Patrick E. Russell spent the first two years of the war in the Aleutian Islands. He flew seaplanes off the deck of a cruiser [Annotator's Note: he served on the USS Detroit (CL-8)]. He grew accustomed to the sensation of being catapulted off the ship to take flight. The seaplane, the OS2U [Annotator's Note: Vought OS2U Kingfisher], only flew during the day, never at night. Russell never flew that plane in combat. It only cruised at 90 knots with a top speed of 102. The fleet did get into combat, but Russell's ship had damaged a screw, a propeller, and had sailed back to the West Coast. While in Spokane, Russell married his wife. At the same time that he was getting married, his fleet engaged the Japanese fleet in combat. Russell's ship, the USS Detroit (CL-8), never got into a battle. During the fleet's engagement with the Japanese, several of its ships were badly damaged. Russell never talked to anyone who was in the battle so he was not certain if any of the fleet's ships were sunk. Russell has learned from a historical group that he participates in that the Japanese fired on an American heavy cruiser, the Salt Lake City [Annotator's Note: USS Salt Lake City (CA-25)]. Salt water intrusion in the engine systems caused the propulsion system to stop. The Salt Lake City was dead in the water. She was protected by auxiliaries laying a smoke screen to mask her from the enemy. The heavy cruiser was able to restart its engines and assume sufficient power to evacuate the area. The Salt Lake City and the Richmond [Annotator's Note: USS Richmond (CL-9)] and some attached destroyers retreated to the east. One of the destroyers was named the O’Bannon [Annotator's Note: USS O’Bannon (DD-450)], a good Irish destroyer. While this was happening, Russell was stateside having a good time. His cruiser was involved in an American landing in June 1943 at Attu. The weather was so cold, it was miserable. The soldiers had frozen feet. The island was hard to bomb because it was so small. The fog was so thick that other ships could not be seen. Russell's ship had to follow a skid being towed by the vessel forward of his. That was the only safe way to maneuver considering the poor visibility. The seaplanes did not fly but the carrier planes, F4Fs [Annotator's Note: Grumman F4F Wildcat], did. Russell did not anticipate that he would later be a pilot flying off a jeep carrier [Annotator's Note: a small, escort aircraft carrier]. Pilots and planes were lost due to the harsh weather. Russell spent two years flying his seaplane in the Aleutians. His ship also went to Pearl Harbor, Samoa and the Solomon Islands during that time. The main focus in the Aleutians was to escape the horrible weather. High waves battered the ships. Airplanes would crash on landing attempts. Seaplanes would land in the water and be hoisted aboard the cruiser. If the plane crashed, recovery of the crews became paramount. Russell never had a crash landing in the seaplanes. When he got into carrier aircraft, his first landing attempt resulted in a crash. He went right over the side and into the ocean. That was the beginning of VC-92 [Annotator's Note: Composite Squadron 92 (VC-92)]. They had been training on the West Coast and then went aboard a carrier [Annotator's Note: USS Tulagi (CVE-72)] and traveled to the Philippines to operate there. Subsequently, the carrier steamed to Iwo Jima and then Okinawa. After the nine month duration ended, the ship returned to the United States in about July 1945. It was only about a month before the end of the war. Russell received orders to report to Pensacola, Florida and form another squadron. Everything was breaking up at the time. The squadron was never formed. In fact, Russell was assigned as a flight instructor in Glenview up in Chicago.

Patrick Russell was born in Minneapolis in 1919. His wife was born there as well. He attended 14 different schools because his family moved a lot. His father was a railroad man. After Russell graduated high school in 1937, he attended Los Angeles City College in California. He attended class there for one year and then ran out of money. He returned to Minneapolis and entered the University of Minnesota. Tuition was only 600 dollars. It was relatively inexpensive. Louisiana State was only 400 dollars. Things were cheaper in those days. The instructors probably were not paid much. After two years of attendance there, the Navy sent him a letter to see if he would be interested in going to Pensacola with the Navy. Russell knew the airplanes were there so he decided to go and get trained in flying. Upon arrival, he discovered that he would not be in the planes but in a crash boat rescuing flyers that crashed. When Russell talked with those in charge and told them that he wanted to fly, they replied that he needed college to qualify. He reminded them that he had three years of college and only two years were needed to enter flight school. Russell was informed that he did not have solid geometry and other mathematical prerequisites. He returned to college to get those requirements from the University of Minnesota. He ended up getting the needed courses from a different school in Spokane where his mother lived. He attended Gonzaga University which was a Jesuit School. While there, Russell was impressed by a Navy commander who gave a presentation at the Press Club in Spokane. His step-father brought Russell along to the meeting. The commander was an impressive speaker and Russell decided he wanted to become a Navy flyer. He was told where to go for his physical. After passing the exam, he entered the service. It all worked out.

Patrick Russell attended flight, or elimination, training in Seattle. He had eight hours of flight time coupled with two weeks or a month of marching and other drills. He qualified and went on to additional training in Jacksonville, Florida. The new location was cattycorner from the state of Washington where Seattle is located. After reaching there, there were enough aircraft but too few instructors to train the novice pilots. Russell spent time marching in the sand and standing guard duty. He also sharpened his knowledge of blinker Morse code. Word was received that Corpus Christi, Texas had additional instructors. Russell and others drove to Texas to undergo five or six months of flight training. On the last day of training, the new pilots were practicing gunnery exercises. One of the new pilots towed a sleeve used as a target. The other pilots would "attack" the sleeve. A problem ensued when the sleeve became entangled on the wing of the tow plane. The pilots had target fixation and did not notice the sleeve was hung up on the tow plane. Russell was attacking the sleeve when the instructor called the class to an end before someone was hurt. The pilots qualified for their wings. Russell was ordered to San Francisco to serve on a cruiser [Annotator's Note: the USS Detroit (CL-8)].

Patrick Russell was aboard a cruiser [Annotator's Note: the USS Detroit (CL-8)] that performed a "pineapple run." It took supplies from the West Coast for delivery to Hawaii and returned empty for replenishment. The ship performed that activity for about six months. The convoy was then taken down to Samoa when the Marines landed on Guadalcanal. After cycling on that patrol twice, the cruiser headed to the Aleutians. His ship was a light cruiser. It had six inch shells compared to a heavy cruiser having eight inch shells. After the Aleutians assignment, Russell was transferred back to the United States. He went to Seattle to pick up his wife and had orders to report to San Diego. Upon arrival there, he found that he was to report to Seattle. [Annotator's Note: Russell laughs.] He was to aid in the formation of a squadron VC-92 [Annotator's Note: Composite Squadron 92 (VC-92)]. The skipper was Lieutenant Jim Wallace. Most of the pilots were recent graduates of flight training. They were very good pilots. Their training spanned four months before the squadron was assigned to a jeep carrier [Annotator's Note: a small escort aircraft carrier] called the Tulagi [Annotator's Note: USS Tulagi (CVE-72)]. The flyers called it the "too little, too late, Tulagi." Tulagi was an island right off the straits at Guadalcanal. The jeep carriers were named for battles and were rapidly produced in shipyards. Kaiser Shipyard was a major supplier. They also built automobiles, the Kaiser Freighter, which sold during and shortly after the war. The carriers were actually transport ships which had a flight deck installed with a bridge attached off the right side of the deck. They had a top speed of 16.5 knots. Wind down the deck was needed for flight take-off. Without sufficient wind, operations were impossible. Speed would be maximized for take-offs and landings. When there was dead calm in the South Pacific, flight operations ceased. Operations at night particularly needed speed off the bow or the plane and flyer would end up in the water. Many fighters were lost that way. The carrier went to the Philippines first. Kamikazes were first encountered there. There were nine jeep carriers in the fleet when the enemy suicide planes attacked. The carriers were called "MacArthur's Navy" because they were under his command. [Annotator's Note: US Army General Douglas MacArthur commanded the combined Allied forces assaulting the Philippines.] Japanese dive bombing only succeeded in sinking one carrier. Sometimes the enemy planes would dive right into the water. There was conjecture that the enemy pilots closed their eyes at the last minute thereby missing their target. Russell's first experience in combat with the Japanese was during the Philippines campaign. He never thought about the evolving combat surrounding him because he was so amused at the Japanese inadequacy during the fight. He felt that good airplanes were wasted with inexperienced enemy pilots at the controls. Later, especially at Okinawa, the kamikaze ability improved to the extent that the American fleet was worried about them. The young American pilots did not worry about them or anything. Russell never worried about the kamikazes. Russell chased a Japanese fighter plane with his torpedo plane. The speed differentiation did not allow him to catch the adversary. Russell's torpedo plane was 100 knots slower than the enemy fighter. The kamikaze ran into one of the American ships but did not sink it. The British carriers had steel flight decks while the American carriers had wooden flight decks. Enemy planes or ordnance could penetrate American flight decks and explode within the hanger deck causing great conflagration. The Americans would eventually adopt the steel flight deck design concept in their carriers. The steel decks with their added length were much better for Russell to operate off of during the postwar years. Those decks were 800 feet long compared to a 400 foot jeep carrier deck. The British steel decks were much more suitable to the type of warfare introduced by the kamikaze attacks. When Russell bombed Japanese installations, he observed the British roundels, which symbolized the aircraft's British allegiance, from destroyed bombers lying on the ground close to the Japanese airfield. Russell could tell the British had made a go of bombing the enemy airbase and lost a lot of airplanes in the process. The Americans also lost a significant number of aircraft there. In January 1945, while most of the Philippine action was ongoing, Russell had the duty of being Aircraft Accident Report Officer. He completed the paperwork on all the airplanes that were lost. Most crashed on the deck as opposed to being shot down. Sailors would confiscate aircraft clocks as a souvenir prior to shoving the plane overboard. The clocks were valued then as well as now. Veteran naval aviators have those clocks mounted on a propeller on display in their homes. [Annotator's Note: Russell laughs.] Russell kept a wingtip off a seaplane for a long time but lost it over time. He had acquired it in Pensacola where many planes were lost. Russell had a roommate who suffered from target fixation and flew right into the ground. Some pilots pull out too late and hit trees. The instructors were not well trained to teach the students. Some had just gotten their wings. Some were not even good aviators. Russell had such an instructor. He only did the maneuvers that were asked of him. Russell attended Primary Flight Instructor School before he became an instructor. He was taught and had to perform certain maneuvers before he qualified to teach others. The American flyers and instructors got better as the war progressed but the Japs [Annotator's Note: Japanese] had lost so many first string pilots that the opposite occurred. They suffered many losses in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese pilots were not that good at the end of the war. VC-92 had a reunion in 1995 near Minneapolis at Fairhope on the lake. It was a big reunion 50 years after being detached. Russell did not recognize many of the old guys nor did they recognize him. Even though he thought he would be remembered, he was not. It was fun. There were a few more reunions. One was in Norfolk. One was held in New Orleans. Another was in Saint Louis. He has not attended reunions or seen the other veterans since. The lady who organized them is not well now. She used to call Russell to check his status. He was one of the oldest guys in the squadron. He was a senior lieutenant, nearly equal in rank with the skipper, Wallace. Russell was gunnery officer charged with making sure the guns fired and did so accurately.

Following the end of the war, Patrick Russell flew in other carrier squadrons [Annotator's Note: after Composite Squadron 92 (VC-92)]. He piloted night fighters and anti-submarine aircraft. He flew a tour at Anacostia transporting VIPs, very important people. He flew the Secretary of the Navy, as well as, the Secretary of the Defense along with multiple congressmen. He flew the mail down to President Truman [Annotator's Note: President Harry S. Truman] while he was at Key West, Florida. His residence there was referred to as the Little White House. Russell flew transport aircraft at that time. Before being assigned to a carrier during the war, Russell trained with his squadron in Seaside, Oregon. There were several other training centers along the Oregon coast. A few were in the Seattle area. It seemed that everyplace there was an airport, pilots with their planes were stationed for training. The hanger at Seaside burned down one night. The pilots were billeted in a motel nearby. The squadron moved in and took over the airport with its two hangers. Russell drove the car to the airport one morning with a few of the other pilots and discovered that the hanger no longer existed. The planes inside the hanger were burned in the fire. The aluminum bodies melted to the concrete; while the heavy engines were still visible. There were 20 engines lined up. No airplanes were left. The fire started as a result of a coffee maker. The planes had ammunition loaded in their weapons. As the bullets cooked off, the rounds fired into the town. No one was hurt. That was the beginning of VC-92. The "C" stands for "composite." It had both torpedo and fighter aircraft. The torpedo planes performed mainly anti-submarine duty. The fighters were intended to ward off the kamikazes. They were successful at doing so. The torpedo planes mainly flew at night because they were aboard a night carrier. The personnel serving on the ship were capable of night operations, unlike most carriers. No one was lost at night because the concentration was more focused and the safest approach was always taken. The torpedo planes had no accidents, but the fighters sometimes got caught out late and had a few of them. They would be caught down sun with the sun setting in the west and them flying toward the east. It would be pretty dark by the time they returned to the carrier. Occasionally, their hook [Annotator's Note: tail hook] would swing and miss the cables. When they did not pick up a wire, they would go right into the fence or barrier. Russell was at Alameda flying the cruiser airplanes. He was advised to go to a certain hanger where there were new aircraft as big as a DC-3 [Annotator's Note: Douglas DC-3 transport] but with only one engine. Russell was interested and investigated. He found the hanger empty except for all the Avengers [Annotator's Note: Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo airplanes] in there. They were TBFs. The "F" stood for Grumman where their Long Island plant manufactured the planes. Russell was concerned with the size of the plane and its ability to operate off the small carriers. The Avengers performed well off the deck of the jeep carriers [Annotator's Note: a small escort aircraft carrier]. The pilots were all very young. They had flown the planes in immediately after their training. They were doing skip bombing and other maneuvers that Russell was not familiar with. He would fly wing on them to learn the techniques. He was senior pilot so he would lead them to the target and then fly beside an ensign to watch the maneuvers. The young pilots would show off and attempt to run Russell into the ground. [Annotator's Note: Russell laughs.] Russell loved it. It was fun since he had not done much bombing with seaplanes [Annotator's Note: Russell had previously flown a Vought OS2U Kingfisher seaplane from the light cruiser USS Detroit (CL-8)]. A couple of ships were brought up. They were used to transport railroad cars manufactured in the United States to overseas destinations. The deck was fitted with railroad tracks. Instead, the Navy took the ships over and loaded them with Avengers. They were taken to Pearl Harbor and filled with gasoline. From Pearl, they were flown in formation behind a B-24 [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] to Midway Island where they were preparing for the attack [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Midway was in June 1942]. They were successful. They had the necessary range with the 276 gallon tank contained in the bomb-bay. They could fly the 1,500 miles needed. The airplanes were used to attack the Japanese fleet but did not hit anything. None of the planes hit anything. There were 52 planes lost during the action. There was a variety of airplanes on Midway. Those assigned to the Marines were poor in quality. The Zeros [Annotator's Note: Japanese Mitsubishi A6M fighetr aircraft, also known as the Zeke or Zero] shot up Midway's defending aircraft. The Marines suffered with poor defensive aircraft. The real damage to the Japanese fleet was achieved by the Navy SBDs [Annotator's Note: Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers]. They won the battle and impacted the outcome of the war. They came in above the clouds and knifed down to surprise the enemy. They dropped their bombs down the flight decks of the enemy carriers. Russell covers that in his presentation although he was never there.

Patrick Russell flew ground support for the battle of Okinawa. His plane carried various types of ordnance. Some had delayed detonation depending on the type mission flown. With a delayed fuse, a bomb could penetrate below the flight deck of a carrier and explode inside the vessel. The goal was to reach the ammunition storage area to maximize the effect and kill the ship. While flying ground support, his bombs had minimal delay. They were set to explode close to the surface to injure the largest number of troops and generate the most above ground damage. His plane could carry a load of 2,000 pounds of bombs. The 500 pound bomb dropped out the bomb-bay looked pretty benign to Russell, however, when a plane taxied up the flight deck over Russell's bunk area, it was a different matter. When the plane's bomb bay doors were open, the bombs were supposed to hang in location. If a bomb came out and dropped on the deck, he could hear it fall. It worried him even though the igniter rested above the deck and the ordnance would not explode. Russell's bunk was perhaps six feet below the bomb. Those incidents would happen inadvertently. The planes carried a torpedo intended for submarine attack. It was referred to as "Pluto." It was smaller and slower than a regular torpedo. An inadvertent drop of a "Pluto" caused consternation in the fleet. The message would go out that "Pluto was on the loose." The ships would disperse in different directions to avoid the errant torpedo. [Annotator's Note: Russell chuckles.] Because they were so slow, Russell knew of no friendly fire hits as a result of a wayward Pluto. The torpedoes were very sensitive to heat. Consequently, the pilots flew with the bomb-bay doors cracked open during the day to let air ventilate the area to keep the torpedoes cool. A build-up of heat in the rack would lessen the heat seeking capability of the torpedo thereby making it inoperable. The bomb-bay was huge. It was capable of loading 24 100 pound bombs. It would be over 2,000 pounds and produce a lot more firepower. If the full load of 100 pound bombs were dropped horizontally at 15,000 feet over an airfield, the explosions could knock out not only the hangers but many outside aircraft as well. Russell usually dive bombed on his missions. On a mission over Chichi Jima, Russell was slated to bomb ships in the harbor. Arriving there, he found no enemy vessels. Wanting to expend his available ordnance, he and other members on the mission decided to bomb an airfield which had seaplanes stationed there. The hangers were destroyed with no losses to Russell's flight. A flight of bombers from the carrier Enterprise [Annotator's Note: USS Enterprise (CV-6)] joined in the attack. One of the pilots in that flight carried a torpedo and decided to sink a ship. All the enemy ships were sunk and resting upright on the bottom of the harbor. The pilot went in anyway and was shot down by antiaircraft fire. The American pilots knew that the Japanese were eating captured Americans who had been shot down. Russell knew that if his plane was fatally hit, he would make for the sea and avoid capture. He was not going to fall on the island. The Japanese were unlikely to be able to reach the downed pilot. Meanwhile, there was a "dumbo" submarine located nearby which could pick up the pilot before he fell into enemy hands. President Bush number one [Annotator's Note: President George H.W. Bush] was shot down and rescued by a submarine. Russell saw the film of the rescue on a television program. When he ran for president, Bush had an Avenger [Annotator's Note: Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo airplane] going down Pennsylvania Avenue spreading its wings. The Marines had forward air controllers embedded with the ground pounders. They were usually pilots serving to direct bombing in support of the troops. They maintained a particular radio frequency. When Russell and his flight of nine aircraft approached the designated location, they contacted the forward air controller and informed him of their bomb and rocket load. The rockets were largely ineffective. The ground contact would advise the flight where to expend the ordnance. When Russell reached the defined coordinate points, he discovered that a tank was there. He questioned the location, but the man on the ground advised him to drop his load just north of the tank. Russell was concerned that he would hit some of the Marines. Nevertheless, he and the other eight planes in his flight dropped all of their bombs. The caves holding the enemy must have been destroyed as a result. The explosions generated a plume of volcanic ash which hid the similarly colored tank. When Russell was reassured that his flight did no damage to the tank, he was satisfied. He and his flight returned to the ship. [Annotator's Note: Russell chuckles. A change in interview tape is made at this juncture.]

Patrick Russell remained at Okinawa until June 1945. His carrier [Annotator's Note: USS Tulagi (CVE-72)] sailed to Guam. The war was effectively over for him at that point. The pilots transferred their planes from the carrier to Guam and left them there. Their second hand aircraft would be used as replacements for other flights as needed. Replacement pilots for downed pilots would fly in from Guam. There were times on missions when the pilots did not know their own wingman because he was new to the group. When Russell attended reunions, he would talk to the wife and children of pilots who had been lost. A relationship with the flight had been passed down to the relatives. After the Okinawa operations, his ship had never been hit. It sailed for the United States and San Diego. His wife was there. A lottery had been maintained aboard the ship during deployment. Penalties were charged when pilots erred. Errors resulted in money being paid into the lottery fund by the errant pilot. A pilot waved off from a landing had to pay 50 dollars to the pot. The money built up in the fund until it was over 1,000 dollars. The award would be given to the individual who guessed the closest time for the vessel to send its first line to the San Diego pier for securing in the States. It was about a 20 day voyage. The man that won was a nice looking fighter pilot who had lost his hands in an accident. While in rough seas in the Philippines, his fighter had rolled over and into the catwalk while the pilot's hands were on the canopy. It crushed both hands. He formerly had been able to do card tricks in the wardroom. His hands were his life, but they were gone. He won the carrier lottery. It made everyone happy because he could get married with the funds. Russell shook the injured pilot's hands one time after the accident. The fighter pilot had just stubs on his arms. [Annotator's Note: Russell shows emotion but quickly moves on.] The ship tied up in San Diego and Russell reunited with his family.

Patrick Russell made the reports on the 20 or 25 accidents sustained by aircraft in January [Annotator's Note: 1945]. The airplanes [Annotator's Note: Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo airplanes] were so big that their wings were bouncing off the deck. The Avenger had a problem with their empennage [Annotator's Note: tail assembly] where they would bend and result in an "ash canning" effect. Flight speed reduction was necessitated. Pilots were not to fly beyond the red line. Experience in combat, particularly at Midway, had shown that diving too fast would cause the wings to come off. The red line had to be reduced from about 350 knots to all the way down to 210. Both dive speed and angle of the dive were reduced as the war progressed. There was little dive bombing in the Avengers while on close air support. In the Philippines, the pilots had no forward air controllers so they sought targets of opportunity. Russell found tanks that he could attack but his rockets made it problematic. The heads were larger than the body. That caused them to drop like a bomb. The pilots attempted to compensate, but it turned out that rockets were much less accurate than bombs. The mismatched rocket components went to the smaller carriers [Annotator's Note: Russell flew from the USS Tulagi (CVE-72)] while the more effective rockets went to the larger carrier squadrons. Their five inch bodies fit the five inch heads. Command must have decided that the smaller carriers were just performing anti-submarine duty, and it did not matter. While flying in the Philippines, Russell discovered a large bridge as a target of opportunity. The Americans had landed at Lingayen Gulf on the beach. Their progress was southerly toward Manila. The Japanese opposition could be held up if the river bridges were destroyed. Russell observed another flight attempting to wreck a bridge but not succeeding. Their ordnance was being dropped in the water and missing the target. They were either short or long of the objective. Russell decided to bomb the bridge down its length so that it would receive damage somewhere along its path. The tactic was successful and the bridge was knocked down. The antiaircraft fire was heavy. When Russell returned to his carrier, he flew down the river to the sea to avoid enemy fire. Flying a ten foot altitude as fast as he could, he noticed a bunch of birds rising from the bank. He ran right into them but proceeded on. Like other Navy pilots, he did not worry. After landing on the carrier, he saw that his guns were full of guts. The birds had been chickens. They made a mess of his plane. [Annotator's Note: Russell chuckles.] Years later, he testified in Boston concerning birds running into airplanes and the resultant crashes. The judge asked Russell if he had ever run into birds while flying. Russell told him his story about the incident with the chickens. That resulted in the judge, the defense and prosecuting attorneys taking Russell out to lunch. [Annotator's Note: Russell laughs.] Even though Russell was all alone going down the river to return to the carrier, none of his flight members were shot down while bombing the bridge. Flying low enough down a river, it is possible to push sand up into the window of the pilot bringing up the rear. When the guys on the ship saw the mud, blood, and guts on Russell's airplane, the air boss was unhappy. He demanded the plane get off the clean flight deck and get washed off. The intelligence officer would debrief the pilots about their mission after their return. Men onboard did not like dirty aircraft returning to their clean flight decks. The Navy is very clean about everything. Conversely, British carriers drained oil right into the scuppers. The topside of their ships were oily and slick. Shotgun shells were used to start the F4F [Annotator's Note: Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter] aircraft engine. Expended shells on British carriers were just tossed on the flight deck. The US Navy was too clean for that.

Patrick Russell returned to the United States after the war. He received orders to report to Pensacola to form another squadron [Annotator's Note: he had previously flown with Composite Squadron 92 (VC-92) flying off the USS Tulagi (CVE-72)]. While in his hotel room in Pensacola, he heard a newsboy shouting that an extra edition of the newspaper had been printed. There was no television at the time so that was the way to update the populace on the latest news. That was the manner in which Russell learned of the dropping of the big bomb. When he reported for duty the next day, he was told that everything was on hold after that bomb drop. Everything was changed. His next assignment, to Oklahoma and a four engine bomber squadron, was cancelled. He stayed in Pensacola for a few days while things were sorted out. He was assigned to flight training to prepare new pilot replacements for the returning veterans being discharged from the war. Russell went to Chicago as executive officer of a primary flight school. Training experts from various national locations came to verify that students could do the various required maneuvers. They used the Boeing-Stearman "yellow peril" biplane [Annotator's Note: Boeing-Stearman Model 75 biplane trainer aircraft, also known as the Yellow Peril]. Russell was in that location for two or three months, but then moved to Washington to become a VIP [Annotator's Note: Very Important Person] pilot. Following that, he received orders for a night fighter squadron in Pearl Harbor. He had always wanted to fly night fighters and was enthusiastic about the assignment. With few others flying at night, the chance of mid-air collision was reduced. Use of radar for target acquisition also provided a safety factor. It was exciting, however, the slow World War 2 aircraft they flew proved to be at a disadvantage. The Marine base at Pearl Harbor also had night fighters, the twin engine F7F [Annotator's Note: Grumman F7F Tigercat]. They were very fast. When they operated together at night, it was difficult to catch them. The only way was to dive on the F7Fs by attacking from above using radar to track the adversary. Dropping down from 10,000 feet above, Russell's fighters would pull in behind the F7Fs. They would then use their gun cameras to show that they had acquired their speedy target. One guy, Maguire [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling, no given name provided], dove right into the water while trying to pull off the chase maneuver. The sea was not visible at night. Everything is black. Russell's squadron operated off carriers. He was called back stateside to form a new night fighting squadron in San Diego called VCN-1 [Annotator's Note: Night Composite Squadron 1 (CN-1)]. That squadron flew up and down the West Coast and off carriers. Carriers always had to have one set of night fighters aboard. The day fighters had limitations at night because they had no radar. Russell spent 31 years in the Navy with multiple assignments. [Annotator's Note: Russell has difficulty remembering his next duty station after San Diego and asks his wife, who is off-camera, to assist him. He chuckles at his loss of memory of the details.] His unit was transferred to San Francisco and a south bay base called Moffett Field. It was an old blimp hangar. The offices and planes were well protected in the large hangar. The squadron would fly south to rendezvous with carriers operating off LA [Annotator's Note: Los Angeles] and San Diego. The ships used that location because the water was not as cold as near San Francisco. It was 1950 and the Korean War was started. Russell was slated to go aboard the carrier Boxer [Annotator's Note: USS Boxer (CV-21)] in the fall of 1945, but the war had ended by then. He was sent to post-graduate school in Rhode Island at the outset of the Korean War. The school was discontinued and the former students received orders to report elsewhere. Russell was ordered to Pensacola once again despite his entreaties to assign him to a night squadron. [Annotator's Note: Russell chuckles.] He did as he was told and went to Florida as a ground instructor. He trained people in meteorology. Afterward, the post-graduate school was reinstituted. Russell was sent to Monterrey, California to continue his education. He enjoyed playing golf at Pebble Beach while living there. The tour was only one year, but it was a good one. He was next sent to a non-flying squadron operating off Korea in a communications ship. The ship acted as a combat FAA [Annotator's Note: Federal Aviation Administration] directing aircraft to needed areas in the battle zones where Forward Air Controllers instructed pilots on target locations to expend their ordnance. Other than his requisite four hour minimum flight time each month, Russell stayed aboard the ship and never flew. He would fly out of Atsugi, outside of Tokyo, while performing that minimum flight time. He was eventually assigned to small twin engine transport airplanes at Atsugi as a VIP pilot. They operated with a detachment in the Philippines. He spent two weeks a month flying out of the Philippines to carriers off Vietnam while that war was ongoing. He shuttled tools, weapons, spare pilots and mechanics plus, very importantly, mail. He liked flying at night because the next morning he could get up and play golf. He did not tell the admiral about that. Instead, he emphasized delivering of the mail by the next morning was an important aspect of the CODs, Carrier Onboard Delivery, flyers. The admiral was happy to get the mail before he went to bed. That was Russell's last tour with carriers. He returned to Washington and the FAA as the Aircraft Safety Program Manager. He worked many programs like the bird congestion program. [Annotator's Note: Russell previously discussed his personal wartime experience of flying into a group chickens while avoiding enemy fire at less than treetop altitude. He testified before the FAA after the war about his experiences and the impact on his aircraft.] He also handled engine and cockpit fires which had their own distinctive characteristics. Airliners were burning up during those days. When a plane was struck by lightning, Russell had the lightning project which dealt with mitigating the effects. Many of those issues are solved now. Russell also dealt with hijacking and the development of detection devices for weapons or explosives. He was in that capacity for four years. That was a long time in one assignment, but, by that time, his career with the Navy was ending. He spent his last year with the Navy in the Pentagon and then retired. At 93 years of age, he no longer flies and doubts whether they want him to do so. [Annotator's Note: Russell chuckles.]

Patrick Russell is not certain of the importance of teaching World War 2 history to the younger generation. He would be surprised if they would be interested. He was not interested in World War 1 while he was a youth. He has now become an amateur historian. He reads the Washington Post everyday and that adds to his knowledge. It may be confusing, but it makes a person knowledgeable. [Annotator's Note: Russell chuckles.] Russell is a member of a history group. They discussed Lincoln's secret service recently. The service protected him but not too well since he was assassinated. Russell has read Bill O'Reilly's book entitled "Kill Lincoln." It was wonderful. When Russell asked the presenter at the history group meeting whether he had read the book, he said that he had not and did not intend to do so. Obviously, he felt he was the foremost authority on Lincoln. O'Reilly is not a favorite of Russell, but he is fair. Russell has studied the Falkland War and the airplanes that were used. The cruiser that was sunk was an American cruiser. Military operations by others as well as by the United States are often not efficiently run. The Iraqis attacked our cruiser in the Persian Gulf with a missile. It killed 34 sailors. The weapon was made by the French. Russell has been to various museums. He appreciates some of the things that they represent. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer describes The National WWII Museum in New Orleans.] Russell questions the value of collecting artifacts and oral histories. He is concerned with the volume of mail requesting contributions from so many institutions. He has honored many of them over the years but has so many requests. He has never contributed to the museum in New Orleans. He sends funds to the one in Washington, the Navy Log. He has attended the museum in San Diego to see the old airplanes he once flew. He has been to the air museum in Dulles. He learns something every time he goes. It is hard to see what good it does for families to attend museums when so many of them are distracted from the message being conveyed. Russell and his son attended the inauguration of the World War 2 museum [Annotator's Note: the National WWII Memorial] in Washington. He never went back. If there were airplanes in a diving formation, he might attend. He flew so many aircraft of that era during and after the war. He started flying jets in 1948. He flew them until he retired but never in combat. Russell has an allegiance to the Navy. He cheers for the Navy despite pulling for Notre Dame in his youth. [Annotator's Note: Russell chuckles.]