Samuel C. Cravens joined the Army Air Corps in 1940 and flew dozens of combat missions over the South Pacific during WWII. His wife, Betty P. Cravens, wrote in with his story.
Sam entered the Army Air Corps (aviation cadet) following his graduation from the College of Emporia, in Kansas in 1940. He graduated from Bombardier School at Barksdale Field, Louisiana in the fall of 1941. He served at Langley Field, Virginia until December 1941 and was then transferred to Mitchell Field, New York, where he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. He served in the South Pacific during WWII with the famous 19th Bombardment Group on a B-17 E type aircraft. Assigned as a Bombardier, Sam flew 60 combat missions over Guadalcanal, Papua, Coral Sea, Dutch East Indies, New Guinea and the Philippines logging over 400 combat hours from December 8, 1941 to November 8, 1942. For Sam's leadership and heroism while in the Pacific Theatre, he was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal.
With much hurried preparation, Sam left Langley Field with a new crew several days after December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day), destination unknown. Sam did write in a letter, that they would be going east to get west, traveling 3/4 of the way around the world along the equator, making an immense travel distance. He was in many countries, landing on unchartered fields, both grass and dirt. The trip which crossed South America, Africa, India, and parts of Asia, included stops in Belem, Brazil, the Gold Coast of Africa, Khartoum, Sudan and Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies and concluded with wheels down in Java. The crew members all carried a letter from the U.S. State Department stating that if they were shot down, crashed or in a accident to please get them to the nearest British outpost.
This was in the beginning of the war, and by the time they got to Java the Philippines, their original destination, had fallen to the Japanese. There was chaos in Java. There were not any U.S. bases, no barracks, no eating facilities and not a lot of organization. They put straw on the concrete floor for the crews to sleep on. Our country wanted to show the American people we were doing something after Pearl Harbor. These men and their crews were "considered expendable."
Sam's crew flew out of Java for some weeks before the Japanese took control. They were completely outgunned and outnumbered by the Japanese. Most of their airplanes were destroyed and they were strafed everyday. Eventually their C.O. did not receive any more orders and he told his men if they could find a way out, they should leave.
Sam and his crew got their pilot (I. Sargent) out of the hospital (where he was suffering from malaria) and they headed for the harbor. They had heard that some Dutch ships were leaving with refugees. There were three Dutch freighters in all. The first tow ships which were loaded mostly with women and children were sunk before they got out of the harbor. Sam and his crew were able to get on the third freighter. Although strafed and bombed all the way to Australia, they finally made it to Perth. The 19th Bomb group continued their missions from Australia. After a year Sam returned back to the United States in late November 1942.
Two personal stories about Sam while he was stationed in the Pacific. First, was a phone call Sam made from Java to me while I was a college student. This was a great surprise and created much excitement as his location had been previously unknown. Second, one Sunday morning in 1942 the Kansas City Star carried a picture and an article about Sam receiving the Silver Star in Australia. This was wonderful news for me and his family, as we had not heard from him in many months.
Devoted to his country and the Air Force, Sam was very proud of his 30 year military career.
