Published: November 07, 2009 11:42 pm      

VETERAN'S DAY: Proud to serve

Charles Decker recalls life as belly gunner in South Pacific

As another Veterans Day approaches, a World War II vet recalls the hardships and friendships that made his military service an unforgettable chapter in his life.

At 85, Charles Decker still works as an accountant for Smokin Joes on Indian Hill.

His war experiences, on balance, were positive, he said, forging the man he became.

A farm boy from Penn Yan, Decker got to see the South Pacific and Asia from the belly of a B-24 during World War II.

When he enlisted in the Army in 1943 at age 19, Decker was 5-foot-4 and weighed 138 pounds. Smaller men were needed to squeeze in a ball turret of the bomber called “Liberator.”

After 46 missions as a belly gunner with the 13th Air Force, Decker came back weighing 118 pounds.

“I had a good experience in the Army. I’m lucky I didn’t get hit,” Decker said. “The plane got hit. We limped in a couple times.”

The plane took 86 confirmed hits.

Two years after the war, however, Decker came down with malaria and was treated at Ransomville Hospital. “The sweat was running like water off my chest,” he said.

Decker met Corliss Printup of the Tuscarora Reservation while she was attending Keuka College in Penn Yan after the war, and they got married in 1946. He has lived in Niagara County for 60 years. He worked as a superintendent at the Globar Division Carborundum in Niagara Falls.

He started working for his son-in-law, Joe Anderson, about 35 years ago.

“The grandchildren love him. He’s a spitball.” Anderson said. “He’s a cool dude, just a tough person.”

Decker will celebrate Veterans Day on Wednesday at the Sanborn American Legion Post 969, where he is still active.

The B-24s flew with the 13th Air Force and island-hopped from the Carolines, Marshalls, Marianas and Palaus to Okinawa supporting the U.S. advance. Decker’s view of the action was sometimes topsy-turvy.

War historian Harold “Diz” Kronenberg flew 20 missions with the 390th Bomb Group from April 18 to June 15, 1944. His description of his own missions offers a glimpse into what Decker experienced.

“The ball turret was cramped and hung like a bubble on the underside-belly of the airplane,” he said. “The occupant had to be stout-hearted, free from claustrophobia and unafraid to fly without a parachute. It was particularly uncomfortable on missions of deep penetration. To be isolated from the rest of the crew, in a huddled and cramped position for about eight hours ... ”

Missions could last as long as 10 to 12 hours in a combat area.

The ball was retractable. When it was turned up, the gunner would climb inside.

“I would sit down, close the hatch, drop it down and lock the hatch,” Decker said. “I was tipped up, laying on my back with my feet in the air and guns between my legs.”

The belly gunner did not know what was happening in the plane, but he had the best view of the action below. B-24s did not fly as high as B-17s, and the ball turrets could rotate 360 degrees. He did have to wear full winter gear during training when temperatures reached 60 below.

“I could see where the bombs dropped,” Decker said. “On one of the missions, I could see the (Great Wall of China). It was a beautiful view.”

On the other hand, he never was sure there was anybody upstairs. The belly gunner was the only one not wearing a parachute.

B-17s were unstable and had “flappy wings,” according to Decker. “They took a lot of pounding. There were bad storms over the South Pacific.”

Each member of the 10-man crew was trained to do several tasks. Decker was trained as a bombardier and was an assistant radio operator.

“I could send 16 words a minute on Morse code. If anything happened, I could drop the bombs,” he said.

The bomb bay was unique, and the crew went in and out of the Liberator through the four bomb bay doors.

There were 11 guns on the plane. Decker manned two .50-caliber machine guns in the ball turret. He could shoot at other planes and could help the bombardier, if necessary. He was able to put the gun together while blindfolded.

“It was hard to tell which way the fighter was coming in, and I had to swing it around when planes came in on me,” he said.

The B-24 was powered by four 1,100-horsepower Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines. On Decker’s first mission, it came back with three engines.

Decker was discharged at noon Nov. 11, 1945. He regrets that he wasn’t able to learn where the rest of the crew was going.

“We were discharged so quick,” he said. “I just remember the town they were from. It’s too bad, it would be nice, but everyone took off. I was looking for a job right away.”

Contact reporter Bill Wolcott

at 439-9222, ext. 6246.