War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1716: Bomber Ticket
When Wei Ran drove the jeep back to the cabin assigned to him and Brad with a few bottles of hot sauce, Brad had disappeared and he hadn't even closed his suitcase.

Standing at the door and looking outside, Wei Ran walked to the other person's suitcase and quickly took a look at the things inside.

The size of his suitcase was almost the same as the 30-inch suitcases of later generations. It was made entirely of oak wrapped in brown horsehide, with copper wrapping on the corners and fine and regular rivets.

On the outer lid of the box, in addition to the name "Brad Downey", there is also the emblem of the 3rd Bomber Division and a golden bomb.

On the inside of the lid, there is a green curtain with safety pins of various colors and lengths and several American medals fixed on it. When you pull open this thick curtain, you will find four wooden photo frames firmly fixed on the inside of the lid.

In the first photo frame, Brad Downey and his younger brother Grant Downey, as well as an elderly couple who are suspected to be their parents, are photographed in front of a small shop with a sign that reads "Downey's Pawn Shop."

In this photo, Grant looks about 17 or 18 years old, and Brad is also very young. The only thing that remains unchanged is that in this photo, he still bites his precious amulet with the corner of his mouth as if showing off.

In the second frame, ten crew members including Brad were wearing thick B3 bomber jackets and standing in two rows in front and back of a B17 bomber.

The faces of the people in the photo all have proud smiles. Behind them, the bomber has a red little devil logo with a fork in hand and a bomb on it, and even several rows of white bomb patterns - this is a rare color photo in that era.

The photo in the third frame is a photo of Brad Downey and General LeMay.

In this photo, both of them are holding a lit cigar. In Brad's hand, he is showing a photo album with General LeMay's signature, and a cigar that is deliberately stretched forward, and General LeMay's signature can also be vaguely seen.

But neither Brad nor Li Mei looked very happy.

Look at the last one, it’s a photo of Brad and a blonde girl.

However, on the girl's face, a middle finger pointing downward was painted with red paint. I guess this is probably a green love story.

Gently pulling the curtain closed, Wei Ran turned to look inside the box. There were almost no personal belongings inside.

The wooden compartment was filled with various spare films, flash bulbs and batteries, various film developing supplies, and two thick stacks of envelopes and letter paper.

Among these photographic equipment, he found only three personal belongings: a large box full of cigars and, hidden under the cigar box, a photo album signed by General LeMay.

The third personal item was a large bottle of Benzedrine containing a thousand pills, and a box of five pills, a total of 10 boxes of morphine.

Did he take poison as his meal? What did he experience on the battlefield in Europe?
Wei Ran restored the parts he had turned over to their original state while muttering to himself, then threw the bottles of hot sauce he had just brought back into his suitcase. Then he took out his backpack and used the developing solutions inside to develop the films he had just taken into negatives that could be exposed to light.

He had just finished his work when Brad came back with his camera.

"What did you do?" Wei Ran and Brad asked the same question in unison.

"I walked around," they both gave the same answer, "and took some photos."

"Did you gain anything?" Wei Ran asked first this time.

"Some B29 crews are undergoing training"

Brad sat down and said, "I am almost certain that there will be bombing missions in the next few days, Victor. We have to find a way to participate in the bombing operations when the time comes."

"What method?" Wei Ran asked casually, "Hijack a plane?"

"No, no, no, maybe we can buy two tickets in advance, and leave this to me."

As Brad spoke, he had already taken out the large medicine bottle containing a thousand unique pills from his suitcase, then he took out a few sealed film tubes and skillfully filled them with pills, and also took out an extra box of morphine.

"Is this the bribe?"

Wei Ran asked with a helpless smile, but he was not surprised at all.

The control of benzodiazepine was almost negative in the US military at that time, while morphine was relatively strict. But at least if you gave them some small gifts or trophies, the medical soldiers would always find various reasonable reasons to give you an injection.

“Still a little bit behind”

Brad said, and he took out a few pairs of flesh-colored stockings from a canvas bag on his bed, and stuffed them and the "bribes" into a utility bag. "That's enough, Victor. I'll take care of the plane tickets. How about you help me develop the film in my camera into negatives before I come back?"

"No problem," Wei Ran assured.

"Then it's settled"

Before he finished his words, Brad had already run out of the cabin, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, he drove the jeep away and disappeared.

"Hey Americans."

Wei Ran mumbled something incoherently, and then started to get busy again.

As the negatives were developed into light-receivable negatives, he discovered that the photos taken by Brad were all group photos of the crew in front of the bomber.

After hanging the films on the rope to dry, Wei Ran left the cabin again with the films he had taken, rode a bicycle that belonged to someone unknown and rushed to the kitchen not far away.

After distributing the negatives in the envelopes to the black kitchen helpers, Wei Ran also received a sumptuous dinner for two and two large cans of cold beer and Coke from the black chef named Nick.

When he rushed back to the cabin with the food, Grant also brought a sumptuous dinner.

"Where is my brother?" Grant asked with some concern.

"I do not know"

Wei Ran put down the dinner he brought back and spread his hands. "I just went out for a walk by myself. Grant, you seem to be worried that he will get into trouble?"

“I am indeed worried”

Grant pointed to the large and heavy aerial camera on the table. "Especially since he brought this thing to Saipan, it's almost like he's saying he's going to return to the skies."

"He is not a rookie anymore," Wei Ran continued the topic.

“He is definitely not a rookie”

Grant glanced out the window subconsciously, then lowered his voice to remind, "Victor, don't blame me for not reminding you. If you don't want to die, you'd better not get on the same bomber with Brad."

"Why?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"His nickname is Home Run, the home run in baseball," Grant whispered.

"Is there any meaning?" Wei Ran also lowered his voice.

"The batter ran to first, second and third base and finally made it back to home plate safely."

Grant paused. "Brad is also a very good bombardier. When he was in Europe, he served in three bomber groups, but in the end he was the only one who returned to home base alive."

"You mean the three crews?"

"Except for a few wounded comrades who survived, all three crew members on duty died in crashes or forced landings, and he was the only one who managed to walk out of the bomber alive every time."

Grant lowered his voice a little, "Victor, the Statue of Liberty on that gold coin may indeed bless him, but it comes at a price, at the cost of the lives of those around him."

"Why are you saying this?" Wei Ran asked suddenly.

"I don't want him to get on any bomber and bring doom to anyone, including you."

Grant paused, then said without reservation, “The last crew he joined was the longest he ever stayed on, and he became very good friends with those guys, and he participated in the bombing of Regensburg.

But except for himself, a radio operator who survived a sudden appendicitis, and a navigator who was injured in a previous mission, the rest did not survive.

He always blamed himself for the loss of his friends. I guess he always hoped that he would die in the bomber."

"What you mean is, we should just find a random bomber and take that unlucky crew with us to die together?" Wei Ran asked without comment.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he jumped from the bomb bay"

Just as Grant finished his words, the roar of a Willys Jeep was heard outside the cabin.

Soon after, Brad came in excitedly, also holding dinner for two and several bottles of Coke and beer.

"Grant, when will you take me to see you?"

"No time to"

Grant didn't even give his brother Brad a chance to finish his words, "You're not going to get on any bombers."

“I won’t leave the ground again.”

Brad pointed to the aerial camera on the table and said, "Grant, you must have misunderstood. Victor is the reporter who needs to follow the bomber. I just came to visit you. Maybe I will go back to Guam tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

"Really?" Grant looked at his brother Brad suspiciously.

"of course it's true"

Brad said nonchalantly, "Since you don't want me to see your friends, Grant, you can stay for a drink, right? Victor and I can't finish all this food."

"What did you just do?" Grant helped Brad move the huge aerial camera on the table to the corner of the wall, still asking vigilantly.

"Of course I'm going to walk around and take some pictures."

Brad said, throwing his Kodak tank onto the bed, and enthusiastically invited Wei Ran and Grant to sit around the table. He opened a beer and asked, "Grant, did you participate in the bombing of Tokyo? Tell me how it went?"

"Participated in several small-scale high-altitude bombings"

Grant picked up his cold beer and clinked it with Wei Ran and Brad. "I was the machine gunner in the turret. During the entire operation, I did not encounter any enemy planes flying higher than ours. I did not even fire a single bullet."

"So you lost your job and became a ground staff?" Brad laughed sarcastically.

"Are you here to laugh at me?"

Grant angrily took a big gulp of cold beer. "I will have a chance to take off. We have agreed to take turns operating the tail turret, but it is not my turn yet."

“You’ll have a chance.”

Brad said, also taking a swig of cold beer, "Are you sure you're not going to invite your crew over for a drink?"

"No need"

Grant was on guard against his brother Brad as if he were guarding against a mistress.

Brad didn't insist. "I've figured out everything about this airport. Starting tomorrow, you can just move your shells. You don't have to take care of us."

"What are you going to do next?" Grant asked vigilantly.

"Victor will be aboard a B73 assigned to him by the 29rd Bomb Wing."

Brad said nonchalantly and matter-of-factly, "I will also interview the 73rd Bomb Wing first, and then the 313th Bomb Wing."

"You really won't board the bomber?" Grant asked worriedly.

"of course"

Brad retorted, "I have to interview some crew members, but I don't have the authorization to follow the bombing."

"Really?" Grant looked at Wei Ran who was also holding a beer.

"of course it's true"

Wei Ran said as a matter of course, "Grant, if we really want to hide it from you, we can just not meet you. This airport is so big, it's actually very easy to hide from you."

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"makes sense"

Grant was completely relieved and took the initiative to change the subject, chatting with them about everything about his "hometown in the United States."

It was also during the subsequent chat that Wei Ran learned from the brothers' written words that Grant was a real new recruit. He had just enlisted in the winter of last year and had only a brief training before being sent to Saipan in January of this year.

The reason why he joined the Air Force and had the "fortune" to serve under Big Cigar was almost all related to his brother Brad.

Before joining the army, Grant, a simple and honest man, had almost nothing but admiration for his brother Brad and a yearning for bombers.

So he joined the Air Force, citing as his reason, "My brother served in the 3rd Bomber Division, and I want to be like him."

As a result, when Brad, who was recuperating in the UK after retiring, received the news and rushed back to Philadelphia, his "silly brother" Grant had already sent back the first letter from Saipan.

As they talked about these topics, the relationship between the two brothers finally became more harmonious, but they both deliberately avoided the topic of Brad's military experience.

"Okay Grant"

Brad drank the last of his beer and said, "We just got here today and need to take a good rest. We will start the formal interview tomorrow. You can just focus on your work then. I will come to see you when I have time."

“You really can’t climb.”

"I said I wouldn't, and I swear on the cigar that Big Cigar gave me."

Brad said impatiently, "You should believe it now, right? Also, remember to take more pictures of yourself with the camera I gave you. Mom and Dad are very worried about you. I will visit you every few days to change the film and send it back home."

“I’ll remember to take pictures.”

Grant paused, but couldn't help but say, "I'm not a child anymore. I'm already..."

"You've slept with at least two strippers, I already know that." Brad waved his hand nonchalantly, "Okay, rookie, remember to take more pictures."

“You’re just an asshole”

Grant muttered like a punching bag, but still greeted Wei Ran politely, then left the wooden house and rode away on his motorcycle.

"Why should I lie to him?" Wei Ran asked as he politely declined the cigar offered to him.

"He's too long-winded." Brad bit off one end of the cigar roughly, held it in his mouth and lit it, then whispered, "Victor, I've got the plane ticket."

"Which plane?" Wei Ran asked casually, and noticed a strange smile on Brad's face.

"Don't tell me it was Grant's crew." Wei Ran shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"of course not"

Brad's words made Wei Ran feel a little relieved, but then he said, "But it is indeed a bomber that their captain introduced to me. The bomber is called Danbo. The two of us will take turns to serve as the bombardier and the tail gunner."

At this point, Brad paused and said, "While we are following the flight, their bombardiers and gunners will take over our job to take photos of other crews."

"What are you doing this for?" Wei Ran lit a cigarette and asked while lying on his bed, "Brad, I want to hear the real reason."

"I"

Brad walked to the window, puffed out smoke and thought for a moment before saying, "I don't want to appear on the battlefield as a soldier, but I want to see if I can really be lucky enough to survive until the end of the war."

"Is this important?" Wei Ran asked without comment.

"It's very important to me," Brad exhaled a cloud of smoke, "very important."

"Were you swearing on a cigar?"

Wei Ran changed the subject. He didn't want to explore the other person's inner pain. That would be too cruel for Brad.

"We won the cigars from the big cigars"

Brad said, "When bombing Germany, Big Cigar once asked our crew if they were confident that they could destroy the designated target."

"and then?"

"Our captain David said that if we complete the bombing of the target, can you please treat each of us to a cigar with your signature."

Brad dusted off his cigarette ashes and continued to talk to himself, "Big Cigar agreed to the bet."

"And each of you got a cigar with his signature?" Wei Ran thought he had guessed the answer.

“Only I got it”

Brad turned and looked out the window. "They all died. I'm the only one who survived."

"Feel sorry"

“No need to apologize”

"At least you survived," Wei Ran said.

“But they didn’t survive.”

Brad finished speaking and waved his hand to disperse the smoke around him. "Let's not talk about this anymore, Victor. We should leave here. Take your flight suits and cameras. The rest can be left here."

"Where are you going?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"Somewhere Grant can't find us," Brad said, already hanging his camera around his neck again.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately got up, put out his cigarette, and together with the other party, lifted the aerial camera weighing more than 30 kilograms, walked outside the wooden house, and placed it on the Willys Jeep.

Then, the two of them carried the flight suits on their beds to the jeep. Wei Ran, who had already realized something, even took the bottles of hot sauce with him.

After closing the door of the cabin, Brad drove the jeep and took Wei Ran to the other end of the airport, and finally drove into the edge of a forest where palm trees and coconut trees grew together.

There are no wooden houses here, but instead there are a few particularly thick green bell-shaped tents scattered around.

“This one is ours”

Brad said, slamming on the brakes at the edge of a tent.

This tent is not very big, but it is enough to accommodate five or six people.

Although the conditions inside were simple, with only two folding beds and a not-so-big table, it was much cooler than the wooden house because of the ventilation curtains and trees all around.

"There must be a reason for us to move here, right?" Wei Ran asked, randomly choosing a bed to sit on.

"I asked the crew who participated in the training this afternoon."

Brad lay down on another folding bed and said, "They are participating in night bombing training, so the next mission will definitely be a night bombing."

"so what?"

"That bomber over there is the Tamba"

Brad pointed to a bomber parked at the edge of the runway in the distance. "These tents here are where the ground crew stores maintenance tools and accessories. Once Danbo participates in the bombing mission, their bombardiers and gunners will come here to replace us, so that we can board the plane as quickly as possible."

At this point, Brad belatedly asked, "Victor, you know how to use the bomb sight, right?"

"Of course I will use it," Wei Ran replied without comment.

Hearing this, Brad breathed a sigh of relief. "We'll go to the cabin during the day, and we'll come here to rest after dark. I guess we'll have a chance to participate in the bombing operation soon."

After saying this, Brad slapped himself, trying to kill the buzzing mosquito.

"Who helped you come up with this idea?"

As Wei Ran spoke, he took out his gas mask bag under the cover of night, and took out the Japanese mosquito coil tube he got last time on the battlefield in Papua New Guinea. He took out a plate of mosquito coils, lit it, and placed it under the bed.

"When we were in Europe, we occasionally secretly transported some passengers who had bought tickets." Brad explained vaguely, "Go to bed early, we will go back after daybreak."

"Are you really not a reporter?" Wei Ran asked after a moment of silence.

"At least no newspaper or radio company pays me a salary"

Brad yawned and said, "But I don't mind doing some of the work that a reporter should do. Maybe after the war is over, I will really become a reporter."

"What about your journalist friend?" Wei Ran asked the last question, "He is also a journalist like you..."

“We were from the same crew.”

Brad answered the question vaguely, and then started snoring without waiting for Wei Ran to ask again.