From Montana to Burma
In early January 1945, 22-year-old Second Lieutenant Vernon Drake sat aboard a military transport plane, gazing at the Atlantic Ocean below. Days earlier, he had been celebrating New Year’s in Kansas with fellow airmen. Now he was bound for India—and eventually Burma—to fight the Japanese, as Allied forces had already begun pushing the Germans into retreat in Europe.
Drake was considered “the old man” of his nine-man B-24 Liberator crew, assembled in Pueblo, Colorado, in June 1944. He flew as copilot alongside aircraft commander Lt. Goodrich. Navigator “Chappy” Chapman worked from a cubbyhole in the nose of the aircraft, alongside bombardier Lt. Froula. An engineer, a radio operator, and three gunners completed the roster. Their Douglas C-54 Skymaster transport also carried a second B-24 crew, several officers, and 20 nurses—all travelling under secret orders. Suspicion ran high when Goodrich noticed winter gear being loaded in Miami, prompting endless speculation about their final destination.
The crew’s journey had already proven eventful. During the Miami layover, most of the enlisted men were court-martialed and demoted for skipping kitchen duty to go out on the town. A stopover in Natal, Brazil—President Roosevelt’s so-called “Trampoline to Victory” for keeping Allied troops in Africa supplied—brought more trouble. The crew indulged in steak dinners for around 30 cents each, got fitted for fine local leather boots, and ended up at the Wonder Bar, where beer flowed freely into the night. Military Police eventually had to round them up to make the flight. Drake, the only sober one present, talked the group out of a stint in the brig. The full travel route stretched from Topeka to Miami by train, then by air through Natal to Calcutta, and finally by train to Pandaveswar, India.
Drake had enlisted on December 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor, alongside college classmates at Gowen Field in Idaho.
A Life Before the War
Before combat missions and military transports, Drake’s life had been far simpler. During a summer church baseball game in Montana, a distracted Drake struck out twice after spotting an unfamiliar face at the picnic tables. The game itself carried its own local color—a rivalry between the Nazarenes and the Presbyterians that extended well beyond the baseball diamond. After the match, Drake’s mother introduced him to the recently arrived Ross family from Nebraska. The two daughters could not have been more different: Fern was confident and full of energy, while her younger sister Bettie was quiet and demure. Over a spread of fried chicken, sweet potatoes, and fresh apple pie, Drake found himself stealing glances at Bettie across the picnic table, convinced she was doing the same. Whether their brief encounter would lead anywhere remained to be seen—he was notably shy, and the war had other plans.
This article is from the book “Pilots and Painted Ladies” by Lawrence V. Drake, available here.
