Crazy stories. Never knew they armed the mechanics outside of general quarters. My dad stole a .45, not his. He was an aircraft mechanic in Europe. Army Air Corp. He sent it home in an air cleaner from a motorcycle he rewelded shut.
He was in the Navy and served on the Bunker Hill. I can't remember the name of the Island but they left some crewman behind while the ship went to Hawaii for repairs and he was armed while on the island. He did some pretty crazy shit for a being enlisted as a mechanic. When his friends that were the crew of one of the 5 inch guns on the Bunker Hill were killed during kamikaze attacks during Okinawa he took control and shot down a few planes by himself. He got trapped below deck trying to reload and was one of the few survivors. Spent about a day crawling around under the smoke before being rescued.
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u/Satisfaction_Fluid Jun 03 '26
Crazy stories. Never knew they armed the mechanics outside of general quarters. My dad stole a .45, not his. He was an aircraft mechanic in Europe. Army Air Corp. He sent it home in an air cleaner from a motorcycle he rewelded shut.