Hundreds gather to honor WWII hero
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BY JOE DUGGAN / Lincoln Journal Star
About 600 people gathered Wednesday night to honor World War II hero Ben Kuroki, a Nebraska-born Japanese-American who fought bigotry to serve his country.
They packed the Embassy Suites ballroom to see the first screening of “Most Honorable Son,” a one-hour documentary about a remarkable life that includes surviving 58 bomber missions. The film will air next month nationally on PBS.
The dignitaries included Nebraska’s governor, a retired two-star general, a rear admiral and a filmmaker. But the 90-year-old Kuroki, who grew up on a farm near Hershey, said he was especially touched by the presence of a former school girl he never even knew he met 61 years ago.
Valor and courage flew over Romania 64 years ago Wednesday.
A bombing attack on the Nazi oil refineries at Ploesti, about 30 miles north of Bucharest, Romania, took place on Aug. 1, 1943. The raid is the most decorated action in U.S. military history, producing five Medal of Honor recipients in a single day.
Crews flew B-24 D bombers 1,300 miles from North Africa to the target in Romania. They flew just above the treetops in tight formations to avoid enemy radar. And as they dropped their payloads on Ploesti, they unleashed a hell of fire and explosions.
The damage done to Hitler’s petroleum production capabilities came at a terrible cost.
* Of the 177 B-24 D bombers to fly the mission, 54 were shot down. All but 20 sustained severe damage from anti-aircraft guns and German fighter planes.
* 500 members of the Army Air Corps were killed in action, while 110 became prisoners of war.
* Of the 31 Nebraskans who served on the mission, seven were killed, two were interned in Turkey and one became a prisoner of war.
On Wednesday, 13 veterans who survived the Ploesti raid gathered in Lincoln to honor one of their own, Ben Kuroki.
Here are a few memories shared by some of the veterans with Nebraska connections:
* Bill Bergan, 85, of Cheyenne, Wyo., a native of Chappell and a member of the 98th Bomb Group ” Bergan was a 21-year-old pilot. He said they flew so low, they could almost tell the eye color of the people they saw in the Romanian countryside.
He remembers the black, mushroom-shaped clouds of downed B-24s on the ground. And he’ll never forget when they flew over the fireball of a burning petroleum storage tank.
“I thought the plane was going to blow up, it was so hot.”
* Dale Lee, 87, of Phoenix, a native of Albion and a member of the 44th Bomb Group - Lee was a 23-year-old flight engineer who flew in formation next to the B-24 piloted by Col. Leon Johnson, the group’s leader. As they hit their targets and pulled away from Ploesti, Lee waved at Johnson, who waved back. Then Lee remembered protocol and quickly saluted his superior officer.
When they got back on the ground, Johnson shook Lee’s hand and said, “One of those was enough for any lifetime.”
* Glenn Binder, 87, of Pawnee City and a member of the 389th Bomb Group - Binder was a 23-year-old co-pilot who was on his seventh mission at Ploesti. He flew 40 more in World War II.
He remembers seeing people coming from a Romanian church they passed over on the way to the oil field. They waved and smiled.
A little while later, they approached a train, and Binder saw the boxcar doors open to reveal anti-aircraft guns.
* Robert Sparks, 83, of Big Springs and a member of the 93rd Bomb Group - Sparks was a 19-year-old tail gunner. He said the plane he was in returned to Africa without a scratch. Still, he came close to death when a ground tank exploded beneath him, causing the plane’s tail to thrust skyward. The plane dipped just a few feet above ground before the pilots were able to force it to climb.
“As young men, we weren’t old enough to realize we could get killed,” he said.
* Dick Crippen, 87, of Atkinson and a member of the 389th Bomb Group - Crippen was a 23-year-old waist gunner. He said the mission was plagued by a navigational error that made it even more dangerous.
“It was pretty rough,” he said.
- Joe Duggan
In 1946, June Woodman attended school at Armonk, N.Y., when Kuroki spoke to her eighth-grade class about his struggle to overcome racism so he could risk his life for his country. It was part of a one-man effort to speak to anyone who would listen, to change minds and promote understanding. He’s always called the effort his 59th mission.
On Wednesday night, Woodman came from her home in Maine to stand before 600 people and tell Kuroki how he opened her eyes to the insidiousness of discrimination and how she’s never forgotten his example.
“It’s a terrific testimonial for me,” he said in a sandy, soft voice. “I often wondered if my time spent talking about these things was worthwhile.”
Kuroki’s message about equality carried special weight because of his record of service as a bomb crew gunner. During World War II, surviving 25 combat missions usually got airmen a ticket home or a noncombat assignment. Kuroki did return home after serving 30 missions, but when someone refused to share a cab the uniformed Kuroki in Denver, calling him a “Jap,” he decided to fight more.
“I wanted to prove my loyalty beyond a shadow of a doubt,” Kuroki said Wednesday.
Another measure of the respect he has earned could be seen by the many military veterans who attended the event. They included 13 veterans from the Aug. 1, 1943, Army Air Corps attack on the German oil fields at Ploesti, Romania. The battle took the lives of nearly one-third of the 1,700 Americans who served in it.
“Ben Kuroki is the bravest man I know,” declared Ret. Lt. Col. Edward Weir, 86, who was on Kuroki’s crew at Ploesti and 17 other missions.
Weir explained that Kuroki’s skill with a machine gun saved his crews countless times from enemy fighter attacks. In 2005, Kuroki received the Distinguished Service Medal, the third highest of the U.S. Army’s decorations.
Kuroki’s struggles and triumphs are well known among many of those attending Wednesday night’s event. NET General Manager Rod Bates informed the audience that on Sept. 17, the film they were about to see will appear at 8 p.m. on 356 PBS stations.
Then, many more people will discover the inspiring story of Ben Kuroki.
Reach Joe Duggan at 473-7239 or jduggan@journalstar.com.
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