HomeMy WebLinkAboutW. F. Sander, Brazos Valley HeroesBy Bill Youngkin
Special to The Eagle
W.F. Sander, formerly of Hearne, now a resident
of the Hudson Creek retirement facility in Bryan, has
enjoyed life for more than 91 years. By his admission,
he has had a rewarding life. Part of that rewarding life
was his time of service to his country during World War
II.
As related by Sander, "I was born in 1916 on our
family farm between Brenham and Bellville. I attended
school at Pleasant Hill School, aone-room schoolhouse,
through the 8th grade. During myjunior year at Brenham
High my dad died, so I had to go to work to help support
my mom and family. I continued in school but got a job
with the A&P grocery store there in Benham, making
the grand sum of three dollars per week:
"When I graduated in 1933 they hired me full-time
and made me the manager of the store in Hearne. My
supervisor said, `I'm taking you to Hearne, and I don't
know if you'll come back or not.' I didn't. I was 18 years
old and the youngest manager in the whole chain. I
stayed with A&P until the war started.
"In early 1942 I joined a group being formed by
the Houston Junior Chamber of Commerce to enter
the naval cadet program. We were called the 'Houston
Hurricanes.' They paraded us through downtown, swore
us in and then shipped us out of town to the University
of Georgia for the naval flight cadet program.
"I was one of the older cadets at 26, but my main
problem was that I had to learn to swim one-half of
a mile to pass and get my commission. Growing up
in Brenham we only had creeks and stock tanks to
swim in, so I wasn't a swimmer. They had to put me in
a special swimmer's class in order for me to pass my
swim test.
"We were sent to the Naval Air Station in Dallas for
flight training and later to Corpus Christi for training in
seaplanes. When we completed our seaplane training
in June 1943, I was commissioned as an ensign and
received my wings. I was assigned to the West Coast and
then Hawaii. I wasn't chosen for flight slots in any of the
squadrons -they wanted to take college graduates first.
I guess they thought they were smarter and therefore
would be better pilots. As a result l got to fly around the
Hawaiian Islands in every type plane the Navy had for
Six months. It was the best duly I ever had.
"My" first duty into a combat zone was to take a
replacement plane to Tarawa and bring back one that
had been shot up pretty bad. We arrived in Tarawa the
day after it was declared to be secured. Flying in, we
saw Japanese bodies lying all around. No one shot at
me on Tarawa, but the trip back I thought would be my
last.
"We had to fly over 600 miles of open water to one
of our refueling spots. I was in charge of navigating us
island in sight. After an additional hour of flight, still'no
island. Just as we were about to start circling to try
to find it or hope someone found us, Johnston Island
suddenly appeared on the horizon. We were dead on
but hadn't accounted for headwinds that had slowed
us up.
"I flew BPYs as part of the `Blackcat Squadron.' We
flew at night, and our primary purpose was to locate
Japanese submarines. We would fly all night and when
we returned and landed, we were met with a case of
beer before our de-briefing. I don't think I ever got used
to having beer for breakfast.
"I rotated back to the States to train and pick up a
new PBM. It had a 12-man crew with jet-assisted take-
off (JATO). I was now the pilot with rrfy own crew of 12.
The only other Texan in the crew was a funny little guy
from East Texas who was our tailgunner and who was
always talking about what a fighter he was. When we
joined our squadron off Lingayen Gulf, they had lost a
plane and-crew the night before on a patrol off Hong
Kong. That was to be our duty the next night.
"Our normal procedure was to fly at 250 feet above
the ocean, but for some reason that night I had drifted
down to 200 feet when we approached Hong Kong.
Suddenly all hell broke loose with artillery and anti-
aircraftfire, directed at 250 feet above the ocean. They
were shooting just over us. We turned and got as low
as we could. My little Texan called me and said, 'Mr.
Sander, let's get the hell out of here, they're after us.' He
ended up not being as brave as he talked.
"Shortly after that event we were patrolling off the
China coast when we encountered five Japanese ships.
We had bombs under our wings which we dropped on
the first three. We were lucky enough to hit and sink
all three. The next two ships we had to strafe until
they caught fire and- burned. Although our crew hadn't
been together very long, we had some memorable
experiences together. They were a really good crew."
Before the war ended, Sander was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross by the Navy for his role in
sinking five enemy ships on one mission. After the war
he went into the feed store business in Hearne and
later the lumber and hardware business, owning and
operating W.F. Sander Lumber and Hardware and a
home construction business.
When asked about his life and the success he has
had, his reply was, "You have to believe in yourself and
be good to people. To have a friend, you need to be a
friend. You can live a good life if you do that."
W.F. Sander's name is found on the Brazos Valley
Veterans Memorial. If you want fo have a name added
to the Veterans Memorial, for more information, to make
a contribution, or if you know a World War 11 veteran
whose story needs to be told, contact the BWM at
www.veteransmemorial.org or Bill Youngkin at (979)
260-7030.