[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.
____________________