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Donald Henry Nass, born Dec. 29, 1925, is the son of the late Ernst and Mae Nass. Donald's father owned a lumberyard in Jefferson that provided not only lumber but also coal and ice to the Jefferson community. His mother was a homemaker. Don was 18 years old when he enlisted into the Army Air Corps, knowing he would soon be drafted. In 1944, he had a younger 15-year old sister, Dorothy (Dor), still at home and a sophomore at the Jefferson High School.

On May 28, 2004, Donald Henry Nass, a 1943 graduate of the Jefferson High School, came to the Jefferson Middle School to share his WWII experiences as a CFC gunner on a Superfortress with the 8th grade students. After training at various air fields around the United States, he was sent overseas to the Pacific. His 29th Bomb Group was based on the island of Guam in the Marianas.

T/Sgt. Nass was a Central Fire Control (CFC) gunner on a Superfortress. He sat in a "barber chair" located in the center up near the ceiling of the B-29.

An hour or two before reaching the IP (initial point) and starting a bomb run, Sgt. Nass would tightly strap himself into this chair. Because of the fire and heat below as well as the flak exploding all around the aircraft, it could turn out to be a very turbulent ride.
Because this chair was such a tight fit, CFC Sgt. Nass was the only crew member who could not wear a flak vest. He also could not wear his parachute because it was too bulky. He did have his harness strapped on and he stashed his parachute close by in case he "had to get at it in a hurry."

According to Don, the B-29 Superfortress was a state of the art plane compared to its predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress. The flight crew on a B-29 flew in a pressurized heated cabin, away from the chatter of the machine guns.

From where he sat, he could take control of any of the other gun positions on the ship (Both in speaking and in his letters, Mr. Nass usually referred to the B-29 as a ship).

Donald Nass was a member of the 29th Bomb Group, 314th Bomb Wing. Each bomb group had 45 planes. There were 8 bomb groups on Guam, 4 bomb groups on Tinian, and 4 bomb groups on Saipan. That made 720 planes in all. Not all of them flew together on a mission. Half of the planes were being repaired or prepared for later missions. Because Don was a member of a flight crew, he could live in a Quonset hut on this tropical island. Everyone on the base slept on cots, but flight crews got air mattresses. The ground crew had to sleep in tents, which was not always pleasant because of jungle rats.

This diary is featured on the official website of the 29th Bomb Group

Colonel Carl R. Storrie, commander of the 29th Bomb Group

Mr. Nass described his third mission of April 14, 1945. Because so many things happened, he said, "I can remember it like it was yesterday. I didn't think I'd ever see Jefferson again." They discovered on the bulletin board at breakfast that there would be a briefing. "You'd get this tight feeling in your stomach. You'd go back to your cot and write a letter home, wondering if it would be your last."

They headed for the briefing room, where 500 air crew sat waiting for instructions--where the mission was, how big the bomb load would be, etc. Finally one of the officers asked Colonel Carl Storrie, who sat on stage in front of them smoking a cigar, if he had anything to say.
He always said the same thing. "All right men, this is one of the big ones. The 29th is the best blankety bomb group in the Pacific. You are the best blankety fliers in the Pacific. I want you to bomb the blank blank blank out of those blank blank blank..."

Then the chaplain got up and said a prayer. Each crew jumped on a truck and headed out to check their B-29. They had a clipboard with 132 items to check. This took a good hour and a half. If anything was wrong, they gave the list to their crew chief Smitty, who would get it fixed before their mission in a few hours. Takeoff was set for 1900 (7:00 p.m.).

The crew headed back to the Quonset hut. The mess hall was open and flight crews were offered steak and eggs. Mr. Nass said he never felt like eating them. Before heading back to the plane, he filled his canteen, checked his flashlight, and put his .45 pistol into its shoulder holster.

They assembled their gear They had two different vests. The first was a sustenance vest, in which were found candy bars, gum, a knife, anything to sustain you in case you had to ditch. The other was a Mae West inflatable life jacket.

Mr. Nass was surprised to learn that none of the 8th graders knew of Mae West. This rather buxom blonde was an actress during the 1920s. The crew jumped back into the truck and headed back to the plane. They stowed their equipment and then waited out under the wing. Sometimes they talked. At other times they sat quietly.

Departure time was scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Two pathfinder planes had left a half hour before. Their job was to mark a giant X over the target. The big B-29 would taxi down the runway and then wait its turn with the other scores of planes. Over 300 planes were scheduled to take part in this mission. They took off and began the long 8 hour trip toward Japan. Because the trip was so lengthy, they would spell each other, climbing into a sack to try and sleep. They rarely slept because they were too wound up. Once they were out over the water, the bombardier would begin preparing the bombs by pulling out the pins. When they were about 4 hours from Japan, they passed over Iwo Jima.* This was their last chance to land if they were having any problems. When they were 2 hours away from target, the gunners would get into their seats and begin testing their guns. There were 112 switches that had to be turned on in a precise order so that the system would not burn out.
*Iwo Jima had been secured at a tremendous loss of more than 6000 U.S. marines on March 16, 1945, less than a month before this particular mission of April 13, 1945.

Log book of T/Sgt. Nass

About 30 miles west of Tokyo, they approached the IP (initial point of the bombing run). Long before they could see the red glow in the sky. Now they could see actual fire. Two white flashes suddenly appeared from the lead plane. This was a phosphorous bomb which was the last bomb dropped from the B-29. It was timed to go off at 500 feet above the ground, where it would light up the area and trigger a camera that would photograph the other bombs hitting the target.

The gunners no longer had to worry about Japanese fighters. There was no way a fighter plane would follow them over the fiery inferno below. According to Mr. Nass, "These were the longest three minutes of your life." Don saw the B-29 on their left get caught in the search lights. Its #3 engine was on fire. He watched it go down into the flames. Almost at the same time, the B-29 in front of them had is fuel cell hit. The plane exploded and they rode through the debris, hearing the pieces hit their plane. With a bang, their bomb bay door opened and 10 tons of bombs fell. The B-29 headed for the darkness.

Mr. Nass said that it is a problem if you run into trouble over a target because there is no way you can bail out. The air is superheated and your lungs would be seared if you jumped. Your parachute would catch fire. Heading toward the darkness is not always heading for safety. Because of the intense brightness from the fire, night vision is gone, making you easy prey for a Japanese fighter. Bailing out into the darkness is not much better. This happened to another B-29 on this mission as Sgt. Nass watched. Two engines had already failed and then a third one stopped. The men began jumping out, not knowing if they would land on a roof or a lake or hit electrical wires. "You don't want to be captured by civilians because there is a good chance they will beat you to death."

Eventually at 300 miles away from the Japanese coast, you are out of range of the fighters. The captain does a status check of every crewman on the aircraft to see if everyone is okay. The gunners climb out of their holes and go into an area near the radar room, where they have stashed two gallon cans of grapefruit juice. Because it is cold back there, it has turned into slush. Mr. Nass said that he hates grapefruit juice but that it sure tasted good that day. They get out their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and settle in for the long 8 hour trip back to Guam.

Safely back on their Pacific island, they get off the plane to note the damage from the flak. The ground crew immediately goes to work making repairs. The flight crew heads for debriefing where they answer questions about the mission--if they saw any planes go down, if they saw any parachutes, etc. They then make one more stop at the medical facility where each of them gets a shot of whiskey. The crew later falls asleep in their sacks, some peacefully, others with nightmares. Mr. Nass said that they had an unspoken rule that if anyone had a nightmare, they would wake him up so he wouldn't have to endure the terror twice.

A few days after Mr. Nass had spoken to the students, he came to the school library to drop off a box with a few pictures and some letters. It was a gold mine. Mae Nass had carefully preserved all 442 letters that her son, Don, had written home during his two years in the service. They were fascinating. Reading them, you went along with Pvt. Nass as he left Jefferson and arrived at Ft. Sheridan, Illinois. Then it was down by train to Sheppard Field in Texas and later up to Lowry Field in Colorado. The letters would describe Don's newly made friends, pranks they would play on each other, things they would see, music they would make. Don was an accordion player and could sing. The letters also would reflect news from back home in Jefferson...his father delivering ice around town (approx. 3000 residents at the time). German prisoners were being housed at the Jefferson fairgrounds. His kid sister would send him geometry problems as well the Jefferson High School annual.

The letters show Don heading to Pratt and later Herington Air Fields in Kansas before taking a Superfortress out to the Pacific island of Guam. Then the letters begin telling about the bombing missions to Japan, including coded messages. You see the censors cutting pieces out of the letters. You learn of the death of some of his fellow B-29 buddies (whom you've gotten to know because he mentioned them earlier in the letters from Lowry and Pratt and Herington). You also learn of the deaths or missing in action reports of other friends from Jefferson who were fighting elsewhere...Italy, Okinawa, Germany.

Each letter is still in its original envelope. You can clearly see when and where it was postmarked. Letters from Guam have the additional stamp of Passed by US Army Examiner (the censor). On each envelope, in pencil, is the handwritten date of when the family actually received the letter. Mrs. Nass would also circle various paragraphs within the letter itself of items requested by Sgt. Nass. It was curious to see that many of the letters from Guam also had a Jefferson stamp within the body of the letter. Don Nass explained that his parents could only send him a package if he requested it. His mother would make up the package and then take both the letter and the parcel to the Jefferson Post Office, where the circled request paragraph would be stamped. They could only send one package per request.

The letters also reveal the politics of the Nass family. They were Dewey supporters not Rosey backers (Franklin D. Roosevelt).

You learn that Don Nass actually took his accordion along on one of his early missions to entertain over the intercom. When asked about this, Mr. Nass said that he had played only a few songs when one of the other gunners came over the speaker and said, "That's enough." Mr. Nass said, "I wasn't very good."

In 1994, the video, Bomber Boys was filmed. The video gives the story of the 29th Bomb Group as well as the larger 314th Bomb Wing. Don Nass is featured as well as "Red" Irwin. Red received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his part in saving his crew when the phosphorous bomb went off inside the plane. He picked it up with his hands. This incident is mentioned in one of Don's letters. See April 19, 1945 letter.
The video was produced by Sue Nass, a television writer and producer in Idaho. The narrator of the script was Jack Hemingway, the son of the author, Ernest Hemingway.

After the war, Don returned to Jefferson, Wisconsin. On June 27, 1953, he married Nadeane Lester from Winona, Minnesota. Nadeane had come to Jefferson to work as a schoolteacher at the Lutheran school. She and Don met in the church choir. They raised three children--Steven, Sue, and Larry.

Legend

news about Jefferson, Wisconsin

news about military friends

Tokyo Rose

coded messages

(edits added by J. Smith)

Note from Janna Smith about the transcribed letters:
I tried not to edit the letters although occasionally punctuation was added for clarity. For the most part, I left words misspelled (very difficult for a teacher). Any edited words are in italics. Some letters were excerpted. Missing paragraphs are marked by ...
Aside from the photographs provided by Mr. Nass, the illustrations on the website are from his 1940s era stationery, including the inside of the envelopes.

Wartime Remembrances (Jefferson, Wisconsin)

Contact Janna Dykstra Smith

updated June 15, 2009

Donald H. Nass

Links to letters are in chronological order

Legend