Traveling to Oz
February 25 This day in 1942 was a happy day for Joe Sarnoski, “Rocky” Stone, and the rest of the 13th Reconnaissance Squadron (soon to be renamed the 403rd Bombardment Squadron). That day they lined the rail of the transport ship U.S.S. Argentina to gaze on the hazy outline of the Australian coast. They had been at sea for thirty-two days, having left Brooklyn, New York, on January 23, with eight other transports, traveling under the protection of three cruisers and eight destroyers of the U.S. Navy. Over that month they had endured the highs and lows of five thousand men packed together on a single ship, most at sea for the first time, sailing to an unknown future as saviors of a distant land most knew only by name and caricature. They had watched wistfully as they passed within sight of the Florida Keys. They had been raised by… Continue reading
