On to Avenger heaven

Your humble columnist walked into the Bank President's office and took a seat. His open door policy was in effect, as always, and the Bank President gave his usual eye twinkling greeting.

"Pete I have just returned from the Offutt (AFB, Omaha, Nebraska) Open House and Airshow. I got to walk around and touch a real live TBF Avenger" was my response. Then the questions, "Was it painted for World War II in the Pacific? What was the tail designation? Did you get to sit in the cockpit? Was it really a TBF or a TBM?" My answers, "Yes I think so. I don't remember. No. How can you tell?"

You see talking about TBF, Torpedo Bomber Grumman, was dear to Pete Graff's heart. When he was a young man, Pete volunteered for the Navy right after Pearl Harbor. He ended up flying TBFs off aircraft carriers in the Pacific theater of operations.

Like so many other men of Pete's generation, they had volunteered to go off to war, they won the good fight and came back home to carve out a quieter life in the post-war boom. Their role in that war just didn't seem to be anything that people back home were interested in hearing, so they just didn't bring it up in polite conversation. If they found a kindred soul then the adventures in war could come out.

I would probably have never known of Pete's torpedo bomber role except for one hot summer night at the Red Willow County Fair many years ago. The performers on the stage that night were the stars from the TV series "Gun smoke" popular from 1955 through 1975. James Arness as "Marshal Matt Dillon" was absent but Milburn Stone who played "Doc", Amanda Blake, "Kitty" and Dennis Weaver in the role of "Chester" were right there in period costume and character. It was a fun evening, especially to see those three characters in living color as TV at the time was all black and white. The highlight of the evening for me came at the end of the show when Dennis Weaver shed his simpleton role and addressed the crowd as the sharp accomplished individual he really was off stage.

Dennis Weaver asked his former Navy Torpedo Squadron mate, our own Pete Graff, to come up on stage to be introduced. Both had flown the TBF in combat from the same carrier in the far-flung reaches of the Pacific. Pretty impressive stuff for the aspiring Air Force pilot that I was at the time. Years later, we learned that President George H. W. Bush also flew the TBF in the Pacific Theatre of operations.

Eventually after I retired from the Air Force and came back to take over the family farm, it only was natural to use McCook National Bank and Pete Graff for my financial needs. Pete evidently thought of me as a peer in aviation and we had many short visits about airplanes we had flown over the years.

Now that he is gone I regret that I hadn't asked a lot more questions from what became one of my local heroes. It was an honor to participate in the firing squad for the "21 Gun Salute" at Pete's funeral last week. Miserable cold but worth it to honor the man.

And what is the difference between a TBF and a TBM? Actually nothing except the name is what Pete told me. They were interchangeable. Grumman Aircraft Corp. originally designed and built the TBF. In the need for rapid production during the war, General Motors, under license by Grumman, also produced the TBM, hence the "M" suffix.

Both are large for a single-engine airplane. Ugly! They had a big pot belly that was actually a bomb bay for the large torpedo of the day. They were crewed by a pilot and a gunner whose turret looked aft. Evidently it was an excellent dive bomber, well feared by our Japanese foes.

Incidentally the Navy system of designating aircraft made good sense to those of us who fly real airplanes. Naming the manufacture gives one a clue what the aircraft looked like and a hint of its special flying characteristics much in the way Ford, Chevy or Dodge makes sense to automobile aficionados.

Evidently it was way too complicated for then Secretary of Defense Donald McNamara so he had the Air Force and Navy systems combined into something that makes no logical sense to any normal human being. Bureaucrats!

This past week on another mission this old pilot was privileged to enjoy three days in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The temperature never reached zero degrees Fahrenheit. Having lived in cold country before, I understood the drill. You dress for it. The snow covered everything. Noted out the motel window were "hitching posts," electrical outlets, to plug your automobile into at night so it would start next morning. Our rental car even came so equipped.

My pilot companion didn't care much for the experience and complained about the weather outside. Life in cold country is a matter of attitude. As the Norwegians say, "There is no bad weather, just poor clothing."

In Grand Forks we noted business went on as usual, ladies came to the mall to shop, cars pulled vapor trails wherever they drove and we even saw one homeless man panhandling alongside the road.

The University of North Dakota operates one of the premier U.S civilian flight schools at the International Airport there at Grand Forks. It was a bright clear day, temperature below zero, and the students were out in force flying their fleet of new Cessna aircraft and helicopter training ships. Any students we talked with were excited about their UND experience and just loved flying there. Get the snow off the runway and we are good to go. I like their attitude!

That is the way I saw it.

*Dick Trail