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pg.44
We went back to work and saved a couple of PBJ's. We also moved to a new area and set up new tents. We were now ensconsed on top of a hill overlooking the first airstrip and the unit. Saved two more B-29's...Then three more...The other crew on duty brought in a C-47 on the second pass. The first try was not good and in pulling up to go around, because of where out tent was situated that damn airplane looked like it was coming right into our new home. As it was he missed us by only a hair and rattled the tent flaps with its propwash.
ITEM: About seven o'clock one evening we heard a temendous blast followed by a large puff of black smoke near the foot of Mt. Suribacht. At first I thought it was merely the Seebees blasting but what followed scotched that idea. One of our biggest ammunition dumps on the island had gone up. For the next ten hours there was a continous series of explosions as ammunition, rockets, bombs, and shells were set off by the resulting fire. Throughout the night a strange red glare hung over the area. Under this umbrella of color the chattering of small arms ammunition and the booming of the big ones continued throughout the night.
We loafed for a couple days. Because our fresh water had to be brought from the Mariannas seven hundred miles away - there being no fresh water on the