Edward Rapp Jr.
In honor of Memorial Day, I decided to post another personal story of another family member, one that did not survive the war.
Edward Rapp Jr. was my grandfather’s first cousin. Like my grandpa, he had a few different nicknames: Juie (pronounced Jew-e), Duner as well as Barney (apparently there was a band leader back in the day named Barney Rapp).
In January of 1933, he went to Fort Sill after graduation and joined the Army. His first station was the First Balloon Squadron. He basically was in a basket, hoisted into the air by a hot air balloon in order to be a spotter for Artillery.
In 1936, he transferred to the United States Army Air Corps in San Antonio, Texas. He was a mechanic for the 52nd training squadron. in 1939, he was transferred to Barksdale Field in Shreveport, Louisiana to join the 27th Bombardment Group. Juie was number 16 of the 27 men that made up the squadron.
He made Staff Sargent pretty quickly and became a line inspector who checked the work of the men assigned to each plane. He attended Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma from September 1940 to February of 1941 and became a propeller specialist.
A good friend of Juie’s, who my father found, remembered him well. He said, “Juie could change an engine in a plane and not have a wrinkle in his clothes or a drop of grease on him!”
In 1941, the 27th participated in the War Games, which involved the Army, Air corps, Artillery and other groups. The squad did so well, it was selected as the best of the dive bomber units. As a result, Juie’s group was selected for transfer to Operation Plum in the Philippine Islands.
They were stationed at Fort McKinley, just outside of Manila on November 17, 1941. Not even a month later, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor along with McKinley and Clark Field. After the first wave of bombers came through, several men took the machine guns off the damaged planes and set them up in order to defend during the next attack.
Juie’s friend informed dad that Juie and a corporal were set up when the next wave came across, flying low. With dust and debris flying everywhere, he knew they wouldn’t be able to make it out alive. But the tracers from the guns were seen firing up into the air, doing what they could to form some kind of defense. Then he heard Juie shout, “Hey Coporal, which way did they go?” His wit and sense of humor helped to ease the tension and gave everyone a good laugh.
Check back next week for the conclusion of the life of Edward Rapp.
