ASHLAND — A former World War II military pilot, 97-year-old Jim Gorman is a rarity.
Nearly three-quarters of a century after WWII’s conclusion, it’s become increasingly unusual to hear first-hand stories from the veterans who served. Many have passed, and for others, time has left a hazy fog over their memories.
Gorman, however, remembers well. The honorary chairman of the Gorman Rupp Company, Gorman spoke Monday morning at the American Legion Harry Higgins Post 88′s Veterans Day service, recounting his experiences with vivid detail and often witty comments that caused the crowd of veterans and their families to chuckle.
Gorman was introduced to flying by his grandmother, who presented him with 10 hours of flying lessons upon his high school graduation, and inspired to join the United States Air Force by his neighbor and president of the Tappan Stove Company, Alan Tappen, who had previously been part of the Air Force. When Tappan invited his WWI buddies over, young Gorman would often sit in on their conversations.
As part of the 3rd Air Commando Group, Gorman spent much of his time deployed in the South Pacific, where he flew a C-47 plane and dropped off supplies to troops. Precision was key.
“If we missed them by about 800 or 900 feet, they might not ever find the stuff that we dropped because of the jungle,” Gorman said.
And sometimes, he’d need to take off from a runway of only 1,800 feet. The runway at the Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport, he estimates, is 9,000 feet.
Once, he made a 17-hour flight across a portion of the Pacific Ocean. Once fueled up, cabin tanks were filled too and an extra 50 gallons “for good measure” given to him right before 7 p.m. takeoff.
“Why are we taking off at 7 p.m. with a grossly overloaded aircraft?” Gorman remembers asking.
The response was, “It’s simple, we’ll have all day tomorrow to look for you.”
With no place to stop, Gorman needed to use no more than an average of 80 gallons per hour.
“The first hour out we burned up 140 gallons,” Gorman said. “But as you can see I made it.”
He landed with about 2 hours worth of fuel left.
Another time, he remembers hauling a “borrowed” Jeep in a plane from Biak, New Guinea to the Philippines. His crew chief had requested that Gorman borrow a Jeep one night so they could go see a movie.
“He said, ‘If I had any kind of a pilot at all he’d go borrow a jeep for the evening,'” Gorman recalled.
On the way back, the crew chief realized the Jeep was almost new. It had only a couple 100 miles on it.
“Here again, I got the same comment. ‘If I had any kind of a pilot, he’d get that Jeep up to the Philippines,'” Gorman said.
So he did. At about 2 a.m., the Jeep was loaded into the C-47 and transported to the Philippines.
Other times, were more challenging for Gorman. He remembers how he had been sick for some time with “a touch of malaria.” It was at this time that his copilot was shot down. Once well, Gorman would have to get together a new crew.
He and his new copilot flew together for the remainder of WWII and for about 65 years afterwards.
They were in Ie Shima, an island in Japan, at the conclusion of the war. In the period between August 14, 1945 (when the Japanese surrendered) and September 2, 1945 (when they formally signed documents declaring the surrender on the USS Missouri), Gorman remembers seeing two Japanese planes fly into Ie Shima to make arrangements for Sept. 2. They landed and parked nearby the plane he’d been flying.
“And that’s it. We won the war,” Gorman said.
Gorman served as the Gorman-Rupp Company president from 1964 to 1989 and as chief executive officer from 1964 to 1996.
Following Gorman’s presentation, American Legion Auxiliary President, Mary Ann Dull read a dedication of a time capsule, which had been buried Saturday as a way to conclude the post’s 100th anniversary celebration. The time capsule will be opened 25 years from now in 2044.
A 21-gun salute performed by the Ashland Veterans Honor Guard followed at 11 a.m., and the Sons of the American Legion served lunch.
