Interview with James E

Interview with James E. Brooks

World War II veteran and former prisoner of war James E. Brooks lives in Pittsburg, Kansas with his wife Claudia. After retiring in 1987, Brooks began recording an oral account of his experience during World War II in an attempt to answer the questions of his two children, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Later, Brooks collaborated with newspaper reporter Olive Sullivan, and together they turned his oral history into a book. Brooks' book, A Glimpse of Hell: The World War II Years, was printed and published by Ingram, as well as published online by 1st Books, in the fall of 2000. According to Brooks, publishing this book is one of his greatest achievements. The following interview with Brooks gives us a glance into his memories of World War II, all of which he covers extensively in A Glimpse of Hell: The World War II Years.

This interview was conducted October 8, 2000.

I was born in Barton County, Missouri, near Liberal, in 1922. I had five brothers. I went into service in February of '43 [when] I was twenty years old. Two of [my brothers] were [also drafted], the oldest one and then the one younger than me. [As for] the others, one passed away and the other two were baby brothers. They [were] just small.

I trained first in Greensboro, North Carolina. That was where I was sent from Leavenworth, and then I went from there to Scott Field, Illinois to radio school. I was in the Air Force, and then I went from radio school to Yuma, Arizona to gunnery school. Then from gunnery school I went to Lincoln, Nebraska for staging, and that's were we crewed up. That's where they took and put pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombardier, radio operator, gunners, and engineers [together]. We all got together and formed a crew. Then from there we went to Ardmore, Oklahoma which was O.T.U., overseas training, and we trained as a combat crew. My training took from 1943, and I went overseas in July of 1944, early July.

I was in the 487 bomb group and 837 squadron. I arrived in England, and D-day was June the sixth. [Overseas], I was stationed at Lavenham, England. I really fell in love with England. I saw my name everywhere -- "Brooks" is all over England and that's when I realized that these people were my ancestors. So I really did enjoy England. We, as an Air Force, bombed for the front line troops right after D-day. We bombed France and did some low-level missions. I flew twenty-eight and a half missions. You always faced death, every mission. You knew that. We flew high altitude most of the time. Most of the missions were above 30,000 feet. At 30,000 feet it can be 30 degrees below zero. We didn't have airplanes like they've got now. We had to wear oxygen masks, and we had to wear heated suits. You wore a glove with a silk insert so if you touched your gun you wouldn't stick to it.

On our 29th mission we were shot down. We were bombing at an oil refinery, synthetic oil refinery, and this was my third mission at this oil refinery. We were trying to knock it out completely, so it was heavily guarded. This was in Germany, Mursburg, Germany. The dreaded target. It was dreaded by the Air Force, by anybody. We were determined to knock it out, and they were determined for us not to. They had all the protection they could muster around that oil refinery. We put up everything we could put up to knock it out. We lost probably twenty-nine [airplanes]; I don't exactly remember how many we lost. We always lost a lot of them at this target, though. I bailed out at 8,000 feet. I was a prisoner from November the 25th, the day we were shot down till sometime in May, in of '45.

You're bound to be afraid, but I never had any doubts that I would survive. We had a person that had flown all of his missions and returned, [and] he talked to us in Ardmore before we left for combat. He told us, at that time, "80% of you guys will be shot down." What he was impressing on us was "Know your job, because this is how it is going to be." So I knew that there was a good chance that I would be shot down. I told my wife [that] I knew there were a lot of boys taken prisoner, and I knew that that was a big risk. I told her, "Never think that I won't return, 'cause I'll be back." I knew I might get shot down, but I never thought that I wouldn't make it.

I know why I was certain [I would make it]. They've got what they call a pilot chute that comes out first and then pulls out the main chute. We had chest packed chutes instead of [parachutes packed] in the back. If they [the parachutes] didn't open you could tear them out, but I didn't realize my harness was tacked down on each side so whenever you opened the chute that string ripped out and let you drop about four to six feet. When the string did that, I thought I had broken loose, just for an instant. Of course I got up-ended real quick, and I said "Thank you, God." I remember it was as if God said, "Don't worry." That's why I knew. He said, "I'm with ya." So, that was my reason for never worrying about whether I'd make it or not. Of course, there were a few times I'd wondered if I'd heard Him right! (Laughs)

[At that time] one [brother] was in the Pacific and the other brother was in Germany. I never knew [then that] he was in Germany, but he knew I was a prisoner. Every prison camp that he liberated with the infantry -- he was a first scout -- he would look for me. I told him he wouldn't have recognized me because I hadn't had a haircut or a shave. I was really a bum. I hadn't even had a bath for eighty-five days!

[After the war] I was treated as a hero, and I never really felt like a hero. I felt like I was getting something that I really didn't deserve. I really never talked about this to anyone, not even my wife or my family, but I had what they call flashbacks and nightmares for years. I realize now that I should have written this book because ever since I [put it on tape] in 1987 after I retired, I seemed to quit having the wild dreams. I think it affects you more than you realize. I had an interview with another person and he asked me if I had any scars. I told him, "Yeah I did have, see, right there on my ring finger." When I bailed out my wedding ring hooked on the side of the airplane and that's the only scar that I've got. But I remember his story after he'd interviewed me; he said, "He's only got one scar, but he's got lots of scars that don't show."

The best part was when it [the war] was over. And of course the worst part for me was being taken prisoner. If you read the book you'll understand a lot more of that. It's in book form, and I also have it on tape. I made the tape for my family [and] that's how come the book started. Some of my grandkids won't listen to the bad parts [of the war on tape]. I didn't even tell all of the bad parts; I just told some of them. I think now that they're older they'll read it, but they don't want to listen to it because of my voice.

You can read it [A Glimpse of Hell: The World War II Years] on the internet. The printed-and-bound copy should be available in three weeks in any bookstore. 1st Books published the electronic part, but Ingram will be the publisher.

[In the book] I went into detail on the training so my grandkids would understand what high altitude training was, and what aircraft recognition was, and what all of the schooling was. I told pretty much about how it happened, [and] how we prepared for mission. It's about five hours long on tape, and the book's about 250 or 260 pages. Olive Sullivan transferred it from tape to type. She did a real good job, too. Without her, I'd have never, ever, gotten this far. It's a pretty big chore. I think the book will explain a lot of things to [the younger] generation[s] about what went on [during World War II].

Brooks' book A Glimpse of Hell: The World War II Years can be purchased for $3.95 online at www.1stbooks.com. The printed copy costs $10.95 and can be purchased or ordered at most bookstores.

*Text within [ ] was not said by interviewee.

This oral history was researched and prepared by Jennifer Ward. January 2001