“Two PB4Y-1 Liberators of Patrol Bombing Squadron One Hundred Eleven (VPB 111) based on Tinian Island, Mariana Islands, sink Japanese midget submarine Ha.71 about 2 nautical miles (3,7 kilometres) southwest of Chichi Jima, Bonin Islands.”
My Uncle Ralph, RIP, was in VPB 102 on Tinian first flying Catalinas and then PB4Y-1 Liberators.
My dad was one of those Naval aviator cadet trainees who was preparing for the Japanese invasion in early 1945 in Georgia. That is where he met my mom who at age 16 was the daughter of the base disciplinary officer!
My maternal grandfather (nickname “Admiral”) was a veteran of WWI and served on Jacob Astor’s converted Yacht that was impressed as a sub-chaser. He also went back on active duty to train sailors in the “Korean Conflict” so he retired with active Navy duty in three wars.
Me...I only washed out of the Marine Corps OCS in one war! It was my Navy grandfather who took my onto the Brunswick NAS while going to the PX and took me right under the nose of an F-4 right after they entered service in 1963 that probably made me want to be a Marine Aviator!
BTW, I cannot believe how often Iwo Jima was bombed!
My dad was in a Navy aviation program - released when the war abruptly ended.