The Spectator: A World War Ii Bomber Pilot's Journal Of The Artist As Warrior

E-Book Overview

From Greenwich Village to Guadalcanal in just over a year, David Zellmer would find piloting a B-24 bomber in the South Pacific a far cry from his life as a fledgling member of the Martha Graham Dance Company. He soon discovered the unimagined thrills of first flights and the astonishment of learning that an aerial spin was merely a vertical pirouette which one spotted on a barn thousands of feet below, instead of on a doorknob in Martha's studio. Reconstructed from letters home, this captivating account traces Zellmer's journey from New York to the islands of the South Pacific as the 13th Air Force battled to push back the Japanese invaders in 1943 and 1944. Spurred to action by encouraging letters from Martha Graham, who urges him to document his participation in the "great tragic play" of the Second World War, Zellmer struggles to come to terms with the fears and joys of flying, of killing and being killed. Each stage of the battle takes him farther and farther from those he loves, until the soft night breezes and moon-splashed surf no longer work their magic. From bombing runs against Truk, the infamous headquarters of the Japanese Fleet, to much savored slivers of civilization in Auckland and Sydney, the young pilot bemoans a gnawing concern at a loss of sensation, the prospect of life--not as a performer, but as a spectator. With distant memories of life on the stage, he finds that only the threat of death can bring the same intensity of feeling.

E-Book Content

The Spectator THE SPECTATOR A World War II Bomber Pilot’s Journal of the Artist as Warrior DAVID ZELLMER Forewords by Williamson Murray and Sir Michael Howard Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Zellmer, David. The spectator : a World War II bomber pilot’s journal of the artist as warrior / David Zellmer ; forewords by Williamson Murray and Sir Michael Howard. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0–275–96286–5 (alk. paper) 1. Zellmer, David. 2. World War, 1939–1945—Aerial operations, American. 3. World War, 1939–1945—Personal narratives, American. 4. World War, 1939–1945—Campaigns—Pacific Area. 5. Bomber pilots— United States—Biography. 6. United States. Army Air Forces— Biography. I. Title. D790.Z43 1999 940.54'26—dc21 [b] 98–22884 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright 䉷 1999 by David Zellmer All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98–22884 ISBN: 0–275–96286–5 First published in 1999 Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. Printed in the United States of America TM The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Copyright Acknowledgments Every reasonable effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright materials in this book, but in some instances this has proven impossible. The author and publisher will be glad to receive information leading to more complete acknowledgments in subsequent printings of the book and in the meantime extend their apologies for any omissions. FOR ROSE, WHO ALSO WORE THE UNIFORM . . . AND REMEMBERS, AND FOR DJUNA AND ROBIN ‘‘You describe the sensation of stage when you speak of yourself as Spectator. It is the state of non-feeling in some way that is the highest condition of feeling.’’ (Martha Graham, letter to D.Z., 1/3/44) ‘‘What suits memory best is a war life lived close to the action but at some distance from the values, by a man who is by nature or circumstances an outsider, who can be a witness as well as a soldier, who has felt war but doesn’t love it.’’ (Samuel Hynes, The Soldiers