Clarence R. Lane

Biography of AMMFIC Clarence R. Lane

C R Lane enlisted in the United States Navy on his sixteenth birthday, March 30 1941, Kansas City, MO. One of the illegal's, being under age but a doctored birth certificate passed muster. At that time a normal Navy hitch was for four years. We were among the first to be sworn in for a six year enlistment. First warning of things to_come. As a Kansas country boy I had two dreams. The first dream was the wide blue oceans of the US Navy. The recruiting posters for "Join the Navy and see the world" captured me. I used my Saturdays out at the local airport wiping drip pans for a 30 minute rides around Topeka Kansas in a Ford Tri-motor. The second dream was to somehow to be in aviation.

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Welcome to San Diego boot camp. I finally saw an ocean. Boot camp was great as I remember it now. I loved San Diego, the weather and ships. When you finished boot camp we were to get a thirty day boot leave. Also when we graduated we were allowed a choice of schools, radio, ordnance, sheet metal, etc. There was an opening for the Aviation Machinists School in Chicago IL. That was just the thing for me. During a lecture there at the school, we were brought up-to-date on the war, scared us real good.

Second warning.

After completing the Aviation Machinists school, I was sent right back to San Diego, where I shipped out the next day on the USS Arctic, with my sea bag and hammock, yes we had the regulation USN hammocks. Something new happened on that passage, as we steamed at night the ship was blacked out. Third warning. On arrival at Pearl harbor, October 1941, I was assigned to Patrol Squadron 21,VP-

21, Ford Island NAS. *

VP-21 and VP-22 shared a hanger on the south end of Ford Island. Squadron VP-21 was on TOY at Midway at that time, I think, with only a few PBY-3s still at the hanger. As the new kid on the block, I was assigned to the beaching crew. This was usually cold wet work even in Hawaii.. Late November I was told I would go stateside December 22 for my boot leave.

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• December 7th 1941 it all hit the fan. I had liberty that Sunday and was in my whites, but we had a 08:00 morning muster at the hanger before going ashore. On my way to the hanger there were explosions all around. Things only got worse from then on. One of the bombs to hit Ford Island hit our paint locker on the north east corner of the hanger, setting the whole building on fire. Running to the hanger I saw very plainly a Japanese torpedo plane going down channel about 20 feet off the water with a big torpedo. We didn't even have a rock to throw at them. I was scared ...less. I had, what I later learned was memory overload. I can only recall bits and pieces of all that happened that day. Some things are very vivid even today but mostly just gaps. Everyone just knew that the Japanese were about to land in force and it was complete chaos for a couple of days.

There was not much left of VP-21, no planes, no hanger and only few squadron people around to clean up. I was then reassigned to a new PBY squadron coming in from the states. VP-44. There were hurriedly built wooden office and shop spaces on the west side of the base. The new squadron had the latest and greatest PBY-SA's. I fell in love with that plane. VP 44 gave me my nick-name, "Bud". It was "Hey you Bud... " or most often "Hey Bud over here...". The nick-name has stuck with me ever since. The squadron had a lot of regrouping and training to do as well as a lot of long patrols. I was only sixteen and pretty useless, I was just spare gear. As having gone to Aviation Machinist School I was used mostly as flight crew filler. I replaced regular assigned crew whenever it was needed, but I was flying.

VP-44 went TOY to Midway about late May 1942. Of course I did not fly because I was not a permanent member of a flight crew. All of our people distinguished the squadron at Midway. One of our planes (44-P-4, Ensign Reid Command Pilot) found the Japanese invasion fleet. I had privilege of flying several times with Ensign Reid. I had found a home with VP-44, but then the squadron packed up and headed to the south Pacific. Again as spare gear I was left on the beach. Lost my home and family.

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After a brief tour with CASU #1 and CASU #5, I was sent over to the west side of Oahu, Waianae to set up a radio controlled target drone operation. We catapult launched small red drones for ships to have gunnery practice on incoming attack aircraft.

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There was a posting of an opening for an AMM to go stateside for carrier duty. I volunteered. I was then sent to Bremerton, WA to board the USS Nassau, baby flattop CVE 16. Commissioned the ship and went to San Francisco for sea trials. Arriving Alameda NAS we loaded a full complement of assorted aircraft bound for Pearl Harbor. This was, (we, myself and the other uninformed), assumed this trip to just be an extension of the sea trials. Arrival Pearl Harbor we immediately loaded a F4F Marine squadron and other aircraft. The ship then headed the wrong way, going south west not east. We made the trip down south unescorted. Off loaded the planes around the Canal somewhere, and then off loaded all other stores and equipment at Espiritu Santos.

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Admiral Halsey had lost the big carriers so the USS Nassau joined his task force for a while. I think we joined the task force down at Noumea, New Caledonia or Nadi, Fiji. We sailed with the task force for a while,. How long? I don't remember. Finally two of the big carriers came out from the shipyards so we were released and sent back to Hawaii. Again without escort, all alone out there. We were then ordered back to San Francisco. I was going to get my boot leave.

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Nope, we docked again at Alameda NAS and again we immediately loaded a new squadron of F4F's for VC-21. This time instead of going south we turned north. Seems that the Japanese had taken an Aleutian Island, Attu. We conducted air support for the ground troops as they fought their way inland over the Island. On May 12 from 02:00 to 09:00 attacking enemy aircraft invaded the dense mist/fog bombing and strafing our troops. Weather conditions prevented normal flight operations until later in the day. Luckily for us the mist/fog blanketed the ship and the enemy never found us. Back to San Fran and shore leave.

At San Francisco they had a call out for fleet AMM's for a Flight Engineer School with Pan American Airways in New York. I immediately applied. Had enough of the Pacific wanted to go East. The USS Nassau's, Captain Austin K Doyle and I both left the ship about that time.

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Graduating the PAA Flight Engineers school I was transferred to Quonset Point, RI for aircraft ferry duty. Ferry flights with PV-2's to Burbank CA and PBM to Banana River NAS, Florida.

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War was about over but I volunteered for duty in England, with the Fleet Air Wing, London UK. The Airfield was located at Hendon, Northeast of London. The group was flying R4D-6's. Mostly courier duty.

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War was over and the government was giving early discharges so I asked the CO for the early discharge. He told me that if I re-upped he would promote me to Chief. Sounded very good to me, only four years this time. He then said we should stay to help fight the Russians'. No thank you very much as this stuff is hazardous to ones' health, early out for me.

My time in the US Navy taught me some good lessons, you cannot dig foxholes in concrete aprons, aircraft cabin soles nor steel decks.

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Boot Leave ????? Never got it.

Returned to civilian life and family in hopes of a job. Worked a few years in the small oil fields in southeast Kansas. Found employment with Boeing Aircraft Co, Wichita Kansas, final assembly. Building B-47s' and B-52s'.

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Applied for a position with Minneapolis Honeywell Controls Division in Houston, Texas. About 1967 worked at the Manned Space Center, Clear lake Texas. Employed by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV), Operations and Maintenance contractor. Put in charge of HCAC control system installation campus wide. At that time there were about 32 buildings on approximately 1600 acres and several miles of utility tunnels for all utilities. The main power plant was the control center. There were four 1000 ton centrifugal refrigeration compressors and three 700 hp boilers. Moved with the next Operation and Maintenance contractor, Graham Engineering. Titled as assistant to Chief Engineer. In charge of the data processing center.

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Accepted a position with Pan American Airways, Special Projects Division, Canaveral, Florida. 1973. (JTAP, Japanese Technical Assistance program). Working on a contract, through NASA, to modify old existing range safety software for NASDA computers, used for the Japanese space program. We had several 4-6 man teams which would work one team in Japan for about a month and then the next team would rotate in and the first would go back to Florida for a month. The project was at the Japanese launch complex, Tanegashima. With the launch range safety system up and running we then worked the down range safety programs at Ogasawara tracking station. This team shuffle continued until the contract was completed, approximately 1979. Special Projects Division then took a contract for the development of an airline maintenance computer system for the mid eastern company GAMCO. Gulf Air. Based in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, UAE

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I was tasked to evaluate many of the major Airline Maintenance programs around the world. The selected system was then rewritten, to be tailored to the operation of that particular airline. Hired on with GAMCO, completing the installation of the maintenance system in Abu Dhabi.

At this time I was coming up to retirement age and was considering retiring. GAMCO was training locals for all jobs. I resigned and went back to Florida. Did a small bit of consulting work for Johnson Controls, Cape Canaveral FL. Realized why I wanted to retire in the first place, so I quit.

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Full time hobby now is still flying, only with Microsoft Flight Simulator. I still fly for VP-44 using the plane 44-P-4. Grand old bird.