Tennessee native and Vietnam veteran Sam McGowan resides just outside Houston with his wife and four dogs. He has authored numerous magazine articles and dozens of books and novels. His personal website is at http://www.sammcgowan.com.
Tennessee native and Vietnam veteran Sam McGowan resides just outside Houston with his wife and four dogs. He has authored numerous magazine articles and dozens of books and novels. His personal website is at http://www.sammcgowan.com.
tennesseeflyboy 
I just read your story about a flight on a C-130 piloted by Captain Bob Bartunek where the bird was flown upside down. I enjoyed so much hearing this story as Bob was my uncle and I never heard the story from him. Thanks so much!
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Thanks for the comment James. Bob didn’t “fly the airplane upside down,” he performed a Split-S maneuver, in which the pilot rolls the airplane and pitches over, in this case to change altitude. Bob was a great guy. I was happy to know him and was so sad that he passed away. I saw him a couple of years before his death when he was here in the Houston area visiting family.
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Hello Sam,
My grandfather passed away when I was only 10 months old, and I’ve been trying to learn more about his military career for many years. I finally received his paperwork from the National Archives a few years ago, but it is very thin on content, I think some of his info was lost in that fire 😦 I would love to know more about how he received his medals and awards: Bronze star, Army Commendation, 4 Presidential Unit Citations, and Purple Heart specifically.
This is what I know about him that is 100% correct:
Master Sergeant CWO2 Ivert Francis Shinske
Served from 1927-1957 – 30 Years
3 years overseas during WWII with the 9th Army Air Force
I have a photo of him saying hello from Australia, I think he was on leave there?
He was involved with the liberation of the Phillipines
He was on an island (New Guinnea?) His unit was starving and they had to hunt rats to eat.
I wish I knew more, but that’s all I have. If you can assist or point me in the right direction to learn more about him I would really appreciate it!
Regards,
Bill Stewart
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Bill, I don’t know what to tell you. Military records are sketchy. There might be a citation for a Bronze Star. If you can units of assignment, you might be able to find out more about where he endured starvation. New Guinea was rough but I don’t know of any units lacking supplies.
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I should have also mentioned that Ninth Air Force was in North Africa and the UK. Fifth Air Force was in New Guinea. He could have been in both. Fifth Air Force was involved in the liberation of the Philippines.
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Maybe he was in both? The records are THIN. I have photos of him in both his Army & USAF uniforms, with the 9th AF patch on his shoulder in the Army one.
Here’s a photo of him in his Army uniform: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=194706757260566&set=a.194706290593946
Here’s a photo of him in his USAF uniform: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=194707220593853&set=a.194706290593946
Photo of him driving onto Orlando AFB with my mom… guessing she’s roughly 6 in this photo, then this must be around 1954: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=194707257260516&set=a.194706290593946
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Looking at the shadow box, it appears that he was in Ninth Air Force but it could have been after the war. He has an Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon which means he was in the Pacific Theater and he also has a Philippines Liberation ribbon. I would say he was with Fifth or Thirteenth Air Force during the war then was with Ninth afterwards. Ninth was in North Africa then moved to the UK during the war to be the tactical air force for the invasion. It was deactivated in Europe after the war but reactivated at El Paso in 1946. He could have been in the post-war Ninth Air Force. Although the Air Force became a separate service in September 1947, they continued wearing the Army uniform until sometime in 1949 when they got the new blues. He was awarded a Bronze Star but since it doesn’t have a V device it means it was awarded for administrative work. He’s not wearing wings so he wasn’t aircrew.
I don’t know about the story about rats. I don’t know of any incidents with Fifth or Thirteenth Air Force when they were short of supplies. That sounds more like something in the Philippines at the beginning of the war but all of the troops that were there were either killed or captured except for some who went in the hills as guerillas. A few were flown out to Australia. Fifth Air Force was activated in Australia then moved to New Guinea and from there to the Philippines then to Okinawa and on to Japan. Thirteenth Air Force was in the Solomons then moved to New Guinea and on to the Philippines.
I’m surprised he didn’t display Air Force master sergeant chevrons, unless he was attached to the Army Air Forces and didn’t transfer to the Air Force when it activated in 1947. There were some personnel who didn’t.
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To be specific without the citation about what he received the Bronze Star and Commendation Medals for is impossible. The Presidential Unit Award means he was in a unit that was cited by the President. The Purple Heart was usually awarded for wounds, but it could also be awarded for heroism. Many Fifth Air Force groups were. Fifth Air Force included pursuit/fighter, bomber and attack squadrons along with troop carrier as did Thirteenth. However, since he was in Australia, he was most likely in Fifth. He could have been in any of the groups. As I said, read General Kenney’s book to find out more about the organization. Are you certain the records you got don’t show units of assignment? If you can find out the units, it would help you know more about him and what he did.
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I went back and edited this and failed to clarify that many Fifth Air Force groups were cited by the President. I put the bit about the Purple Heart in without changing the wording. Early in the war, before the Air Medal and, later, Bronze Star were authorized, Purple Hearts were awarded for heroism. Fifth Air Force was the first Air Corps/Army Air Forces organization to see prolonged combat and General Kenney awarded men Purple Hearts for heroic actions. Your grandfather could have been wounded in an air raid, or he could have done something heroic.
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Oh and thanks for the quick response! Nothing in his paperword stated which unit(s) he was with, so clearly things got lost in the fire? Do you know of any historians that could possibly assist me?
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I doubt it if there are no records. Without knowing the units he was in, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.
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I looked at your pictures on Facebook and see a photo of him in an Air Force uniform, so he did transfer. I’m not sure what the cap insignia is in the pictures in Australia. The one picture with the US on the collar looks like an officer’s uniform. Was he an officer who was RiFed? A lot of officers were in the 1950s. My uncle was.
On second thought, that might be a warrant officer’s cap insignia. Warrant officers were between enlisted and commissioned. He might have been given a warrant then lost it after the war.
I suspect he was with Fifth Air Force in Australia then moved north. Since he wasn’t aircrew, he could have been maintenance, supply or a clerk. Find a copy of General George Kenney’s book General Kenney Reports to find out more about Fifth Air Force. He activated it in Australia and commanded it until he activated Far East Air Forces and General Enis Whitehead took over Fifth and reported to him. Fifth Air Force did some amazing things. That he got a Bronze Star means something.
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Hello Sam,
Thank you for all that information, and I will look for that book! I will dig out that paperwork and look through it again, I recall seeing something about him being in the 5th Air Force and being confused because he clearly was in the 9th based on the photos I have.
The only thing in the paperwork regarding the Purple Heart states “injury to left leg”. I asked my mother about this (She is now 76 and not a good 76) and she told me he didn’t talk about the war much but she thinks he had grenade shrapnel in his leg. She also said that he parachuted out of planes several times, but was not Airborne or Ranger and was just “a regular soldier”. She didn’t know anything about the Bronze Star or PUCs or Army Commendation.
I found your FB page, but it won’t let me send you a friend request. I sent you a DM there and would love to connect with you on FB. My personal email is Billbo1970-AT-hotmail-DOT-com
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I’d say there is little doubt that he was in Fifth Air Force in Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines. Why he would have parachuted out of airplanes is something I can’t answer since he wasn’t a paratrooper. My guess is he was assigned to Ninth Air Force after the war when it was at Biggs AFB in El Paso. He could have picked up some shrapnel in a bombing raid. Japanese bombers frequently attacked US bases in New Guinea. Let me see if I can send you a friend request. Look for units of assignment on his personnel records. I don’t recall the names destroyed in the personnel records fire but it seems to me they were names after H.
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Hello again Sam,
You said “That sounds more like something in the Philippines at the beginning of the war but all of the troops that were there were either killed or captured except for some who went in the hills as guerillas.”
That sounds somewhat like what my mother may have been referring to. She said they had no food at all and had to hunt rats to eat and were hiding in the woods? Was it the 5th that escaped into the hills? Do you have any idea which unit(s) that was?
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The troops in the Philippines were from various units. Fifth Air Force activated in Australia in mid-1942. It’s possible your grandfather was in the Philippines and was evacuated to Australia before they fell.
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