Richard G. Miller

July 14

Started on a mission yesterday, but couldn't get off the ground because of a gas leak; later turned out to be excess overflow. The other planes went and were to be in 16 ship formation with Liberators - only 5 ships ever got there, all the rest turning back. Seems to me some of these boys are getting water in their blood - should be almost no excuse for not going on a mission. No wonder this damn war has us in reverse. On reaching the target, one ship (C.O. Brown, Taylor, and M.A. Anderson) were hit by Ak-Ak. Those men bailed out of the rear of the ship as it went in to a dive. Plane came out and went back into the dive. One tail gunner claimed to have seen it explode on hitting the water, but I am of firm conviction he couldn't see it that long. -All we can do is hope that they were taken prisoner. And so it goes; this money is really getting hard to earn - wow!!

Those Jerries are beginning to act like they want to kill us. For a while I believed that it was inhuman to want to blast hell out of another people, but that was the fantastic figuring of an idealist - and it is nearly incomprehensible that one wouldn't run nearly berserk after having one after another of his chums shot down.

Well, here's to the next man that dies! We are to get another commendation. This time for blowing up that ammunition ship at Bg. Guess after we get a commendation we can trade them in for a furlough, medal, or another airplane. The commendation is from Major-General Brereton, a very, very unpopular leader (?) in the East and Middle East. 'Tis authentically claimed that he awarded the officers and bombardier (enlisted man) the Silver Star for gallantry in action after accompanying a few ships on a fairly daring raid on Pangorm (Andaman Island). He left the enlisted personnel without) after they had been called up and expected decorations. But I only repeat this as rumor!, though well-founded.  From what I can gather after talking to ferry pilots that have been to China, is that this War isn't for us. All the lease-lend material to China is going into the ground. Each provincial general is preparing for the revolution after this war and they say to hell with this stuff. Also, what surprised me is that the total U.S. planes in China consists of some B-25s and 39 P 40s - General Chennault of A.V.G. fame begged for one B 24, promised that given that, he could drive the Japs out of China; what's more, most people believe he’ll do just that too. But we have our war here first; we are to go out tomorrow morning.