Author, Gary D. Cooper
I love the random way books can come into our lives. Fatal Error: The Final Flight of a Navy WWII Patrol Bomber came to me in a unique way.
At lunch with a dear friend at her retirement community—a place with as much bustle as my college campus—a friend of hers, Nels, joined us. As conversation does when I’m involved, we got around to books. Since I had just finished Best True Stories of World War II, Nels told us about book concerning his wife’s uncle.
Maurine Unrath’s uncle Edward Calhoun was killed in the Pacific near the end of World War II. Stories of the war make me sad, but the losses in the last few months of the battles tend to get to me even more. So close, I think, to coming home. Yet, things happen—bravery and heroism were strong and apparent right up until the last mission.
The author of Fatal Error, Gary D. Cooper
Mr. Cooper eloquently tells the story of how his quest to write this book started. A suitcase, abandoned with the rest of the sidewalk garbage, catches the eye of a woman. She takes it inside, glances through the detritus of someone’s life, then tucks it away. Eventually, the suitcase makes its way onto Mr. Cooper’s path. Being a retired Navy Commander, he is immediately intrigued.
He sets out on a long journey, tracking down family members using military sources. His own understanding of conversations likely to take place between men on dangerous missions weaves a compelling tale.
My great uncle Lloyd Naugle was killed in the D-Day landings at Normandy. Or so we were always told. I eventually got as far in that search as to discover he was injured during the assault. He hung on for some time before finally passing away. A dashingly handsome young man, I always wished I knew more about his time in the service and how he met his end.
For me, then, reading this book was a must.
Eddie Calhoun was from McKeesport, Pennsylvania. He served under DeLand Joseph Croze, Patrol Plane Commander, as the Junior Radioman aboard their PBM-5. They were downed by Japanese forces near Borneo. All eleven US Navy men were brutally, horrifically killed by the Japanese.
In addition to their loss, three Australians servicemen were killed while trying to save them.
Knowing the ending ahead of time didn’t make the anticipation of reading the story any less exciting. Mr. Cooper, wrote a plausible narrative of events he wasn’t privy to. His writing brings to the light a story too long shut away in the confines of a metal suitcase.
- Read Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie
So this is an interesting find….This book Fatal Error, by; Gary D Cooper. It’s about WW2’s Patrol Bombing Squadron VPB-20 – Crew #110 assigned to the Seaplane Tender USS Pocomoke (AV-9). I had originally heard this story many years ago from my Grandfather (Robert Bartruff) who was of the same Squadron – Crew #4 that was also assigned to the same Seaplane Tender USS Pocomoke (AV-9). He knew all of these men well from their time together when not on patrols. His crew #4 also participated in their search and partial rescue and later retaliation. I have photos, including some from my grandfathers collection that he personally took. I also have a copy of the actual declassified USN report of this story… I just ordered this book and can’t wait to read it.
Gosh, Gene, I am so happy to read your comment! It is amazing that your grandfather knew these fellows. This book really touched my heart. I look forward to hearing from you after you read it. I am learning so much reading these books about WWII. There is such a lot to know.
Gary D Cooper did a wonderful job telling the story of these men. For me it was a very emotional read, as it was so tragic and it was a story my grandfather (my mentor and best friend) lived and carried with him his entire life. I’m very happy to have a better understanding of what happened now. My grandfather never told the story until he was 82 years old (2006) when he first told me and my sons what happened. He also talked about how he was in a regular card game with Aaron Hunt on the Tender and knew all the others very well too. It was a very upsetting story for him to tell. He never knew the fate of Croze, Garcia and Calhoune. There were also parts of the story that my grandfather told about what had happened after the Australians were KIA that didn’t make it into the book and maybe it’s better that way. At the end of my grandfathers life he opened up about a lot of what had happened. He held onto it almost until the end. One other story (of many) that he held onto and finally told, was that one night they had flown a night patrol over a Japanese submarine on the surface and he was ordered not to fire on it by Lieutenant Flint on account of it possibly being a friendly. He said as they flew up to it, he could see they were Japanese and they were running off the deck into an open hatch. Obeying orders, he held his fire, but he said he could have easily fired down into the open hatch, putting some major damage into the sub. But he didn’t and by the time they circled back it was to late. That night tortured my grandfather every day of his life after the USS Indianapolis was hit and sunk by what he was sure the same Japanese sub. He always felt that he could have saved the men on the USS Indianapolis and it truly tortured him that he hadn’t.
Some interesting side notes; my grandfather’s plane is mentioned in the book (page 90) under his CO Lieutenant Flint’s command. Also two of the photographs my grandfather took made it into the book (pages 93 & 94) and I still have the originals. The way they made it into the book, is after I had heard the story I googled it and I found that James Carter was also researching the story online. So I contacted him and he, my grandfather and myself corresponded quite a bit about it. We had e-mailed Mr. Carter copy’s of the photo’s and several letters and he must have shared them with Mr. Cooper. James Carter is credited in the book, my grandfather (Robert L. Bartruff) is not and that’s okay. However, one other mystery this book solved is why Mr. Carter just up and stopped e-mailing with us. Mr. Cooper explains in the book that Mr. Carter had passed away suddenly. We had always wondered what had happened to him…. Lastly, my grandfather passed away in 2013 at age 89. We miss him everyday. He was truly the greatest man I had ever known.
Thank You RoseMary Griffith for posting this review…!!!
Gene, thank you so much for adding to this story from such a personal perspective. You Grandfather would have faced so many difficult choices, and I can understand why that one about the sub was particularly haunting. How wonderful that you had him for so many years–it’s never enough, though, when we love and admire someone!
I wonder if Mr. Cooper would appreciate hearing from you? War leaves so many of us with holes and unanswered questions–sharing with each other makes all the difference.
Thank you for reading, Gene. You would probably like to read “The Last Fighter Pilot,” for other reasons. Well written
Thanks RoseMary,
I’ll give “The Last Fighter Pilot” a read…. It would be interesting to talk with Mr. Cooper, for sure.
I should have directed you to this review as well, Gene. https://www.rosemarygriffith.com/fatal-error-the-final-flight-of-a-navy-wwii-patrol-bomber/
Gene you can contact me by email at garycooper78 @ hotmail .com. GaryCooper. I would love to chat with you about your grandfather.
I am the woman who found the suitcase and would like to have as much articles of these young heroes as I can get they are very special to me
Hi Betty, Perhaps if you reach out to the author, he can help with this. What a great story.
I am a friend of Gary and have all of the information he has and would like as much as I can get form anyone else thank you
Gene,
It is tragic how the next generation can be affected by the atrocities of war. I am the nephew if Joe Harvey, he was my father’s big brother and was executed on his birthday.
My father was turning one when Joe lost his life. As a result, my grandmother never celebrated my father’s birthday. It tragically coincided with this event and it was too painful. She referred to my father as her “one and only.”
There are many stories that my dad told my sister and I growing up. Among them was that Joe was a fighter. He was a Golden Glove champion. As a combat veteran myself, I can relate to some of the stresses and experiences the crew must have endured. In my father’s mind, Joe is his big brother, yet he surpassed him in age decades ago. At 76, my dad still struggles with birthday celebrations and has that burden of sole survivor guilt having never served like his big brother.
Richard, thank you for commenting on this post, book, and close-to-your-family event. I cannot imagine the pain in your family of having both a birth and a death on the same day. Especially such a tragic, sad loss.