Lou
Chicquette
Lou Chicquette enlisted in the
Army Air Corps Cadet Program
in the summer of 1942. Lou along
with 16 others asked for B29
engine and gunnery school and
training. The B29 was the first
operational pressurized military
aircraft. Lou was designated
a tail gunner and also trained
to be a flight engineer.
Lou and his crew were assigned
to airplane number 53 and they
named her “Flak Alley
Sally. “They left for
the Pacific in 1945. “During
the first phase of our tour
we constantly bombed the larger
Japanese cities, dropping general
purpose and incendiary clusters
on Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe
and Yawatta. Later we laid mines
in the straits to impede Japanese
shipping. We dropped them at
night by radar and I should
add, they had to be in a precise
location, as we might later
be navigating that same area.”
Lou remembered.
“In six months of combat,
the Sixth had flown 64 major
combat missions. Combat losses
of group personnel showed the
best record of any B29 group
in the 20th Air Force. They
had 22 men killed in action,
33 prisoners of war who were
liberated after V-J Day and
55 enlisted men listed as missing
in action. “We found our
MIA men’s names inscribed
on the white granite slabs at
the beautiful Punch Bowl Cemetery
on a hill above the city of
Honolulu. On our visits there
in past years, is was indeed
a sobering moment to know that
their remains were never found,”
Lou added.
Now, thinking back on his military
service, Lou said, “It’s
hard for me to explain how I
felt about flying combat. It
was so exciting at the age of
20 and 21. I was doing what
I wanted to do. We functioned
as a well-trained team.”
A light mist comes to his eyes
as he continued, “Besides
the campaign ribbons and DFC
(Distinguished Flying Cross),
I have the Air Medal with three
Oak Leaf Clusters. I carry a
piece of flak in my right arm,
probably from scrap iron shipped
to Japan from the U.S. before
the war. I have purposely ignored
the scary times and actions
while in the target areas. I
do not consider myself the hero
type. The real heroes are the
fellows who did not come back.”!
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