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Misty-Eyed Marine Pals of Captain Shaw
Tell of His Daring in Raids on Japanese
By CHARLES L. SHEELY.
They may have been American
flying demons in the air war
over Guadalcanal and New Georgia, seeking to knock down and
kill every Jap flyer who opposed
them, but when they talked
about their pal, the late Marine
Captain Edward O. (Bud) Shaw
of Orchard Avenue, they were
just three misty-eyed young
men, blinking hard to keep back
the tears.
The three were Major D. P.
Frame, commanding officer .of
marine fighter squadron 213, Mojave, Calif.; Captain W. J. (Gus)
Thomas. Eldorado, Kan. and Captain J. L. Morgan, Arlington,
Texas, who came to Spokane with
18 other marine corps pilots and
several enlisted men to pay last
respects to the man they knew
like a favorite brother.
Captain Shaw, a fighter pilot ace
with 13 Japanese planes to his
credit, was killed Monday when the
plane he was testing near Mojave
failed to come out of a power dive.
A military funeral was scheduled
for 3 p. m. today at Westminster
Congregational church with Dr.
Joel Harper officiating.
His body was returned here yesterday In a
transport plane escort ed by 17 Corsair fighter planes
from squadron 213.
"No matter what situation we
might have.been in; he always had
a grin or a chuckle when it was
over," said Captain Thomas. "I have never known, or hope to
know a person who was more considerate of others. Because he was
engineering officer, he not only
flew the planes, but he knew the
peculiarities of every ship in the
squadron. He was a great favorite
with the ground crews, and he loved
to sit down and talk over others'
problems, regardless of whether
they were young green pilots,
ground crew, chiefs, mess sergeants, or others connected with
the outfit.
"One time when he and I were
tent mates after we had moved in
on Munda, our fox hole was right
between our cots. One night the
Jap raids were really flourishing.
Seemed like they'd be over every
15 minutes. It was after we had
awakened and jumped into our fox
hole some half a dozen times that
Bud said: "Heck. I'm going to stay
right on my cot. I'd sure be a
casualty, get a broken toe or foot,
or leg jumping in and out of this hole so many times.
"He was still wearing his big
grin this morning over Bougainville when our Corsairs were protecting a
group of bombers. About 50 Zeros sneaked up on us from
behind, and it was every flyer for
himself. We got separated in the
clouds but he got two of them, and
he was happy as a kid who had
been given a new toy. Neither of us ever expected to see the other
again."
Captain Morgan, tall, rangy Texan, swallowed
half a dozen times during his chat about Captain Shaw. "He had a keen
sense of
humor," he said. "When his eyes
would begin to sparkle and he'd get
a silly little grin on his face, we all knew some of his wiry humor
was about ready to break out.
"For instance, Bud would say:
"You fellows never knew I once
held an executive position at Felts
field in Spokane. Well, I did. I spent
all my spare time at the field working for little or no pay, then
finally
they put me on the payroll as a
grease monkey, wiping off ships after they came in."
Major Frame said Captain Shaw "was idolized by
every one connected with the marine fighter
squadron."
He reported Captain Shaw was killed in the same
ship which 30
days before Captain Thomas power-dived at great speed.
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Tues., Aug. 1,1944.
Spokane Daily Chronicle
Official Paper City of Spokane; Member
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EAGER TO LIVE, HE DARED TO DIE
Who shall be short-sighted enough to measure a
life by the
mere ticking of a clock?
Captain Edward O. Shaw was but 23 years of age,
yet he had
lived richly. Deprived of the privilege of living out his years in
peace and happiness, which is the birthright of every American
boy, he still must be counted among those who have made much
of existence.
When the young marine fighter pilot ace was
killed yesterday
in a test flight in California he had to his credit 13 enemy planes
shot down in aerial combat in the south Pacific.
Among the first to throw back the Japs at Guadalcanal, he had
been reassigned to instructor duty in this country.
It would be folly to try to disregard the pain
of such a leave-
taking. And yet in this experience, which is common to us all,
there is the solace that in his morning years Captain Shaw had
found the opportunity and had had the courage to serve his fellow
creatures as few are granted the privilege to do. When fate
strode down the ranks of young service men in its inexorable way
and singled out its man for the inevitable rendezvous with death
it was not pointing at a pawn. In young Shaw it was singling
out a man who had chosen his own course upon the checkerboard
of nights and days, who had gone out to meet destiny unafraid.
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