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By the time we got back there, the war was about over. Some guys from Europe who wanted to get into the squadrons and shoot a while took precedence. They sort of gave up on us and started getting our paperwork to send us back. Mr. Cox: Let me ask you this, Bill. Being shot down, I imagine you probably remember the exact date and probably the time. Mr. Brown: May 29, just before noon. It was a marvelous, beautiful day. It is the kind of a day that you would want to have if you were going to the beach. But I didn't get to go to the beach. I got to go to the water. Mr. Cox: You said they started processing the papers, this was in 1945? Mr. Brown: We got back the 1st of August. They had us back to Saipan when they dropped the first bomb. No body knew how fast it was going to close down at that time. Mr. Cox: Then you processed from Saipan. Where did you go, back to Honolulu? Mr. Brown: Saipan to Honolulu. We flew MATS back to Honolulu. Those lovely islands like Johnson Island and then Hickam. Mr. Cox: You said MATS, that's Material Air Transport... Mr. Brown: Military Air Transports. They were doing all that C-46 stuff. Hauling people. In fact, one time I got to come from Saipan to Honolulu on that China Clipper kind of plane. That is no air plane to ever fly in. It's dangerous. Mr. Cox: Well, it's big. You got back to the states... Mr. Brown: In September, I got back to the states. They had a cargo ship that we got on from Honolulu back to San Francisco. We went under the bridge, pulled in to San Francisco at the dock there. We didn't get off the boat. They had a military band playing "Sentimental Journey" and a few military songs. Then they took us to Richmond to a replacement center, where they sent you off. Mr. Cox: How did you get to Richmond from San Francisco?
Mr. Brown: We didn't get off the boat. Mr. Cox: You went around to Panama. Mr. Brown: No, I meant Richmond, California. No it wasn't very far. We were dying to get off the boat and they wouldn't let us get off. From the Replacement Center, they sent us many places. I went to Camp Chaffee in Arkansas. My folks had moved to Arkansas so I got off at Camp Chaffee.
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Brown. Brown was studying at the University of Texas at El Paso whe nhe joined the Army Air Force in 1942. Brown discusses his flight training, which occurred throughout Texas. With training cmplete, Brown was sent to Hawaii where he continued training with the 45th Fighter Squadron, 7th Air Force. Soon his unit was shipped to Iwo Jima where they flew bomber escort for bombing missions over the home islands of Japan. Brown was shot down over Yokahama and bailed out over the Tokyo Bay, where he was resuced by the USS Pipefish (SS-388). Brown was taken to Hawaii to recover and was eventually shipped back to the US, where he was discharged in September, 1945.
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