The Twilight Warriors (58 page)

4
Halsey: “It was hard on the horses, but it was effective”: E. B. Potter,
Nimitz
, 294.

5
“We welcome
Intrepid
to the Okinawa area”: Erickson,
Tail End Charlies!
76.

6
“he [R. K. Turner] is known as a ‘mean son of a bitch’ ”:
Time
, February 7, 1944.

7
“whose head could conceive more new ideas … than any flag officer in the Navy”: Samuel Eliot Morison describing Turner in
Victory in the Pacific: 1945
, 89.

6
First Blooding

1
Scenes of first strike, March 18, 1945, based on interviews with William Landreth, Felix Novelli, and Wesley Hays, and recollections of Roy Erickson in
Tail End Charlies!

2
“Erickson, turn off those goddamn lights”: Erickson,
Tail End Charlies!
80–81.

3
“From horizon to horizon the ocean was covered with the might of the United States Navy”: interview with Landreth.

4
Within seconds the Corsair vanishes, and so does Rob Harris:
Air Group Ten Action Report
, March 18, 1945.

7
The Mood in Boys’ Town

1
Frances bomber hits the water 50 feet from
Intrepid
’s starboard bow:
USS
Intrepid
War Diary
, March 18, 1945.

2
A few minutes past 1300, it is
Yorktown
’s turn: Morison,
Victory in the Pacific: 1945
, 94.

3
Incident of ships’ gunners firing on Japanese airmen in parachutes recalled by Lt. (jg) Fred Meyer in Erickson’s
Tail End Charlies!
83–84.