowpe
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RE: CV Princeton, P-51, and V-2 Rockets

Post by Lowpe »

Lots of history in the SAR; here we have a fellow who was a Lt with Patton in North Africa, then again across Germany....retired Colonel.

He tells of his first encounter with Patton. His tentmate in N.Africa was a West Point grad, a football player, that seems barely graduated...

They get a message one day, the General wants to meet them, they get spic and span quickly and are worried. Escorted to the General, who is riding a horse in full regalia, sees them, dismounts, rushes over and starts shaking the football player's hand.

"I have to shake the hand of a man that took longer to graduate than I did" he told the befuddled football player, grinning madly and slapping him on the back.

Their introduction to ole Blood-n-guts.

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RE: CV Princeton, P-51, and V-2 Rockets

Post by Symon »

Out the back yard, over the fence, past the house that butts up, cross the street, and there’s the home of Robert Hohl; Lt. Col., USMC (Ret). He’s 94, he goes in-and-out of Alzheimers, but still tends his flower garden every day. He and Mom are great buddies. When she’s being taken on her walk and he’s outside, she’ll have the caregiver stop so she can sit on Bob’s driveway and watch him putter about.

Robert W. Hohl (MCSN: 0-29696), United States Marine Corps, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight, in actions against enemy Japanese forces in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. He’s got a few more ‘attaboys’ for his Korean and Viet Nam service.

Like most vets, he doesn’t talk about any of it. He talks about flying, and the places he’s flown over, and flying, and how he once got caught in a storm cloud front with bingo fuel, and flying, and … well .. just how much he loved flying. He loves my lasagna and I always make enough to bring over a big batch to him and his wife.

He never talks about the wars. There’s always some media van snooping around every year and they all go home disappointed. His wife, Martha, says she asked him about that once and he just said .. “If they were there, there’s nothing I need to say. If they weren’t there, they couldn’t understand anything I said anyway. Best to just be quiet.”

These heroes and legends literally live amongst us. Down the street, in your town, sitting next to you in Church. A thin line, getting thinner, but when you find one, bring them offerings of lasagna and Texas toast (don’t care what the Docs say, ‘cause this is a once in a while, off-diet thing, and they will love you for it.).
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rockmedic109
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RE: CV Princeton, P-51, and V-2 Rockets

Post by rockmedic109 »

A couple of years back I transported a man that turned out to be a veteran. On the way to the hospital, I asked where he served. His eyes lit up when I told him that yes, I did know where Munda was. I've transported several world war II vets. I only get to spend a couple of minutes with them but makes for some of the more memorable and pleasant calls I've run over the years.
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RE: CV Princeton, P-51, and V-2 Rockets

Post by m10bob »

My dad and all my uncles fought in that war..Universally, none spoke about the war until I became a "member of the club",(saw the elephant)..

In the entire course of my childhood, I witnessed my dad make a lot of friends, everywhere. There was some kind of unspoken bond which allowed them to recognize each other before they had ever met.

"Joe", a little guy who worked at Koehler Pharmacy at 30th and Central spoke with a strange accent..He had the infamous tatoo of numbers on one of his forearms..He was a surviver of Auschwitz..
Joe told dad that at one point, the Germans took a bunch of Jewish males and put them in German uniforms, gave them a minimum of ammo and 98k's, and put them in trenches on the Russian front between the Russians and the German lines.The Russians did not kill them and were not fooled by the Germans ploy.
Dad was always very respectful of Joe, they were very good friends.

Next door to my home lived a somewhat reclusive man with only one leg.He had lost the other serving aboard a German unterseeboote.
Again, he and dad were very good friends.

I will always cherish the memories of going to the State Fair, when it seemed the whole place was populated with these tall men with their own secret stories, yet they themselves carried a common bond..and seemed to know each other and the experiences of each other.........
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Symon
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RE: CV Princeton, P-51, and V-2 Rockets

Post by Symon »

Bob, I think we are of an age. I turned 66 today. I, too will cherish those memories of tall men with their secret stories. The bond is real. You can always tell. Ciao. J
Nous n'avons pas peur! Vive la liberté! Moi aussi je suis Charlie!
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m10bob
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RE: CV Princeton, P-51, and V-2 Rockets

Post by m10bob »

ORIGINAL: Symon

Bob, I think we are of an age. I turned 66 today. I, too will cherish those memories of tall men with their secret stories. The bond is real. You can always tell. Ciao. J
I miss Captain kangaroo,Sky King,aluminum foil on the rabbit ears,a city of a "nearly" a million with 3 tv stations, (none of which were on a regular schedule yet..No TV guide for the same reason.....Vaccinations for polio at school...gas was less than 30 cents per gallon..soda was a nickel....comic books were a dime...Mad Magazine was 25cents(cheap)...kids had to pass their grades or flunk and do the entire semester again...Howdy Doody was a person...all the boys loved "Annette"of the Mouseketeers...Willys was a car dad drove when he traded in the old Hudson...We walked to school and there were no "snow days"in Indiana...Demolation Derbies were televised live from a dirt track right across the street from the Indy 500...MOST TV was "live" and many of the old shows were never saved because nobody dreamed the shows would ever be important enough to hold any future interest....Oh....I can see a really OT thread opening soon about "the good ole' days"....
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reg113
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RE: CV Princeton, P-51, and V-2 Rockets

Post by reg113 »

Amen!
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Anthropoid
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RE: CV Princeton, P-51, and V-2 Rockets

Post by Anthropoid »

Here is one that seems to be in the same theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47miU0ib_pc#t=5078
The x-ray is her siren song. My ship cannot resist her long. Nearer to my deadly goal. Until the black hole. Gains control...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkIIlkyZ ... playnext=3
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Jellicoe
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RE: CV Princeton, P-51, and V-2 Rockets

Post by Jellicoe »

When I was younger I once met a sailor who was on the Warrior at Jutland. He was a patient of my father's at the time. Warrior was hit 20+ times by heavy shells before sinking on the way home. Even back then there can't have been many people around who could describe first hand what the impact of multiple heavy calibre shells felt like on a ship
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