[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 46 (Monday, April 25, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                 TRIBUTE TO LT. CLYDE ADAIR TUCKER, JR.

  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, at the tender age of 23, Lt. Clyde Adair 
Tucker, Jr., paid the ultimate price for the cause of freedom when he 
was killed during Operation Leader on October 4, 1943. On that fateful 
day, his plane was shot down off the coast of Bodo, Norway. He and his 
crewman, Stephen Bakran, remained with the aircraft in 160 feet of 
water until the summer of 1990, when members of a local scuba diving 
club found them.
  It took 2 years for the Norwegians to recover parts of the aircraft 
and Lieutenant Tucker's and Bakran's remains. On October 4, 1993, Clyde 
A. Tucker III, a Birmingham, AL, area resident and businessman, and his 
family attended a memorial ceremony in Bodo, Norway, honoring his 
father and Stephen Bakran, 50 years to the day after their plane was 
downed. On March 28, 1994, Lieutenant Tucker's remains were buried at 
Arlington National Cemetery.
  Clyde A. Tucker, Jr., was born in Greenwood, MS, on September 23, 
1920. He attended Louisiana College in Pineville and was commissioned 
on his 21st birthday in 1941. His background and circumstances were 
representative of those of millions and millions of other young people 
at that time who faced the terror of fighting in a global war. But it 
is during perilous times like this that the most ordinary of citizens 
show extraordinary courage and conviction. So it was with Lieutenant 
Tucker; he never expected more than he received, yet always gave more 
than was expected.
  I ask unanimous consent that a copy of the supplement to chapter 1 of 
``Torpedo Squadron Four: A Cockpit View of World War II,'' by Gerald W. 
Thomas be printed in the Record following my remarks. It is a detailed 
narrative of some of the events that took place during Operation Leader 
on October 4, 1943, the day Lt. Clyde A. Tucker, Jr., gave his life for 
his country.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

             Operation Leader--The Northern Attack Group\1\

       At 0618 on October 4, 1943, in the semi-darkness before 
     dawn, the USS Ranger launched the Northern Attack Group and a 
     small ``Combat Air Patrol.'' The CAP was charged with flying 
     cover over the Task Force until both attack groups could 
     return.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\Supplement to chapter 1 in ``Torpedo Squadron Four: A 
     Cockpit View of World War II.'' Gerald W. Thomas.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
       The Northern Attack group consisted of twenty SBC 
     ``Dauntless'' dive bombers and eight F4F ``Wildcat'' 
     fighters. Lt. Cdr. G. Otto Klinsmann, Skipper of VB-4, was 
     assigned the leadership role. [I recall vividly an earlier 
     night launch when Otto went in the drink on take-off (see 
     page 18) and later his tragic drowning after being shot down 
     in the Pacific (see chapter 24)].
       The Tactical Formation of the Northern Attack group was as 
     follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Plane                Pilot                          Gunner           
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4-B-1.....  Lt. Cdr. Klinsmann...........  Rogers.                      
4-B-10....  Lt. Weeks....................  Meredith.                    
4-B-7.....  Lt. Stratton.................  Odd Dahm (Norway).           
4-B-20....  Lt. (jg) Ross................  Devine.                      
4-B-17....  Lieut. Bettinger.............  Shaw.                        
4-B-2.....  Lt. (jg) McReynolds..........  Parrish.                     
4-B-5.....  Lt. (jg) Longley.............  Edens.                       
4-B-22....  Lt. (jg) Henricks............  Keefe.                       
4-B-9.....  Lt. Keller...................  Shackelford.                 
4-B-6.....  Lt. (jg) Breckheimer.........  Branson.                     
4-B-13....  Lt. Boykin...................  Reed.                        
4-B-15....  Lt. (jg) Davis...............  McCarley.                    
4-B-11....  Lt. Johnson..................  Eardley.                     
4-B-19....  Lt. (jg) Tucker..............  Bakran.                      
4-B-23....  Lt. Phillips.................  Lankowicz.                   
4-B-14....  Lt. (jg) Dill................  Blier.                       
4-B-3.....  Lt. Chase....................  Lorentzen.                   
4-B-29....  Lt. (jg) Gordon..............  Waterson.                    
4-B-21....  Lt. Weitzenfeld..............  Jobe.                        
4-B-27....  Lt. Simmons..................  Colon.                       
------------------------------------------------------------------------

       Two additional SBD's were assigned to Anti-sub patrol and 
     loaded with depth charges:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Plane                    Pilot                   Gunner        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4-B-18.................  Lt. (jg) Norman........  Brilhart.             
4-B-4..................  Lt. (jg) Way...........  Ellis.                
------------------------------------------------------------------------

       The 20 dive bombers, flying in 4-plane divisions headed for 
     the port of Bodo, Norway. Fourteen of these planes were 
     loaded with 1000 pound, general purpose bombs and 6 were 
     loaded with 500 pounders armed with 5-second-delay fuses.
       The group made landfall to Mayken Light at dawn and 
     continued northward along the shipping lanes toward Bodo. One 
     division of SBD peeled off to attack the 8000-ton freighter, 
     La Plata. The remainder continued up the coast and at 0730 
     rolled over and bombed a small German Convoy, severely 
     damaging a 10,000-ton tanker and a 4300-ton transport. In the 
     Bodo harbor they sank two of four small German merchantmen.
       The anticipated German fighter interception did not 
     materialize. The attack was a complete surprise. However, the 
     German's were able to man their anti-aircraft batteries. One 
     of these gun emplacements have not been identified by the 
     Norwegians who provided briefings before the strike. This AA 
     battery was responsible for at least one of the SBD losses.
       The USS RANGER logbook shows the following persons from 
     Bombing Four ``Missing-in-Action'' after OPERATION LEADER. 
     Both dive bombers were shot down by German anti-aircraft 
     fire: Lt. (jg) S.R. Davis with his turret gunner, D.W. 
     McCarley, Arm 2/c (SBD #5); Lt. (jg) C.A. Tucker, Jr. with 
     his turret gunner, S.D. Bakran, ARM 2/c (SBD #19).
       Returning pilots reported that they saw Davis and McCarley 
     launch a liferaft after their splash down. Both were picked 
     up by the enemy and taken to prison. Davis was in Stalag Luft 
     One for 19\1/2\ months but he does not know what happened to 
     his gunner (to date, I have been unable to locate McCarley).
       The other dive bomber, SBD #19 with Tucker and Bakran 
     failed to pull out of the dive after it was hit. There were 
     no survivors.
       Two of the attached photos, taken at the time of the 
     strike, show Four Baker Nineteen, the SBD flown by Lt. (jg) 
     Tucker, over the fjirods by Bodo, Norway just before the dive 
     bombing attack on one of the German ships. One other photo 
     shows the plane as it struck the water after being hit by AA 
     fire. Neither occupant was able to bail out.
       The Norwegian Navy has located the Tucker/Bakran plane and 
     launched a salvage operation, ( see attached news release). 
     Families of both C.A. Tucker and Steve Bakran have been 
     notified of the salvage operation.

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