Chapter 20

Victory in Europe

 

On April 12 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died after a prolonged struggle with polio, which he contracted in 1921. The disease resulted in paralysis from the waist down; his health had rapidly declined for months prior to his death. The United States of America as well as the Allied nations around the world mourned the loss of President Franklin D Roosevelt. Americans lined the street of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC during the funeral procession to show their respect of a great man who was their President since 1933.

Emily could still hear the words that President Roosevelt spoke in a speech to congress after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. His words rang out over the airwaves to a shocked nation: ‘Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.’ An hour later, the USA declared war on Japan.

Vice President Harry S Truman succeeded to the presidency on April 12 1945.

The war in Europe was close to ending as the Allies pushed hard toward Germany. On May 6 1945, less than a month after the death of President Roosevelt, the Germans surrendered to the Allies. The news flashed over the radio and the celebrations across the USA as well as the rest of the Allied countries began their victory festivities. In New York Harbor, the lights on the statue of Liberty would light for the first time since the beginning of the war. Joyous Americans paraded in the streets across the nation. Emily felt saddened, as many other Americans did that President Roosevelt had not lived to celebrate the victory in Europe. As the war in the Pacific continued to rage on, everyone hoped and prayed that peace would come soon, so life could return to normal.

The USA would now concentrate its efforts toward the ruthless Japanese in the Pacific. The troops had fought and won the war in Europe would now be re-directed to the Pacific.

The Japanese military were trained to fight to the death and showed no respect for their enemies who thought differently. They strongly believed that it was a disgrace to surrender to the enemy. They did not adhere to the Geneva Convention so they showed no mercy for the POW who had surrendered to them. Surrender was a sign of weakness, it was better to die in battle to make their family proud of them was the Japanese way of thinking.

After several days of celebrations in Sweetwater, Emily returned to work at Avenger Field. Mrs. Deaton had another special assignment ready for her. She called Emily into her office and closed the door. She sat behind her desk and asked Emily to sit on the chair across from her.

She looked very seriously at Emily before she spoke. “I trust that you told no one about the flight to Washington from the Odlum Ranch,” Mrs. Deaton said as she stared at Emily.

“No, absolutely no one, Jackie Cochran indicated that it was to be kept quiet.”

“Good, keep it that way. Jackie and I both agreed that you could be trusted.”

“We need you to meet a VIP in Washington, DC at the airport. He will give you instructions once he is aboard the aircraft. He will be waiting in a chauffeured driven black car by the brick office building closest to the east runway. Stay in the AT-6 Texan, he will be escorted to the aircraft. You do not have to check in; I have taken care of everything. When they ask you for a code name, you will reply with ‘WASP.’ You must leave immediately.”

“Yes, ma’am,” answered Emily.

“That will be all. Do you have any questions?”

“No, ma’am,” answered Emily. In truth, she had many questions, but Emily knew better than to ask them. She stood and left the room. Another hush-hush mission she thought to herself.

Emily climbed into the re-fueled AT-6 Texan waiting for her at the flight line. At least a dozen questions buzzed through her mind.

Emily considered herself a patriot; she would rather die than divulge any information that would jeopardize the winning of the war in the Pacific.

Her heart raced as she asked herself, who is this VIP and why do I require a code word to make sure I am who I say I am. He must be pretty high profile. What is his part in this war?

Her palms perspired as she did a pre-flight check, primed the engine before she cleared for takeoff. She would have to RON half way to Washington, which Mrs. Deaton pre-arranged for the trip. Mrs. Deaton would pull some strings to make it happen.

She landed the AT-6 on the runway for small aircraft in Washington following her instructions precisely; she waited for her passenger. She noticed a large black car parked by the main building. Two men got out from the front seats looking around cautiously. They opened the rear door; a passenger emerged from the vehicle. He was of medium height and carried a briefcase. The brim of a fedora hat covered most of his face and he wore a long brown overcoat. Emily remained in the aircraft as instructed. The tallest of the men escorting the passenger motioned to her to climb down from the aircraft, giving her a thorough onceover. He asked her for the code word; Emily said “WASP” without hesitation. The VIP said something to the other man, which she could not quite make out, but he definitely spoke with an accent. She was certain it was a German accent. Very interesting thought Emily. What is a German doing in Washington? The VIP climbed into the AT-6 and then Emily returned to the cockpit; he handed Emily an envelope without saying a word to her. She opened the envelope and took out a map to Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She had never flown there before, she had no idea what was there that would interest a VIP from Washington.

They were soon airborne on route to the mysterious town in Tennessee. It seemed an unlikely destination, but Emily surmised there had to be a reason.

Emily estimated that they should reach the town in 41/2 hours. It was a long silent flight; the passenger only spoke when Emily flew in circles trying to find the discreet landing strip, which was barely visible from the air. He spoke through the two-way radio pointing her in the right direction; she then realized that he had been here before.

When they landed, an armed guard quickly surrounded the AT-6. The sergeant ordered Emily to stay in the aircraft while four of the armed guards escorted the VIP out of the aircraft. The sergeant held out his hand to Emily asking for the map. Emily found the situation a little unnerving, surrounded by soldiers with rifles pointed at her. She did what they asked without question and then climbed back into the aircraft to await further instructions.

She watched as the VIP vanished from her sight. Emily stared out of the AT-6 at her surroundings, trying to catch a hint of what was going on at this place. From the air, Emily noticed a housing section that looked like trailer homes; the rest of the area reminded her of an industrial or mining compound. Whatever was happening here it was top secret, of that, she was certain.

Emily started to feel a little chilly as the sun began to set when a guard ordered her out of the aircraft. Emily grabbed her bag, which another guard asked her to handover to him. He promptly searched the bag.

They motioned for her to follow them to a vehicle parked next to a large building. A soldier drove her to the trailer home area, with another guard sitting in the front passenger seat. They informed Emily that she would spend the night in the trailer, as her passenger had not concluded his business. Everything she needed was in the trailer. Emily and the VIP would leave in the morning. They never mentioned his name at any time.

After they closed the door, Emily peeked out the window as one guard drove away in the vehicle, while the other one posted himself in front of the door of the trailer.

Emily felt like a prisoner, although she had a feeling they were just taking strict precautions. This place must be very top-secret she concluded. Whatever the VIP had to do here was taking longer than he had anticipated.

Twenty minutes later, another guard delivered a tray of hot food and coffee. Emily had a feeling it was going to be a long night. She was getting more curious by the minute. Luckily, she had a nightgown in her bag from the stopover to Washington from Sweetwater.

She removed the covers from the food, it actually smelled good, she did not realize how hungry she was until she removed the lids and smelled the roast beef with mashed potatoes and corn. There was also a small pot of hot coffee with chocolate cake for dessert. She felt better after consuming the delicious food. However, her brain was over active as usual, so she had trouble falling asleep.

After a sleepless night, she groggily rolled out of bed and got dressed, when a knock came at the door. It was a breakfast tray with another small pot of coffee. She was grateful for the hot coffee; she would need something to keep her awake on the flight back to Washington.

She finished breakfast and drank more coffee as she waited for the passenger; she was anxious to leave this place.

She just finished her third cup of coffee when she heard a car pull up in front of the trailer home followed by a knock at the door. The guard told her that she had fifteen minutes to get ready and then he would drive her to the AT-6 for departure with her passenger. That was the best news she had heard since her arrival.

Emily quickly scrambled aboard the AT-6, but there was no sign of the VIP, so she waited. Finally, she watched him walking toward the aircraft with the armed guards. He climbed aboard the airplane and handed Emily another envelope with a map. They were not going back to Washington. Her passenger settled in his seat as Emily revved the engine of the aircraft. They had already refueled the AT-6; she did a routine pre-flight check and waited for clearance to takeoff. She studied the map carefully while she waited. Their next destination was an air force base near Bellevue, Nebraska. Emily was familiar with the base. The Glenn L Martin Company built the Boeing B-29 Superfortress at a factory near the base. Two of Emily’s baymates, Betty Jean Redding (BJ) and Lorna Rexford were test pilots at that base before the WASP disbanded.

Emily took off from Tennessee and headed in the direction of Nebraska. Her passenger read documents and remained silent during the flight. She had to stop for fuel about two hours from the base near Bellevue, Nebraska. The commander at Oak Ridge, Tennessee scheduled the stop; no one questioned them. Emily went to the canteen, but had an uncomfortable feeling she was being watched, she needed a coffee and a sandwich and to use the facilities. Armed guards escorted the VIP to the commander’s office.

Emily met up with her passenger surrounded by his guards on her return to the AT-6. She did not know if she should speak to him, but he spoke first to Emily’s surprise.

“I understand you are a pilot for the WASP organization,” he said in a quiet voice.

“Yes sir, until it disbanded last December,” she answered.

“I know a young woman who was also a pilot for the WASP. Her name is Moira Rosenberg, perhaps you know her?” he asked in perfect English with a slight German accent.

Emily was speechless for a few seconds and then she told him that Moira was one of her baymates during training at Avenger Field in Sweetwater.

“I have not heard from her in a long time,” he continued.

He was trying to hide his concern. It sounded as though he did not know where Moira was or what she was doing right now. Emily was not sure how to respond to his statement, so she remained silent.

Emily vowed never to reveal any of the classified information regarding Moira; she could not tell anyone that she had taken her friend to Washington. She could never disclose the information that Moira had told her in confidence that day on the aircraft.

Emily’s brain started working energetically putting all the pieces together.

They reached the airplane and the VIP climbed into the rear cockpit. His escort of guards waited until he was aboard. Emily eased into the front cockpit, her mind still racing. The tower cleared her for takeoff and they were in-flight once again. Emily gained altitude and leveled off; they were on course to Nebraska.

Now, she began to piece the parts of the puzzle together as she flew to their next destination. She was certain the VIP was Moira’s father. Moira told her that her father was a physicist who worked for the US government at Manhattan, New York. Emily remembered thinking at the time that Moira’s comments indeed gave the impression that her father was involved in a top-secret project with the government of the USA. If he was Moira`s father, she felt terrible about not telling him that she had spent some time with Moira a while ago, but maybe it was just as well that he did not know. The war was over in Europe, Moira should be back in England, or on her way back to the USA, but Emily was not certain. She still had unanswered questions floating around in her mind such as, how was the facility in Oak Ridge and the factory where they built the B-29 Superfortress connected.

She landed the AT-6 Texan at the airbase in Bellevue, Nebraska. A Lieutenant and two guards met them at the aircraft with a car. They drove to a large office building, where one of the guards escorted Emily to the canteen to have dinner and a coffee while the ground crew topped up her AT-6 with fuel. Emily noticed a group of men in business suits as well as a few high-ranking officers heading to the same office building as her passenger. She had a feeling the VIP was meeting with the commander of the base as well as the engineers of the factory.

An hour later, the lieutenant, whom Emily assumed was the adjutant informed her that her passenger would not be leaving with her, she would return to Sweetwater in the morning. The lieutenant had arranged for accommodations for her at a Hotel in the nearby town. A driver would take her to the hotel when she was ready to leave. Emily said she was ready now for a good night’s sleep. As the lieutenant directed Emily to an awaiting vehicle, he informed her that he would send a car for her in the morning at eight o’clock to return her to the base.

That night alone in her hotel room, Emily fell asleep still trying to piece together the events of the last two days. Some parts of the puzzle were still missing.

The next morning as she drove through the base with the Lieutenant to the AT-6 Texan, her eyes gazed at a brand new B-29 Superfortress on the runway. She always thought they were an impressive aircraft. This must be a newer design she thought as looked closer at the huge 4-engine bomber. It looked different from the B-29’s she had flown a year ago. It could be the propellers, something seemed to be different, but she could not quite put her finger on it. They passed by it quickly, so she could not get a close look at the aircraft. She questioned how this new B-29 bomber fit into the mystery. No one was going to explain it to her that was a cast-iron certainty.

Emily flew the AT-6 to Avenger Field. Everything that happened since she had left Sweetwater to pick up the VIP still weighed heavily on her mind. She could not stop thinking about it. She hoped that Mrs. Deaton had more missions like this one for her when she returned to her old training base. It was much more interesting than packing files into boxes and delivering them to Dallas or Fort Worth.

Her thoughts then turned to Gene, who she had not had time to think about for days. He should receive a weekend pass soon, he had not been home for weeks.

She cruised along in the AT-6 Texan toward Sweetwater thinking about what she would do when the war ended with Japan in the Pacific and the world was at peace once again. It was a comforting thought.