Stewart, Ted’s Travelling Circus, pp. 23–24.
2
Ibid., p. 35.
3
Ibid., p. 35.
4
Bill Kubota, Most Honorable Son documentary transcript.
5
Stewart, Ted’s Travelling Circus, p. 25.
6
Ibid., p. 27.
7
Ibid.
8
Ibid., pp. 27–28.
9
The command pilot of the dramatic flight was First Lieutenant Howard N. Young of Berkeley, California; the copilot was Second Lieutenant Cleveland D. Hickman from nearby Albany, California; and the bombardier was Second Lieutenant Anthony C. Yenalavage of Kingston, Pennsylvania. All three were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in February 1943. Young lost an arm because of his wounds, but he would be the only one of the three to survive the war. Their heroics were recounted in “Berkeley Fliers, Strangers Once, ‘Blood Brothers’ Now,” Oakland (California) Tribune, January 7, 1943, p. 10; “Local Bombardier Gets DFC; Saved Crew by Taking Over Controls of Crippled Ship,” Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Times Leader, February 17, 1943, p. 3; and “Local Fliers Decorated for Heroism Over Lorient,” Oakland (California) Tribune, February 17, 1943, p. 1.
CHAPTER 11: “ARE YOU SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING?”
1
Martin, Boy from Nebraska, p. 77.
2
Ibid., p. 80.
3
Theodore Finnarn, author interview, August 10, 1991
4
Art Ferwerda interview with Bill Kubota, September 18, 1998, Most Honorable Son documentary, unedited footage.
5
I’ve tapped several sources for the biographical information on 93rd pilot Richard (Dick) Wilkinson and his father, J. L. Wilkinson. Joe Avendano Duran, nephew of the 93rd pilot Joe Avendano, shared with me recollections of his conversations with Dick Wilkinson in the early 2000s that included discussions about J. L. Wilkinson’s ownership of the Kansas City Monarchs. Bill Young and Charles F. Faber have written an excellent biographical piece on J.L. that can be found on the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) website here: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/j-l-wilkinson/. Among the sources that Young and Faber tapped for their piece is an excellent profile of J. L. Wilkinson written by Sam Mellinger, “J.L. Wilkinson: He Was a Man Apart,” Kansas City Star, July 30, 2006, pp. C1, C12. J.L. was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006, and his biographical sketch on the Hall of Fame’s website can be found here: https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/wilkinson-jl. Joseph A. Reaves interviewed Dick Wilkinson for his excellent story in the Arizona Republic on the eve of J. L. Wilkinson’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame: “Negro League Legends Fitting for Call to Hall,” Arizona Republic, February 25, 2006, pp. C1, C6. I gleaned additional information from several other wartime newspaper articles, including: “Sporting Comment,” Kansas City Star, August 15, 1943, p. 15, and “K.C. Owner’s Son Downed in Raid,” Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) Courier, January 1, 1944, p. 12.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
Richard L. Wilkinson census records, 1940 Selective Service registration card, 1941 enlist records, 93rd BG records.
9
Joe Avendano Duran, nephew of 93rd pilot Joe Avendano, talked with both Dick Wilkinson and Ben Kuroki about Dick’s acceptance of Ben as a fill-in gunner on his crew in the late autumn of 1942. In a series of conversations, text messages, and emails on January 6, 8, 11, and 14, 2022, Joe Duran shared with me the recollections of Dick Wilkinson and Ben Kuroki about how Ben had become a replacement on Wilkinson’s crew. Joseph A. Reaves also touched on this topic in his interview with Dick Wilkinson for “Negro League Legends Fitting for Call to Hall,” Arizona Republic, February 25, 2006, pp. C1, C6.
10
Ibid.
CHAPTER 12: A BIG CHANCE
1
