Personal Narrative Film, Video Manuscript/Mixed Material Photo, Print, Drawing William Donald Sinclair Collection
Veterans History Project Service Summary:
- War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975; World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953
- Branch of Service: Air Force
- Unit of Service: 8th Fighter-Bomber Squadron; 35th Fighter Group
- Location of Service:
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/12821
After serving as a navigator in the Army Air Force in World War II, William Sinclair was contacted in 1947 about competing for a commission in the newly formed Air Force. He graduated in July 1949 from pilot training and 18 months later, he was off to serve in the Korean War, assigned to the 8th Fighter Bomber Squadron. The Korean War introduced new aircraft and technology, which also meant inexperienced pilots making errors, some of them fatal. Sinclair flew over 100 missions, dropping napalm on enemy troops and attacking supply trains. When his replacement arrived early, Sinclair left two days before his tour was complete; two days later, his old base was overrun and his replacement was killed. (Sinclair describes his experiences during World War II in a separate
Interview / Recording
Transcript
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PlayContacted in 1947 to compete for a commission in the new Air Force; discouraged at first by the high-ranking personnel at the base; encouraged by his uncle to continue; path to pilot training blocked by officer who thought he was hobnobbing with the general at the base; general intercedes and Sinclair is granted his wish, while the major holding him back gets assigned to Guam. 00:00:50.3 - 00:08:35.6
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PlayPersonally thinks we were not prepared for the Korean War; he was made to fly propeller planes, saw that as a step backwards; January 1951, off to Korea to fly F-51s; stopover in Japan, staying in private home taken over by U.S. occupation forces; insisted on flying jet fighters to a sergeant, who took care of it on the spot; to Taegu in Korea, a "shock to the system;" primitive conditions; assigned by 8th Fighter Bomber Squadron, where people knew of his versatility, so he got a chance to expand his repertoire. 00:10:12.5 - 00:14:45.3
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PlayFlying F-80s, the first jets the Air Force had; learning to rotate plane on takeoff; big wingtip tanks weighed them down in the summer heat; large number of officer corps casualties in the ground war reflecting how unprepared the U.S. was to fight a war after five years as an occupation force; saw a pilot taking off with him over-rotate and crash, his napalm setting up a fireball which Sinclair had to fly through; the book The Right Stuff accurately describes the culture and danger around early military jet aviation. 00:15:00.5 - 00:18:03.6
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PlayFlew 100 missions, which was a tour; signed up for a second tour; after 8 missions, sent to Japan to train new pilots much in need of help; loved Japan but not Korea; culture of latter was alien to him, North Koreans were vicious enemies, but predominant air power took care of them; recalls dropping napalm on large force of North Korean and Chinese soldiers. 00:18:06.7 - 00:21:22.4
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PlayAir was as important in that war as ground forces; praises MacArthur's tactics; complains about the food, which was monotonous; their code word for rockets was "graham crackers" and when they ordered new rockets, they were sent instead the food. 00:23:21.7 - 00:25:17.8
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PlayHis replacement in Korea arriving early; Sinclair leaves two days early and two days later the base is overrun by Chinese, his replacement killed. 00:25:19.4 - 00:25:55.4
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PlayGetting shot up on a mission; no brakes when he landed, crashed the plane into a stack of planking set up to buffer crashes on the runway; lack of experience got people killed; one pilot couldn't drop his napalm; the impact of his landing released the tanks and he rolled right into the fire; he actually survived for a time. 00:27:10.1 - 00:30:40.1
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PlayR and R in Japan, a place he liked very much; people were hospitable; teasing the waitresses in an upscale restaurant. 00:30:42.9 - 00:32:38.7
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PlayMission in the middle of the night; flying in formation was difficult at night; flew to North Korea to target a supply train; he caught a train in the open, and there was a chain reaction when his bombs hit, as some of the cars had munitions; a Bob Hope visit; Sinclair was his go-fer; Hope taking a latrine break and getting caught with his pants down during a shelling; joking about the incident during the show. 00:33:03.8 - 00:37:10.6
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PlayChinese using false homing signals to throw off planes returning from mission to guide the planes into a trap; Sinclair victimized on one mission, running low on fuel; he found the real base by sight; one of the other pilots crashed and was injured, taken to MASH unit--"not what you saw on the TV, very gory." 00:39:02.6 - 00:43:45.6
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PlayAnother Chinese trick: park an empty tank rail car at foot of a hill; green pilots would see it and try to hit it and fly into side of the hill; he almost fell for it but rotated the plane in time. 00:43:53.8 - 00:45:16.7
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PlayWonders where we get men who go off to defend their country, who ask very and receive very little. 00:51:33.8 - 00:53:09.2
About this Item
Title
- William Donald Sinclair Collection
Names
- Sinclair, William Donald
- Brown, Mark
- Life Messages, Inc.
- Victor H. Fast
Home State
- Colorado
Headings
- - Sinclair, William Donald
- - World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
- - Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
- - United States. Air Force.
- - Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
- - United States. Air Force.
Repository
- Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Gender
- Male
Race
- White
Status
- veteran
Service History
-
World War, 1939-1945
- Military Status: veteran
-
Korean War, 1950-1953
- Branch of Service: Air Force
- Unit of Service: 8th Fighter-Bomber Squadron; 35th Fighter Group
- Location of Service:
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Dates of Service: 1949-1951
- Military Status: veteran
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975
- Branch of Service: Air Force
- Military Status: veteran
Materials
- Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 2015-01-15)
- Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2004-04-02; 2004-04-26)
Collection Number
- AFC/2001/001/12821
Cite as
- William Donald Sinclair Collection (AFC/2001/001/12821), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Online Format
- image
- online text
- video