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I
thought it would be appropriate, with the advent of the 2nd anniversary of
9/11, to temporarily diverge from our usual 429 Mustang/Cougar topic to
share the story below;
The
Car of a Hero
If you
are like me, when you see a vintage automobile, you look at it from the
perspective of a hobbyist and car enthusiast. Recently, I very unexpectedly
came across a car that had to be viewed from a different perspective -
historical. At a local cruise night, I stumbled upon a car that was part of
an important event in our history and was owned by a true American hero.
Certainly not something I expected to find among a parking lot full of
vintage muscle cars and customized hot rods. With the advent of the second
anniversary of September 11, I thought it was very timely that I encountered
this car and its important story at this time.
Every
Friday night, we have a local cruise gathering in a mall parking lot which
attracts a nice cross section of both new and vintage cars. About twice a
month, I make a point of going up there with my Mustang to enjoy looking at
the cars and talk car talk with the other enthusiasts. Last Friday, I came
across something I didn't expect. Tucked along the far edge of the parking
lot was a 1941 Buick Special. Unlike the other old cars there, this one wasn't all
hot rodded up with custom paint and wheels - it was an extremely original
car in excellent condition. Curious, I walked over to look it over. As I got
closer, I was surprised to see several type-written pages taped to the side
windows. These pages told the story of the car and its owner. Since I do not
have a copy of this story, I'm going to retell the story the best I can from
memory;
This
car was originally purchased by Lt. Gordon Sterling in May 1941, just after
he completed his U.S. Army Air Force flight school training at the Air
Corp base in Montgomery, AL. Gordon, who had just qualified to be a pilot of the P-36 fighter
plane, needed transportation, and used the wages he had saved to buy his
first ever new car - a beautiful blue 1941 Buick. Shortly after
he bought the car, he received his assignment. He was to join the Army's
fighter wing, the 45th Pursuit Squadron, based at Wheeler Field
near Pearl Harbor. Since he was an officer, Lt. Sterling was allowed to have
his car shipped with him to his new home base in Oahu.
At the
base, the commander had received warnings of possible sabotage to aircraft,
so he ordered all 40 P-36’s to be parked on a runway, wing tip to wing tip,
so they could be easily watched and guarded. Additionally, the planes were
unarmed and the ammunition was stored in a nearby hangar. This was an
unfortunate plan since on December 7th, 1941, Wheeler Field was
one of the first targets to be hit by the Japanese, and with all those
aircraft out in the open, they were sitting ducks. When the Japanese
attacked, they strafed the long row of planes and managed to destroy the
entire 45th Pursuit Squadron, except for one plane, which was
hidden by the smoke from the rest of the burning air planes. Personnel at
the base bravely taxied the remaining plane away from the burning wreckage
and managed to load it with ammunition rescued from the nearby burning
hangar. At this point, Lt. Sterling arrived on the scene and immediately ran
to the plane. As he got in, he handed his watch to the crew chief and said,”
Give this to my mother – I’m not coming back!”
Once
airborne, Sterling was able to join a formation of three other P-36s from
another squadron. Luckily, the planes had managed to get airborne between
the first and second waves of attacking Japanese fighters and quickly made
for a cloud bank to stay out of sight. In a short time, the second wave of
Zeros came in to attack the base and the P-36s roared down out of the clouds
to attack. Hopelessly outgunned, the four P-36s engaged the enemy fighters
with everything they had. Lt. Gordon Sterling was last seen in a steep dive
in high speed pursuit of two Zeros, both of which fell into the sea riddled
with bullets from his .50 and .30-caliber machine guns. Unfortunately,
another Zero closed in from behind Lt. Sterling’s plane, scoring hits all
over it, causing it burst into flames and fall into the sea. Lt. Sterling
was lost.
It
was then that it struck me that this was the car of a hero.
Behind
the car, sitting in a fold up chair, was an elderly gentlemen – Mr. John
Sterling. John was Gordon’s brother and has been instrumental in preserving
his family’s special car for the last 62 years. He told me that after they
learned of Gordon’s death, the family traveled from their home in
Connecticut all the way across the
country to San Francisco, where the Army had shipped Gordon’s car for the
family to pick up. Upon first seeing the car, they immediately saw that it
had a bullet hole through the passenger side of the front windshield – damage that had occurred
at the base during the attack. The family had this pane of glass carefully
removed and placed in a display case to save as a piece of history and a
memorial to Gordon. I was honored that John opened the trunk to show me this
pane of glass as well as a framed photo of Gordon in his uniform.
After
reading this story, and talking with John, I was incredibly moved. It
reminded me of all the fine young men (of today and 60 years ago) who had
families, friends and hobbies, just like I do, who left their comfortable
lives to fight and die in a war to guarantee the freedom that we all enjoy
today. With this difficult second anniversary of 9/11, let us remember all
the fine people like Gordon, who have died and those who continue to give
their lives for our country. God Bless America.
John
Blair
~429 Webmaster 9/9/03 |
