DaVila Interview.DA410
Transcription of radio Interview by Charles Collingwood with D. Floeter and R. Davila, Dec 6, 1942
NOTE: This appears to have been a prepared and edited in ink script that had prior approval of Robert M. Hughes whose stamp and signature appear on the reverse. Original text that has been changed is underlined with inked in portion in [brackets]. See also pic scan #410

Here in the makeshift studio we've rigged up in Allied Force Headquarters, we have a couple of boys who are very lucky to be here. WouldnÕt you say you were lucky to be here, fellows?

FLOETER AND DAVILA: I'll say we were, (Or whatever you feel like saying) [Your not kidding]

That was Lieutenant Dave Floeter and Sgt. Ray Davila, both of them come from Houston, Texas [and both of them fly in the same bomber] And that laughter you heard in the background came from the rest of the crew of the medium bomber they all fly in. They are all packed in here watching Lieutenant Floeter and Sgt. Davila getting ready to tell us how it came to be that they are all able to be here. Well come on now, Floeter, tell us about it.

FLOETER: Well, you see this was our first combat mission ---

COLLINWOOD: You mean your very first?

FLOETER: That's right.

COLLINWOOD: Well, this has nothing to do with the story, but were you scared?

FLOETER: I was scared, I don't know about the rest.

DAVILA: We were all scared.

COLLINWOOD: Well, lets get on, where were you going on this first mission?

FLOETER: We were bombing Gabes. We had an escort of P.38 pursuits. When we got over the target we ran into an awful lot of anti-aircraft fire.

DAVILA: (INTERRUPTING) And remember Lt. Floeter, that's when we all stopped being scared?

FLOETER: That's right, Davila, and it was just as well, to. Because, to make a long story short, we got hit.

COLLINWOOD: Bad?

FLOETER: Well, bad enough. I could feel this light stuff hitting us, but I didn't know where till I looked down at my pressure gauge and saw the port engine wasn't working

COLLINWOOD: What did you do then?

FLOETER AND DAVILA: WELL .....

DAVILA: Let me tell him.

FLOETER: O. K., Davila, you tell him.

DAVILA: You see, this kind of bomber just can't fly on one engine. [the way we were hit a medium bomber just can't fly far] Lt. Floeter kept us in the air as long as he could, but we finally to get back on an even keel and land.

COLLINWOOD: Anybody hurt?

DAVILA: No sir. We skidded about a hundred and fifty yards and then we all jumped out with nothing worse than bruises. Lt. Floeter counted noses. Lt. Houser the co-pilot who comes from San Diego, was all right. Lt. Scogin the navigator, was O. K. He comes from Wilmar, Arkansas. Sgt. Doran the Waist gunner from Muscatine, Iowa, he was OK, too. Then we remembered Sgt. Fleischmann, a Canby Oregon boy who is our tailgunner. At the same time, Fleischmann started thinking about us. We ran around the plane to see about him and he ran around the plane to see about us. We were going around the plane in circles there for awhile. {All OK but we were miles behind the enemy lines, right out in the desert.

COLLINWOOD: Well, what did you do then?

DAVILA: We started taking everything out of the plane and getting ready to burn it. And then these Arabs started popping up.

FLOETER: Wait a minute, Ray. You haven't said anything about the P-38.

DAVILA: Oh yes, I should have said we saw a P-38 from our escort circling around above us. Then it went off -- we hoped to get help.

COLLINWOOD: WELL, what about those Arabs?

FLOETER: They kept arriving from nowhere in particular and by the end we had collected about 25.

COLLINWOOD: Were they friendly?

FLOETER: They kept saying Americain or Allemand: When we finally convinced them were Americain, everything was fine.

COLLINWOOD: They didn't like the Germans, eh?

These fellows didn't. But they called us comrade, and what was that word they used, Ray?

DAVILA: Oh, they kept saying, Ikey-Ikey, or something like that. Ikey-Ikey [I still donÕt know what it means.]

COLLINWOOD: Well, look one thing I haven't got straight. How far was all this from [the enemy stronghold at] Gabes?

FLOETER: About 20 miles.

COLLINWOOD: 20 miles! And how long were you there?

FLOETER: Two hours and forty-one minutes --- and that was long enough.

COLLINWOOD: And how did it finally end?

FLOETER: Oh, simple enough. One of the Arabs said "shhhhh" and we all listened and we heard some airplane motors. Then we saw a light bomber and two P38s coming our way. The bomber saw us, landed on that awful, rough desert and taxied right up to us.

DAVILA: That's right, and Lt. Hawel of Seattle, climbed our and said, Jump in boys, and jump in quick.

COLLINWOOD: I'll bet you did. [And what then?]

DAVILA: I'll say we did, It was a tight squeeze in that light bomber, though, so we gave the Arabs everything we had except our guns and ammunition.

FLOETER: Then Lt. Hauser set fire to our plane, and the P-38s finished it off with incendiary bullets, and we were off. Nothing to it.

COLLINWOOD: If you ask me, there was plenty to it, and I'm darn glad you fellows all made it.

NOTE: typed in below was the following:

"in New York
The forgoing is an excerpt from the Columbia Broadcasting System's "World News Today" program at 1:30 p.m. C.W.T. on Sunday, December 6, 1942."