Harvey Lee Bishop was born in August 1923. He was a P-51 Mustang [Annotator’s Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter] pilot in the 457th Fighter Squadron of the 506th Fighter Group. He enlisted in October 1942, but was allowed to complete a semester in school prior to being called up in February 1943. He served until September 1946. He flew observation missions over the Japanese coastline and took out targets of opportunity in the process. He flew over the eastern portion of the island where Tokyo is located [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo, Japan is on Honshu Island]. He found nothing while looking for enemy opposition and strong points. Other than one airport with dummy aircraft, there was nothing to discover. At that juncture, the Japanese had no fuel to fly aircraft. The mission was his first and most dangerous since he flew close to the ground above treetops. He could have been hit by any enemy ground fire. He also escorted B-29s [Annotator’s Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] on high altitude bomb runs. The flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] could not reach the elevation flown by the bombers and the P-51s. The area around Tokyo was well covered by guns, but their range could not reach the high altitude flown by the American planes. The enemy had no pursuit aircraft to resist the attackers. The only worries for the Americans were to assure a good supply of oxygen for their masks and enough fuel to safely return to base. The flights occurred between June and August [Annotator’s Note: of 1945]. There had been a bad weather disaster for fliers in the month of May. Bishop was a wingman and followed the lead pilot. Consequently, he did not have to know the directions to be taken. Bishop watched a massive weather front approaching and had to fly very close to the ocean and around the hurricane force. The Mustang’s air intakes were never engulfed by the violent sea conditions. If forced down, the P-51 was heavy and would have sunk quickly unlike the Navy planes which were lighter. That helped Bush survive [Annotator’s Note: George H.W. Bush, later the 41st President of the United States, was shot down and later rescued]. Few Mustang pilots survived being downed in the ocean. While flying through the eye of the hurricane, Bishop had to make sure he flew low so as to fly through as few clouds as possible. He managed to hit the eastern side of Iwo [Annotator’s Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] without colliding with Suribachi [Annotator’s Note: Mount Suribachi, the highest elevation on Iwo Jima and the site of the iconic flag raising by the Marines after securing the high point of the island]. Bishop participated in the rescue of a downed pilot. Working with a B-17 [Annotator’s Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] which fired flares to vector a submarine to rescue the pilot out of the ocean, Bishop felt it was an awesome experience. The submarine skipper’s seamanship in picking up the airman was admirable. Two sailors jumped in the sea and pulled the pilot up to and into the submarine. Bishop was part of the protective air cover preventing enemy intrusion in the operation. The Japanese had no planes to interfere with the event. The air-sea rescue engagement made quite an impression on Bishop. He advised a young man to join that operation after enlistment. On the day of the pilot rescue, Bishop’s squadron was providing cover for the mission with the flight leader keeping an eye on the enemy homeland to assure no opposing aircraft disturbed the process. The mission was the single assignment for the day. The plane wing tanks of extra fuel were used as a first priority. Internal fuel tanks would be used during combat. The external wing tanks were jettisoned in case of combat. For the rescue mission, the tanks never had to be detached.

Harvey Lee Bishop [Annotator’s Note: pilot in the 457th Fighter Squadron, 506th Fighter Group in the Pacific Theater of Operations] escorted bombers and flew other missions when not assigned to protect bombers. There were no enemy aircraft left to oppose the Americans at the point that Bishop entered the air war [Annotator’s Note: around June 1945]. His squadron also targeted shipping vessels. The planes had to avoid shooting one another while strafing targets of opportunity. Enemy planes had been removed from airfields, camouflaged, and dispersed. Bishop flew out of Iwo Jima [Annotator’s Note: Iwo Jima, Japan]. During the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Battle of Iwo Jima; 19 February to 26 March 1945 and the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan], more enemy warriors were lost than American fighting men. Seeing the 7,000 headstones on Mount Suribachi [Annotator’s Note: the highest elevation on Iwo Jima and a temporary burial sites for Americans killed on the island], Bishop knew he better do his job correctly. There were a lot of men lost during the battle. Bishop does not know where the dead were ultimately taken after the war. During the war, 15 pilots were killed when a guard fell asleep and someone came out of a cave and cut the fliers’ throats. Bishop was a replacement for one of those killed. As airdrome officer, Bishop had the responsibility of watching for anyone around the aircraft at night. He called in the infantry if anyone was observed. The infantry would bring their weapons to investigate after being called, but that never had to happen. A squad of Marines armed with submachine guns surrounded a B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] that was parked on the island. Later, Bishop discovered that it was the plane that flew the atomic bomb mission on Hiroshima [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945. The Enola Gay was the plane that dropped the bombs on Hiroshima.]. The bomber was protected against anyone coming out of the caves. Originally intended for service in Europe, Bishop was shipped to the West Coast after the war in Europe ended [Annotator’s Note: 8 May 1945]. He flew from San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California] to Iwo Jima in the first part of June [Annotator’s Note: June 1945]. En route to San Francisco, Bishop stopped in New Orleans and visited the big, beautiful cathedral downtown [Annotator’s Note: St. Louis Cathedral in center of New Orleans, Louisiana]. The ladies of the town provided food for the men who were transiting by train. Bishop had no doubt about what he was doing in the military. He enjoyed flying planes unless there were problems with them. Some mechanical issues got pretty hairy. [Annotator’s Note: He laughs.]

Harvey Lee Bishop [Annotator’s Note: a North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft pilot in the 457th Fighter Squadron, 506th Fighter Group in the Pacific Theater of Operations] thought the P-51 was an excellent propeller-driven aircraft. At Clark Field in the Philippines, Bishop was in the first jet fighter squadron and flew the P-80 [Annotator’s Note: Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, the first operational jet fighter] which was not as good of a jet as the F-86 [Annotator’s Note: North American F-86 Sabre jet fighter] while in Korea [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953]. He liked the way a jet could fly vertically and ascend straight up. [Annotator’s Note: Bishop gestures how a jet had the ability to climb vertically.] He also liked the high speeds the jets were capable of flying. Bishop loved flying around new towns where he was based. He saw things the average person never saw at ground level. He liked to buzz those down below also. If a pilot flew greater than the speed of sound at 675 miles per hour, he could be court martialed for creating a sonic boom. Many of the pilots Bishop served with did things that were out of line. He would be included in that group. That included buzzing ground personnel. Whenever news of Hiroshima [Annotator's Note: a nuclear weapon was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945] came over the loudspeakers while on Iwo [Annotator’s Note: Iwo Jima, Japan], a roar came up on the island. When Japan surrendered weeks later, guns were fired and shook the whole island. Everyone was elated that the war was over. The men had had enough of the war. The atomic bomb was described in a newscast. It was awesome and necessary to end the war. Bishop was not unhappy the bomb was dropped because, otherwise, the invasion would have been the next step. The Japanese civilians had executed downed American pilots. The Japanese likely had reserved fuel for their defensive planes which they would have sent up against American airmen. The Japanese lost the war when they lost 200 to 300 planes a day in naval battles. Some big ships were sunk during the engagements. Bishop had family members in the service, but he also had a brother who was 4-F [Annotator's Note: Selective Service classification for individuals who are not fit for service in the Armed Forces] who ended up with a doctoral degree in education.

Harvey Lee Bishop [Annotator’s Note: a North American P-51 Mustang fighter pilot in the 457th Fighter Squadron, 506th Fighter Group in the Pacific Theater of Operations] was the athletic director of the 506th. He played baseball and basketball for fun during his service. He was an all-star player after the war. His missions during the war did not allow much spare time to play games. Some flights took eight hours. He had enough flying during the war. In training, he almost had a serious accident when visibility was obscured and two planes were involved in a collision. Bishop was penalized for the incident. The two pilots were flying P-40s [Annotator's Note: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter aircraft] and it was difficult for Bishop to see where he was going prior to takeoff. It was necessary to weave back and forth to allow him to see forward. Each mission during the war was unique with its own set of issues. Sometimes, there was potential for friendly fire. Bishop could have been shot down near Tokyo [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo, Japan]. The eight-hour missions resulted in Bishop having tinnitus or buzzing in his ears. He always maintained his concentration during the eight-hour trips because it was a matter of survival. One pilot spun out over Tokyo. The man had been with Bishop when he was deployed overseas. The lost pilot was in another flight of fighters behind Bishop’s. [Annotator’s Note: Bishop holds up a scale model of his P-51 Mustang fighter and begins to discuss it.] Bishop started in a P-40 in training, but the P-51s came in shortly thereafter. It is the best airplane in the world. The plane cannot be flown haphazardly. Flying in formation had to be done carefully. Just like driving a car, the pilot has to observe those surrounding him and move accordingly. It was a great experience. He was trained to shoot other guys down. He did not keep track of his flight hours or victories. He is just happy he is alive.