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Robert Lauducci enlisted in the Army Air Corps in January 1940 and served as an airman until June 1980. During World War II, he was an enlisted pilot and eventually an offi cer. This photo shows him as a captain in Manila, the Philippines, on Oct. 8, 1946.

Wingman Magazine ︱ January 201514

I t was during my 24 years as an Air Force officer that I developed a

close relationship with my uncle, Rob-ert A. Lauducci, now approaching his 95th birthday.

His is a unique story in many ways. My uncle was an engine mechanic, a bombardier, and a pilot. He was a private, private � rst class, sta� sergeant, � ight o� cer, and then a second lieutenant all the way up through lieutenant colonel. He � ew 15 di� erent types of aircraft and believes he is the only individual to be dual-rated as a bombardier and a pilot.

Born in Syracuse, N.Y., on June 30, 1920, the fourth of six children, my uncle enlisted in the Army Air Corps in January 1940 at Mitchell Field, N.Y. After basic training, he attended airframe and engine school at Roosevelt Field on Long Island, along with many other new enlisted men. Following graduation, he was assigned to a � ight line maintenance crew for the Douglas B-18A Bolo bomber.

By James R. Lauducci

Maintaining the B-18A was hard work but not overly challenging. Life was routine until his squadron transferred to Langley Field, Va., in the fall of 1940.

During the spring of 1941, my uncle’s squadron initiated a call for � ve vol-unteers to train as bombardiers. � is was a great opportunity for promotion because most of the bombardiers were sergeants and he was a private � rst class. He volunteered and was selected.

� e new bombardier trainees learned their trade on the hangar � oor and then transitioned to the B-18s to train on the Langley ranges. � ey were all assigned to the 22nd Bombardment Group, the “Red Raiders” of World War II. While this was going on, new Martin B-26 Marauders started to dribble in to Langley and the new bombardiers made the transition.

� e bombardiers continued bombing runs on the Langley ranges until Dec. 7, 1941. � ey learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor while standing in the hangar.

� e next morning, my uncle reported to the hangar as directed and drew from supply a new Norden bombsight and a .45 pistol.

“What amazed me about the whole a� air was [that] yesterday, I couldn’t get a screw from Sergeant Rose without sign-ing my life away. Now, Rose hands me the top secret bombsight and a .45 and doesn’t even ask my name,” recounted my uncle in a 1993 letter.

Later that same morning, the bombar-diers left for March Field in California. My uncle carried the Norden bombsight and his .45 with him. � e � rst stopover was Barksdale Field, La., to refuel. Just after touchdown, the right engine quit on their aircraft. � ey found themselves in a brand-new airplane with no spare parts available—my uncle stuck with a top secret piece of equipment.

At � rst, the pilot directed my uncle to stay on the airplane with the bombsight. � e crew would bring him food. After

Wingman Magazine︱ January 2015 15

the � rst night, the pilot took my uncle to the local quartermaster and directed the quartermaster to secure the bombsight and the .45. My uncle was now free to relax and wait for the spare parts to arrive. All he would tell me about this episode is that he had a fabulous time in nearby Shreveport.

Several days later, the bombardiers rejoined the 22nd BG at March Field. In preparation for deployment to the Paci� c theater, they continued practicing bombing runs at Muroc Bombing and Gunnery Range in southern California (now Edwards Air Force Base). Before the group deployed to the Paci� c, my uncle was ordered to report to pre� ight school for pilot training.

� at’s because back in June 1941, Public Law 99 took e� ect, authorizing the training of enlisted pilots in the Signal Corps. Originally meant to � ll essential, yet unglamorous, roles such as hauling cargo and passengers and instructing other pilots, the enlisted pilots ended up � ying � ghters, medium bombers, and transports in the war, as well as conducting medical evacuations and photoreconnaissance missions. � ey also served as test pilots.

My uncle’s � ight training consisted of a pre� ight course, primary � ight school, basic � ight school, and � nally twin-engine advanced � ying training at Columbus Field, Miss. Upon graduation, he became a � ight o� cer with the rank of sta� sergeant pilot. He was assigned to the newly opened Rome Air Depot in New York. Following a short time at the depot, he was transferred to Olmsted Army Air� eld (now Harrisburg Airport) in Middletown, Pa., where he � ew the AT-6 light attack aircraft. At Olmsted, the AT-6 served as an advanced trainer for new Army Air Corps pilots.

My uncle proudly served as a sta� sergeant pilot for 11 months, conduct-ing many cross-country � ights. “On many of the cross-country trips, I ran into the problem of who would sign for the fuel,” he recalled. “When we exited

the aircraft, the ground crew asked me about fuel requirements, thinking I was the crew chief. After refueling, the ground crew would ask for the pilot to sign for it, because only o� cers could sign for fuel. I couldn’t convince them that I was the pilot, so I’d point to any nearby o� cer as a likely candidate. � e base operations o� cer would � nally

resolve the problem and accepted my signature. � e Air Corps didn’t know how to handle us when we were transits.”

� at changed in summer 1943 when Congress passed a law mandating that all pilots receive commissions. � us, on Aug. 3, 1943, my uncle was discharged from military service to accept an

appointment as a second lieutenant, e� ective on the following day. He was subsequently selected to attend the Central Test Pilot School at Kelly Field, Texas, graduating on Sept. 30, 1944, and was assigned to Hill Field, Utah.

As a test pilot, my uncle � ew various platforms including four-engine Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators; twin-engine North American Aviation B-25 Mitchells, Lock-heed B-34 Venturas, and Douglas C-47 Skytrains; and single-engine Bell P-39 Airacobras and Curtiss P-40 Warhawks. He was fortunate to serve under former enlisted pilot Maj. Fred O. Tyler who was chief of � ight test. My uncle spent the � nal year of the war as a test pilot.

He was then selected to be the personal pilot for Brig. Gen. Franklin O. Carroll, who became commanding general of the Paci� c Air Service Command in Manila, the Philippines. In that role, my uncle � ew a specially modi� ed B-17: � e bomb bay was gutted and turned into a VIP suite, which was a private room with a bed.

My uncle’s � rst orientation � ight with Carroll was a round-trip from Manila to Tokyo. He � ew throughout the Paci� c

Lauducci stands in front of The Liquidator, a B-17G he fl ew shortly after World War II ended, at Kiangwan Airfi eld in Shanghai, Nov. 4, 1946. He shuttled senior military of-fi cials and diplomats around the Pacifi c Theater in the modifi ed bomber. It featured a private area and bed for the VIP passengers in its gutted bomb bay.

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Wingman Magazine ︱ January 201516

a series of oblique turns) 200 miles to the north, which would give the airplane a considerable tailwind. On entering the storm, lightning constantly � ashed all around them. � e navigator calculated a 125 mph hour tailwind. � ey made it through the storm and landed in Shanghai with daylight to spare.

After that ordeal, Davis developed an appreciation for my uncle’s � ying skills. Shortly thereafter, Davis was invited to Nanking by General of the Army George C. Marshall, who, as the President’s special representative to China, was scheduled to meet with senior Chinese Communist and Nationalist leadership

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notice to � y over the Tachikawa Range and hold. � e aircraft held there for three hours before being cleared to land in Tokyo. My uncle was advised that Haneda Airport had clouds down to 600 feet and six miles of visibility, less than ideal conditions for visual � ight. He was asked if he preferred a ground-controlled approach. His immediate response was, “GCA? Never heard of it. What’s that?”

� e tower controller explained that he would give my uncle the headings and my uncle would repeat them on his descent.

to obtain a peaceful settlement between the two warring governments.

My uncle’s B-17 arrived in Nanking midmorning and Davis went straight to the meeting. My uncle � gured he had some time to kill so he procured a jeep and visited a few historical sites. He returned to the airplane at noon to � nd Davis waiting for him. My uncle was surprised and asked how the meet-ing went. Davis answered, “General Marshall decided that the two warring governments were so adamant about

Lauducci pokes his head out of The Liquidator at Kiangwan Field, Nov. 4, 1946. He returned to the United States in 1947, left Active Duty, and joined the Air Force Reserve.

� eater to such interesting locations as Nanking and Shanghai in the Far East; Brisbane, Cloncurry, Darwin, Sydney, and Tuggerah in Australia; Palawan in the Philippines; and the islands of Biak, Guam, Moratai, New Caledonia, Okinawa, and Yap.

In September 1946, the modi� ed B-17 and crew began three months of tempo-rary duty with the State Department, reporting to Donald B. Davis, who was � eld commissioner for China and Eastern Asia. My uncle had several interesting stories to tell me about those missions.

His � rst � ight in support of Davis was an inspection visit to Shanghai on Oct. 9, 1946. A week later, Davis needed to return to Shanghai. My uncle had scheduled takeo� for 4 a.m. so they could arrive in Shanghai before dark since Kiangwan Field in Shanghai did not have runway lights. Before takeo� , the forecaster briefed my uncle on a typhoon north-northwest of Manila that would intercept his � ight path.

My uncle briefed Davis, who said, “I have to be there.” My uncle replied, “If you have to be there, we’ll get you there, but it will be a rough ride.” Two hours after takeo� while � ying at 8,000 feet, they spotted a huge cloud bank stretching across the horizon. My uncle directed his navigator to dogleg (i.e., plot

their di� erences there wasn’t any chance of a resolution, so he picked up his papers and discontinued the meeting.”

On Nov. 4, 1946, my uncle was again in Shanghai with Davis. � e latter was scheduled to meet with General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, who was supreme Allied commander, Japan, at the time, in Tokyo. While the original � ight plan called for a direct � ight, once airborne, Davis asked my uncle to � y over Hiroshima, where the � rst atomic bomb had exploded some 15 months earlier, for a look at the city.

After overflying Hiroshima andtaking pictures, my uncle received

Wingman Magazine︱ January 2015 17

Top: Lauducci (center) visited the Airmen Memorial Museum in Suitland, Md., in August 2013. Next to him are John McCauslin (left), former head of the Air Force Sergeants Association, and James Lauducci, the author of this article. Below left: Lauducci last fl ew as a pilot on his 90th birthday, June 30, 2010, in a Cherokee 240 at Fort Smith, Ark.

� e tower would control his azimuth and elevation until the B-17 broke through the clouds. When my uncle did break through at 600 feet, he found himself far left of the runway. He immediately put the B-17 into a knife-edge left turn, then a knife-edge right turn, leveled out, and made a picture-perfect landing. Needless to say, he wasn’t impressed with this new approach system.

� e modi� ed B-17 and my uncle’s crew were transferred back to Paci� c Air Service Command in Manila on Nov. 16, 1946. Davis wrote a letter of commendation to Carroll, citing my uncle’s skill, cooperation, and care, as well as his consideration for his crew. Many of his subsequent � ights with the command were designated as “milk runs,” because he often � ew from Manila to Brisbane to stock up on milk, which was not available in Manila.

Lauducci’s � nal � ight for the com-mand was in a C-47 from Manila to Guam on March 31, 1947. Before he left Manila, Philippine Air Lines o� ered him a job as the assistant to the chief engineer and engineering test pilot, with a monthly salary of $1,000. � at was a lot of money in 1947 and he was tempted to take the position. But he had a wife and a four-year-old daughter back in the United States and wanted to return.

So he left Active Duty in the nascent US Air Force, joined the Air Force

Reserve, and returned to Syracuse Uni-versity on the GI Bill to earn his degree in civil engineering. He served another 33 years in the reserves and o� cially retired from the Air Force on June 30, 1980.

Lauducci and his wife, Irene, even-tually settled in Vian, Okla., and have lived there for the last 38 years. � ey will celebrate their 71st wedding anniversary on Jan. 6, 2015.

� roughout his retired life, my uncle never lost his love of aviation and con-tinued to � y out of Fort Smith, Ark.,

Octogenarians for � ying an aircraft as pilot in command after reaching the age of 80. On June 30, 2010, he celebrated his 90th birthday by taking his last � ight.

� e original B-17 that my uncle � ew in the Paci� c has been restored and is prominently on display at the Lyon Air Museum on the west side of John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif.

In August 2013, my uncle visited me in Alexandria, Va., to take in the National World War II Memorial and the Airmen Memorial Museum in Suitland, Md.

He had donated some of his personal mementos to the museum, including three uniforms and his bombardier certi� cation. My uncle tried on all three uniforms and � t into them. It was a very heartwarming visit and my uncle regaled the museum curator with � ying stories.

� e Enlisted Pilots Association has faded away. In a few years, it’s likely that all the enlisted pilots of World War II will have died. But the legacy of their bravery and accomplishments will never be forgotten. � is is the story of one of them.

To my uncle, I say, “� ank you, sir, for your service to our country.” �

James R. Lauducci is a former AFA vice

chairman of the board for fi eld operations.

He served 24 years as a communications-

electronics offi cer in the Air Force, retiring

in 1988 as a colonel.

mostly in the Cherokee 240. He remained active with his old friends in the 22nd Bombardment Group and attended the unit’s reunion in 1991 marking 50 years since the beginning of World War II. He helped write Revenge of the Red Raiders,an illustrated history of the group during

World War II.My uncle also remained

active in the Enlisted Pi-lots Association, headed by Edwin F. Wenglar, who rose from sta� sergeant pilot to become a brigadier general. In June 1989, my uncle at-tended a reunion of enlisted pilots at Scott AFB, Ill., where a memorial was dedi-cated to the enlisted pilots.

On Jan. 2, 2002, my uncle received a certi� cate of mem-bership in the United Flying

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Wingman Magazine ︱ January 201518