User:I4ermit/sandbox

 Finis Saunders 

Early Life Born in 1925 Finis grew up during the Great Depression in the dust bowl of Oklahoma. Early life lessons included not wasting a scrap of food and pre-dawn farm work. Saunders Sr worked as a share cropping farmer moving the family around Oklahoma until finally there was not enough work to keep him employed. Seeking another source of income it was decided that the family would move to Warrensburg, Missouri where agricultural jobs were available. The family packed all of their belongings, hitched their two prized mules to a wagon and set off for Missouri.

During the journey a thunderstorm rolled across the plains, just outside of Vinita, Oklahoma the family stopped in a field to shelter from the driving rain. Saunders Sr tied the mules to a tree in order for them to graze while the family waited out the storm. Bad luck stuck quite literally when the tree to which the mules were tied was hit by lightening, killing both instantly. The most valuable possessions the family owned were now gone, facing a difficult choice of deciding whether to stay or keep going the family decided on the later, arriving in Warrensburg in the fall of 1931. Finis then attended school and helped his father in the fields until 1943 when the United States entered into World War II.

World War II As a wave of patriotism gripped the country after the attack on Pearl Harbor Finis signed up to do his duty. His initial training was at the 2nd Technical Training District, St. Louis, Missouri where Finis learned the basics of the Army Air Corps. Initially Finis was slated to be a gunner on a B-17, attending training in Washington State. However as the war progressed so did the machinery, the new B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber entered service in 1944 just as Finis was completing his training. The new planes demanded new crews, so Finis was reassigned as a radar operator on a B-29 further extending his schooling. By the Fall of 1944 Finis was on his way to the Pacific Theater, his home for the next two years was to be on island surrounded by the vast Pacific Ocean. The poor farm kid from Oklahoma had come a long way.

As the war crept closer to Japan so did the Army Airfields. Finis was stationed on Tinian Island along with the rest of his bomber squadron. His crew was tasked with night time bombing raids over Japan including the infamous firebombing of Tokyo. During one of these raids Finis's plane "Jackpot" was hit multiple times by flak artillery, immediately knocking out two engines and causing the plane to leak hydroponic fluids. As the Jackpot began to limp it's way back the 1,500 miles to Tinian things only continued to deteriorate. A third engine cut out after about an hour in with the fourth failing not much later. At the time there was a storm over the flight path forcing the crew to ditch the plane in swells of up to 20 ft.

Miraculously all of the crew were able to make it to the life rafts as the sobering reality of the situation set in. For three days the Jackpot crew bobbed up and down on the merciless waves of the Pacific. On the third day a Consolidated PBY search and rescue aircraft spotted the men in the rafts from above. The plane was unable to land in the choppy waters but did drop of some fresh supplies for the crew. The crew's spirits rose as they understood help was on the way however later that night in the pitch black the crew herd the unmistakable sound of a ship bearing down. Relief turned to terror as the crew feared they would not be seen and potentially crushed beneath the ship as it approached. It was all for not however as the crew aboard the (name to be entered) saw the life rafts and pulled the destroyer within recovery distance. Exhausted the crew of the Jackpot climbed aboard and were returned to Tinian.