_One of the seven Vought SB2U-3s destroyed on the field at Ewa. All of
VMSB-231’s spares (the squadron was embarked in_ Lexington, _en route
to Midway, at the time) were thus destroyed. In the background is one
of VMSB-232’s SBDs._]
Private First Class James W. Mann, the driver assigned to Ewa’s 1938
Ford ambulance, had been refueling the vehicle when the attack began.
When Lieutenant Thomas L. Allman, Medical Corps, USN, the group medical
officer, saw the first planes break into flames, he ordered Mann to
take the ambulance to the flight line. Accompanied by Pharmacist’s
Mate 2d Class Orin D. Smith, a corpsman from sick bay, they sped off.
The Japanese planes seemed to be attracted to the bright red crosses
on the ambulance, however, and halted its progress near the mooring
mast. Realizing that they were under attack, Mann floored the brake
pedal and the Ford screeched to a halt. Rather than leave the vehicle
for a safer area, Mann and Smith crawled underneath it so that they
could continue their mission as quickly as possible. The
strafing, however, continued unabated. Ironically, the first casualty
Mann had to collect was the man lying prone beside him. Orin Smith felt
a searing pain as one of the Japanese 7.7-millimeter rounds found its
mark in the fleshy part of his left calf. Seeing that the corpsman had
been hurt, Mann assisted him out from under the vehicle and up into the
cab. Despite continued strafing that shot out four tires, Mann pressed
doggedly ahead and delivered the wounded Smith to sick bay.
[Illustration: