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Gene Frazier

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In preparation for his interview, B-29 pilot Gene Frazier wrote down some thoughts about his role in the war as compared with his friends who fought and, in some cases, died. He feels he had it easy. He then reveals the technology link between himself and the modern pilot that is unchanged by the decades between. (2:10)

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Unlike the airmen in Europe, who were over enemy territory most of the time, the men in the Pacific who were bombing Japan were over enemy territory for a fraction of flight time. B-29 Pilot Gene Frazier points out that most missing planes were lost to the vast Pacific Ocean rather than enemy action. Another big danger was crashing on take off. (3:42)

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When B-29 pilot Gene Frazier got to the Pacific theater, he joined the 58th Bomb Wing, the original B-29 unit. It was just as Gen. Curtis LeMay was changing tactics in the campaign to bomb Japan. At a briefing for a Tokyo mission, the men were told they would be going in at 7000 ft. "You mean 27, 000 ft., right?" For Frazier, it was the scariest mission he ever had, but it was effective. (7:09)

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Why was their ground speed so low? B-29 pilot Gene Frazier thought he may have to abort the mission when he figured out they were in the jet stream. If you could catch it just right on the way back, you could really make time. They saw many kamikazes in the distance and had to evade one themselves. Considering the date, that would have been really unfortunate. (2:36)

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B-29 pilot Gene Frazier tells the story of a secret war crimes trial held on Guam in 1946. It concerned atrocities on the island of Chichi-jima, where his cousin Glenn Frazier was captured. The incident was documented by author James Bradley in the book Flyboys. (5:33)

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The B-29 was pressurized, like modern airliners, which allowed the crew to fly at 30,000 ft. without oxygen. Pilot Gene Frazier says they had to depressurize over the target because a hit would explode the plane. To relieve boredom on the long flights, they played bridge. (3:16)

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As officers, each man was issued a bottle of whiskey every week. B-29 pilot Gene Frazier didn't drink, so he traded his accumulated bottles to the sailors for all manner of goods. After the war ended, he was selected to ferry some planes to the Philippines where he acquired a small plane and had fun flying all over the area, except for the occasional potshot by Communist rebels. He turned down a chance to fly for the Chinese Nationalists, and he mailed home a parachute to his fiance, who put it to good use. (5:58)

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Pilot Gene Frazier recalls the mistakes he made during training and his first solo flight. His instructor was actor Robert Cummings who had a unique method of preparing his students for their solo. His next instructor had flown in the Spanish Civil War. He was angry at being stuck as an instructor, so he took it out on the cadets, which made them the best pilots there. (6:42)

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Asked if he lost many friends in the war, B-29 pilot Gene Frazier remarks that he did not lose many in the planes. It was his friends from high school and others he met in training who were sent to much more dangerous circumstances and paid the ultimate price. (1:33)

Gene McCandless

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Gene McCandless listened to the war stories of his older relatives and, when he came of age, he heard the bugle. After his single mother passed away, he sought out his father to sign the papers so he could join the Marines when he was seventeen. (4:10)