Since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the
394th had been patrolling the ocean around
Hawaii and training crews. Now it was preparing
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commander, West Pointer and Midway veteran
Major Orin H. Rigley.
Gene Roddenberry was assigned to the crew
of Lieutenant William Ripley. Beefy, ruddy Bill
Ripley was a preacher’s son from Des Moines,
Iowa. Other members of the crew included nav-
igator Lieutenant Joe Jacobs, bombardier Tech.
Sgt. James Kyle and flight engineer Staff Sgt.
Harry Scotidas.
The 394th was ready; now all the aircrews
needed was their new airplanes.
The question was, where would
those new planes come from?
The decision had already been
made that no new B-17s
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so it seemed likely the 394th
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The answer arrived in
early November 1942 in
the form of a dozen war-
weary 19th Bomb Group
B-17Es, homeward bound
from Australia. After inspec-
tion, seven of the old bombers
were held over for reassignment to
the 394th.
By the time they were delivered to Bellows Field,
the Flying Fortresses had been thoroughly over-
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Indian head insignia of the 93rd Bomb Squadron,
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the oldest of them all, was Calamity Jane; 41-2632
was Crock O’ Crap.
The 394th pondered a new question: “Would
we ever get down there in those old things?”
The seven southbound B-17s took off from
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Crock O’ CrapÆIVSMLJa+IX\IQV5WZZQ[;TIKS
in Calamity Jane and Lieutenants Ripley and
Roddenberry in 41-2644.
In a sign of things to come, Rigley was forced to
return to Hawaii with mechanical problems and
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a dead engine and a dangerously windmilling pro-
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1[TIVL\PMVKWV\QV]MLWV\W+IV\WVIVL.QRQTIVL-
ing at Nadi (also spelled Nandi) on Viti Levu in the
afternoon of November 18. Rigley arrived the fol-
lowing day, and Ivey caught up two days after that.The squadron was tasked with pa-
trol ling the seas around Fiji to protect the vital
southern route to Australia. Like all the squad-
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The men of the 394th began a daily routine
of conducting two and sometimes three frontal
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into their new home when a body blow came in
the form of two Douglas SBD Dauntlesses from
Scouting Squadron 6. A night familiarization
exercise went badly astray when the U.S. Navy
pilots apparently became confused about exactly
where the runway lights were and crashed into two
B-17s parked beside the airstrip.
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;KW\\ZMXWZ\ML\PI\\PMÅZ[\;*,¹[TQKMLWٺ\PM
nose” of Calamity Jane “as though it were baloney”
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hairpin.” Nobody was seriously injured but it was
a heartbreaking start to the deployment. Calamity
Jane_W]TLÆaIOIQVJ]\B]U_IT\¼[JWUJMZ_I[I
_ZQ\MWٺ ̧IT\PW]OPIT[WIPIVLa[W]ZKMWNXIZ\[AH 39PRE
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ARCHIVESeptember 2019APTLY NAMED
Top: A wayward
Douglas SBD made
short work of Calamity
Jane’s nose while
attempting a night
takeoff at Nadi on
Viti Levu. Above: Gene
Roddenberry stands
second from left in
front of Los Lobos.
Talbert “Shorty”
Wollam, at far right,
was later killed when
Yankee Doodle
crashed at Espiritu
Santo. Inset: The
emblem of the 394th
Bomb Squadron.BATTLE-TESTED COMMANDER
Opposite: Major Orin H. Rigley, 394th commander
and a Midway veteran, stands second from right
with his crew in front of the B-17E Crock O’ Crap.