The tale of H.W. Bush and World War II service

Most people know about the first President Bush, H.W., but did you know that he was a World War II hero? 

Seems like nowadays, most politicians were either draft dodgers or just avoided the military, but in the World War II era, it was different. Most Americans supported the war effort and they volunteered to fight, a far cry from a lot of young people today.

Anyway, George Bush was in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific. Most of you readers know about Iwo Jima, but few know about Chi Chi Jima. I didn't myself until I read a book about it. Anyway, Chi Chi Jima was an island controlled by the Japanese in World War II. The importance of it was that it was a communications relay station to relay messages back to mainland Japan. In other words, a very important island to the Japanese. 

The American military knew this and they set out to bomb the relay station. The problem was that it was not on the very top of the mountain. Instead, it was in a draw. Thus, attack bombers did not have a direct bead on it. Also, the Japanese were prepared for any attack.

When the Army Air Corps off of a carrier in the Pacific attempted to bomb this site, the first aircraft were shot down, but most of the crews survived and swam to shore. Then came George Bush, whose plane was also hit and he knew he was going down, so he banked the plane out to sea at an angle that his two crewmen could bail out; after they jumped, he bailed out. The two crewmen didn't make it, but George did and he had an inflatable, paddled out, and was later picked up by a submarine.

As it turned out he was very lucky that he had turned away from the island as eight other airmen swam to shore, were captured by the Japanese, and were tortured. Eventually, they beheaded seven of them. One survived to tell the story. The Japanese officer who did the beheading was tried for war crimes after the war and was put to death. 

President Bush never bragged about his exploits because of his comrades who had lost their lives.

Roger Gregory is a Vietnam veteran and business owner in Priest River.