World War II veteran and Navy “ace” pilot Donald McPherson of Adams doesn’t consider himself a real hero.
The real heroes are the service members that didn’t make it home, he said.
But he is proud to have served in the United States Navy during World War II.
McPherson, 86, will be among several World War II veterans from the state that will travel to Washington, D.C., on July 8 as part of the Honor Flight program that is providing the opportunity for veterans to visit and tour the nation’s capital.
More than 60 years ago, McPherson was among the many men and women who served during World War II both in combat and at home.
At the age of 20, McPherson enlisted in the Navy, just like his older brother.
“I made up my mind that if I had to serve my country, I wanted to go in the Navy,” he said.
He decided to become a pilot. But to get into the aviation program, took some convincing, he said, not on the part of the Navy, but on the homefront with his parents.
At that time aviation was considered to be dangerous, he said. His parents, particularly his mother, weren’t completely sold on the idea of him becoming a Navy pilot and needed to be convinced he should do it.
“I said if I’m going to serve my county I would rather serve in the seat of an aircraft then in a foxhole with a bayonet in my hands,” he said.
He finally got their approval.
On Feb. 4, 1943, McPherson left Adams and postponed his marriage to his fianc©e, Thelma, to enter the aviation training program. After 18 months of training, McPherson graduated from the program, earned his wings and was commissioned as an ensign at Corpus Christi, Texas.
He completed advanced combat tactics training in Florida and was assigned to fly the Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat fighter plane.
Afterwards, he returned to Adams, married his bride and then was given about 15 days leave before reporting to San Diego, Calif., for further assignment.
While in San Diego, McPherson said he was able to meet his brother for one day after he returned from his time serving in the war. It was there his brother told him to take as much time to check his plane over before taking off.
McPherson would eventually be assigned to serve as a fighter pilot in the Hellcats fighter squadron toward the end of World War II on the USS Essex, a large aircraft carrier.
The carrier was home to more than 1,000 men who flew missions near the Philippines, Okinawa and the Japanese homeland, McPherson said.
His first taste of attacking the enemy came on March 19, 1945, he said. The squadron left before dawn on a 300-mile mission to hit Nittigahara airdrome just at daybreak.
Most of the fighter planes were carrying high-velocity aerial rockets and auxiliary belly tanks to have enough fuel for the long round trip, he said. As they reached the Japanese airfield they were positioned to make diving attacks from inland toward the ocean.
There mission was to primarily strike airborne aircraft, McPherson said. But, since there were none, they destroyed parked aircraft and hangars instead.
As McPherson entered his diving attack, he spotted a large twin-engine bomber and as he was lined up for it. He proceeded to fire rockets and strafe until he saw it explode, he said.
Flying low, McPherson knew that he now needed to quickly pull out of a dive. However, when he did, the engine quit.
In the excitement of his first combat mission, he failed to switch to a wing tank and the fuel pump could not pump enough fuel to the engine against the G-forces of the pull-out, he said.
He grabbed the handle of the mechanical auxiliary fuel pump and soon had the engine started again, but lost speed from the lack of power, he said.
McPherson’s plane soon became the target of tracer bullets from enemy fire. One bullet hit the plane. Fumes from the engine stall had filled the cockpit, so he rolled the hatch back to clear the air and then his flight helmet and radio earphones went flying outside.
He soon closed the hatch again.
The return to the carrier proved to be interesting for McPherson. He had to make adjustments to get the Hellcat and him back to the carrier safely.
After he returned, an inspection of the plane found that there was a bullet that had gone through the fuselage about a foot behind his back, he said. It also severed a cable that controlled part of the tail surface which explained the lack of control of the aircraft.
McPherson went on to earn the status as an “ace” pilot for shooting down five enemy planes, he said. Overall, he flew in 6,560 sorties from the deck of the Essex, totaling 24,000 hours in the air and sometime flying two to four missions a day.
The fighter squadron was responsible for destroying 220 Japanese planes in the air and on the ground. Plus, they destroyed much of a Japanese naval fleet that was left.
There were often near-misses, but McPherson survived them all.
“I got some holes in my aircraft, but I was lucky,” he said.
One of the toughest missions for McPherson was supporting the troops in Okinawa, he said. If the troops on the ground were to ever need assistance with the enemy, it was up to the Navy pilots to help, which sometimes meant dropping bombs.
“You didn’t dare miss because you knew you had some of your own guys down there,” he said.
At the close of the war, McPherson said the Japanese were ordered to paint the letters “P.W.” on all of the buildings were the prisoners of war were at. He, along with other pilots, were then given the task to drop parachute leaflets, food and other goods down to them. They also charted them so the Allied prisoners could be freed quickly.
“Of course, that’s a dream for a pilot to buzz over the tree tops,” he said.
As the war ended, the Essex returned to the United States, docking in Bremerton, Wash., McPherson said.
He returned to Adams where he worked as a rural letter carrier and as a farmer.
McPherson is excited about his trip to the nation’s capital and looks forward to seeing the many monuments and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.