Second in Series: They served their country

World War II and Korean War combat fighter pilot recalls career

Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Dale R. Deniston, 86, Woodland Drive, Dillsburg, said he would not trade his years as a combat fighter pilot during World War II, Korea and as a member of NATO forces during the Cold War, for any other experience.
Born in Akron, OH, Deniston’s love affair with the wild blue yonder had its beginnings during his childhood and was reinforced by his mother’s job working in a plant that turned out Corsair fighters for the U.S. Navy. After graduating high school, Deniston enrolled at Kent State University, in 1939. In August of 1941, he entered the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Program and received his commission in March of 1942.
Deniston was transferred to the Primary Flight Training Base at Oxnard, CA. He received advanced flight training in the North American AT-6 at Luke Field, Phoenix, AZ, and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in 1942 and was ordered to active duty. After a brief stint with in Philadelphia with the 1st Air Force, he received his orders and was on his way back to the west coast, where he was assigned to the 57th Fighter Group at Mitchell AFB, where he was given a brand new P40 aircraft, fresh off the assembly line, he said.
“On July 1, 1942, we got all of our aircraft on board of the aircraft carrier, the Ranger, bound for Egypt, Africa,” Deniston said. “We launched off the coast of Africa and hippity-hopped to little pea patch landing strips where some body had planted grass and placed gas drums. We had to pump the gas into the wings, which gave us about a 300 mile range to our next stop, where did the same. We finally landed in Cairo.”
From Cairo, his squadron flew to Palestine, to an RAF, (Royal Air Force) at Haifa. They were paired with seasoned fighter pilots to get a taste of actual combat.
“I remember being told: ‘Beware of the Hun and the sun.’ The German Messerschmitt pilots would come down out of the sunk like a rocket. They were very fast.”
A “sprog,” the term for pilots new to combat, Deniston said the idea was to fly a few test missions. A belly gasoline tank was attached to his fighter to extend its flying range and his six “guns were fully loaded.”
“The South African commander, a major, said, ‘you get on my wing and stick like glue,’” Deniston said. “Soon after take-off, we went right down to the deck to avoid the German radar. We came up on an airfield, filled with German bombers and fighters on the line, fuel trucks and personnel. We came in and they didn’t know what to do. We shot up everything, did a 180-dgree turn and flew back to the 2nd South African Squadron.”
The attack had devastated a key fighter base that was part of German Field Marshall Rommel’s air support and supply group. During his time in Africa, he flew 100 combat missions, in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Malta and, later, from Sicily, into Italy.
“I was shot down on March 26, 1943, in the desert,” Deniston said. “The top RAF commander said that it was a tough, tough situation they were about fly. He said we might even have 50-percent casualties. We went in and shot all of their guns we could see on the ground and someone on the ground could see me and was shooting. I had 30-some bullet holes in the plane and I went down.”
Deniston said he was not sure at first, if he had crashed in enemy or allied territory After a bit of wandering, he saw a vehicle. Fortunately, he said, it was operated by a war correspondent. He was given a ride and safely made it back to base.
“When we got back to our air base, the Priest had said a mass for me and another pilot, T.T. Williams, who had been shot down,” Deniston said.
Deniston’s home, which he shares with his wife, Patricia, who holds a PhD, and is a retired college librarian, is filled with medals and awards, he received during his service to his country. In 1995, with the help of his daughter, Deniston completed a memoir: Memories Of a Combat Fighter Pilot: World War II and Korea. When he took the book with him to a reunion of his squadron, the majority of the copies he had made were quickly taken by fellow pilots.
Deniston also served in Europe, with NATO, and later in Guatemala. He retired from the Air Force in 1984.

First in Series: They served their country

W.W. II veteran Wilbur Baker served with MacArthur in Philippines

Wilbur Baker, 81, remembers the exact date he was drafted by the Army for service during World War II – Feb. 12, 1943.

Baker and his wife, Margaret, 78, celebrated their 60^th wedding anniversary in January. In their living room, in their Mechanicsburg home, surrounded by memorabilia from his service to his country, Baker talked about his experience during the war.

He had turned 18, and was in the 11^th grade at John Harris High School. He was assigned to the US Army, 2^nd Division, at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, for basic training. From there, he attended the machinist tech school at Fort Meade, Md., for 16 weeks.

“I came home on leave and later they shipped me to Fort Lewis Washington,” he said. “I was shipped overseas, with 7^th Infantry Division, 8^th Army.”

By convoy, he was shipped to Manila, in the Philippines, and landed along with General Douglas MacArthur who had vowed: “I shall return,” when forced to flee to Corregidor from the immanent Japanese occupation of the island nation.

“The 4^th Marine Division went in with us,” Baker said, adding jokingly: “Half the time we didn’t know where we were … they didn’t tell us much.”

Armed with an M1 rifle, Baker was assigned to headquarters, where, “if they didn’t have communications, I’d have to go to the front.

“From the Philippines, we were sent to Okinawa,” Baker said. “I remember the date was April 1^st, (1945), Easter Sunday. The Japanese troops moved into caves. We had to use flamethrowers to get them out.”

Baker said that military officers said the fight for Okinawa would only take two weeks. “It took two and half months,” he said.

After atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945. Baker was transferred to Seoul, Korea, assigned to an MP division of the 7^th Infantry.

Baker said his division was responsible for handling prisoners of war and to keep civilians off the roads “so the troops could get through.” Soon after, Baker’s world changed at one moment.

“We were on patrol, in a Jeep, when we hit a land mine,” Baker said. “I spent eight or nine months in military hospitals.”

The explosion had fractured his skill and shrapnel had hit his leg. His buddy was not so lucky, he said.

“The fractured skull caused seizures,” he said. “I was given a medical discharge and have been going to the VA, (Veteran’s Administration) hospital, ever since.”

In addition to the fractured skull, Baker also suffered frost bite to both of his feet. His injuries kept him from working jobs he had wanted.

“I still have a lump on my head,” Baker said. “I wanted to be a shop teacher. I was hired for a job with JD Ferry Company, which was Cameron Street, Harrisburg.”

The company wanted him to report to work on Monday and bring his tools along. Problem was, Baker explained, he could not afford to buy the tools the job required. Veteran benefits did not cover the expense.

On January 9, 1949, he was hired by LB Smith, Lemoyne, to work as a mechanic in the auto body division. He also had met and married his sweetheart. She said she was working as a waitress at the time.

The couple moved to Florida for a better job, Baker said. They returned to Pennsylvania and Baker went to work with LB Smith, where he retired in 1979.

They are the parents of two boys and two girls, grandparents of 10, and have two great-granddaughters and one great-grandson.

While his injuries continued to cause him to have seizures, Baker and his wife said they have had a good life. For a hobby, Baker is a woodworker and has made cedar chests for all his granddaughters and gun cabinets for all the boys.