European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 24, 1945, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Tom Obrien yank staff Corres potent Are youve never heard of Johnny Andre until and if someone told you of his and then you met Johnny on the a lot of things  Johnny is one of the leading night fighter pilots in the first youd wonder How in hell he manages to curl up his 6foot4 in the tiny cock pit of a hellcat then youd look for his bars and not find them youd expect him to show some signs of tension after a year in enemy but he Doest you might expect him to brag a but he Johnny is a Pilot in a class All by John of is an enlisted the Only one in the night fighter business a master tech in the Marine he has been flying Side by Side with office pilots of the Bat Eye first Marine outfit to fight Over the when the Squadron packed up and returned to the states for a rest Johnny Andre was its leading with four Jap planes shot out of the three destroyed on the and two big jammed with sunk off for this is no Small if youre an pm youll understand Why Johnny the Squadron we had to Circle for almost three hours be fore the Seabee had the Field ready for Johnny the Squadron patrolled the Palau and then moved to its first per manent base at Taco Early in de Andres first score came As an anniversary pres ent for the japs on de Cember he had been assigned to cover some it boats on a night heckling Mission around it was a peaceful Johnny and everything went along smoothly until the ground warned me of a bogey in my Vicin i circled around at eight or nine thousand then hopped Down Andre is a combination of Dick Superman and Buck Rogers to the Ems of his Here was another pm whose courage and skill in the sky gave ground crewmen a vicarious thrill every time he roared from the Andre carried the prestige and self respect of the the Corporal and the sergeant in his cockpit he was doing everything an officer was and because of him the ground Crew held their Heads a bit higher and Felt personally proud when Andre added another Jap to his he was their Man he was one of every pm must know How they Felt about Johnny quite there was a the with whom Johnny flew the night were courteous enough to but they never invited him to their club there was never any mixing and As you often find among bomber in the sky together on ground they went one and Andre the they had their ration of which does a fighting Man Good after a session in the Clouds Andre had but some of the More Broad minded made one Concession occasionally they permit Andre to Purchase a quart of their for or and Johnny tells it without he professes to understand the necessity for a dividing line Between him and the he could have applied for a direct commission in the Field and gotten it but he never his Story goes Back to August when saw the War coming quit the University of Alabama after two years of study and enlisted As a private in the Marine they were offering Good inducements for Johnny want a flier but he had studied Aerial Engineer ing and had his heart on at Parris and he specialized in Mech and then got his first big break when the annual selection of 12 Ems was made for Pilot Johnny was on the at Pensacola he put in his first dual flying and his first fighter tactics were Learned at opa where he went from a nos to Brewster and then to finally switching to night officials at Cherry Point thought so much of Andres savvy that he was made an instructor in instrument and kept at it until the Squadron headed across the continent in july 1944 for shipment the planes went by Carrier to Espiritu flew up through Bou Biak and finally to the first operational base on the marines were still battling for a foothold on the Island when Andre was the Ace of the Bat Eye Squadron in the but on the ground he want one of from a Cloud and found a fat Lily Jap torpedo bomber right in front of i was going so fast i thought id ram right into but i dropped my wheels to act As a Brake and zoomed within sixty feet of the the Pilot didst suspect a thing it was almost too i pulled the master switch and the Wing fifties the Lily did a Graceful spin Down to the a thin Trail of smoke coming out of the it exploded when it hit the Back at the Field the who heard the re port from Andres were waiting to Greet the Only thing they could scare up for a Celebration was a somewhat vile native drink made from distilled Coconut but everybody was Andres greatest single Triumph came around i forget the exact he i had gone up around to cover pts harassing Cebu and about two hours just when it was getting i spotted some i called Back to Leyte and asked if there were any of our own planes in my they didst and advised me to get closer find out for i went up to and looked Over these three Down around two were in the other Guy was out on a limb by the Jap Jack looks a helluva lot like our own and these babies looked like 47s to i came they spotted and took off like bats outta i knew they were japs but  give my first Job was to cover the i called Back for permission to break they said they Send another plane to take care of the i never flew so fast before or 350 i i chased them it was Black now and i had Only the instruments to guide i lost track of the Lone Jack and never saw him i followed the others right up to and then lost it was discouraging after such a Long i came Down Low enough to recognize a Harbor near the end of called i remembered seeing it on our i knew there was an Airfield in the Vicinity and decided to strafe luckily some smudge pots started up and from them i was Able to find the outline of the i started to wheel around for a plunge when smack dab in front of me a plane put on its Wing lights it was one of the where was the other i didst want to hop him and then be hopped by his i held out As Long As i could and then just when i decided to Light into the Guy the other fellow put on his lights too its hard to even there they slowing up for a Landing with lights on to make it even More a Searchlight from the Field came on to guide the two planes it was like spotlighting a stage i gunned the came Down in a wide arc and got both in one they hit the deck and the japs Down below didst know what had i ran up and Down the the Blaze from the planes lighted up the i spotted three big transports and started them going then i hit a gasoline tank and it made the Best display of the i made six strafing runs and got Only Small a in they were too and so was Andre quit the Oneman show when his engine started to sputter one tank had and the Reserve line was just but he had had enough Luck for the and started Back to he radioed a cryptic report and when he landed at Taloban the entire ground Crew surrounded his and carried him on their shoulders to the control i was interrogated by the skipper and and i know it must have been pretty hard for them to believe i had really had such Luck on they knew i had been up that but you could hardly expect them to Swallow a fantastic tale like that without batting an two hours the Ems had it of they could celebrate their greatest vicarious the army had sent Over congratulations to the Marine who had been up at guerrillas had radioed army authorities that the Airfield at Bulon was lighting up the whole Andres big night had an he Learned the without notifying called All the pilots of the Squadron together in a mess a puttering around unseen in the Back of the brought Back a report the skipper ate them out unmercifully for not show ing enough for letting an enlisted Man do a better the Bastard was reluctantly named the Squadron Johnny is now stateside with his but Hes really anxious to get Back in the theres a lot of work yet for and in in it until its he said without a Trace of bravado or hollow Forth press he Means Hes anxious for the Jet i love Speed and the Jet is the fastest thing postwar plans a lot of things Are running around in Johnny Andres Page 3