Uniontown veteran reminisces about stint as gunner in World War II
Like many others who served in World War II, Ewing Roddy volunteered to put his life on the line for his country. Roddy, born and raised in Uniontown, enlisted in the Army in February 1943 with three friends after then-Uniontown High School principal Rodney Mosier promised they’d get diplomas as well as football jerseys despite the fact they’d be long gone on graduation day.
Uniontown High’s quarterback during the 1941-1942 season, Roddy said he wore his football jersey every time he boarded a plane on a bombing raid.
His perils, however, started even before he set foot in Europe when he made the voyage across the Atlantic on board the Queen Mary, a luxury liner converted into a troop carrier.
“We were so fast, we didn’t even have a Trans-Atlantic escort to help protect us from German submarines, Roddy said in a phone interview from his home near Ocean City, N.J.
A flight engineer and top gunner in the Army Air Corps, Roddy took part in his first bombing raid, over Berlin, in March 1944. During the sortie, his B-17 had to fly through the thick aerial defenses the Germans had set up around their capital city.
“The enemy had close to 600 flack cars positioned around Berlin,” he said. “So we really got it going in and coming out.”
However, it was mission number nine, which took place Jan. 15, 1945, that was one of his most dangerous and the one that earned him one of his four Air Medals.
Roddy recalls a heavy snowstorm in England the evening before the raid and that his bomber barely got off the runway on takeoff. At their destination, a rail center in Augsburg, Germany, his plane dropped 10 bombs, nine of which left the hold as planned. The 10th and final bomb, however, was hung up in the bomb bay, snagged by a cable on its tail.
The young 19-year-old went to the rescue, footing it along the foot-wide catwalk and holding on to overhead wires that ran through the plane. When he got to the bay, he kept one foot on the catwalk and tried to kick the bomb loose.
“I felt a very strong and cold updraft in the 50-below-zero conditions, and all I could see were the clouds below,” he said. “The bomb wouldn’t budge.”
Returning to report back to his commander, he was told the crew had two alternatives: to dump the plane’s fuel over France, put the bomber on automatic pilot, and bail out, or, he could go back for another try. Roddy went back.
“I didn’t have time to be frightened,” he said. “At 19, I was either too dumb or too brave to be scared.”
Back in the bay, he jumped on the bomb with one foot. On his second attempt, the bomb snapped loose, and Roddy thought he was going down with it. Instead, he held his precarious position on the catwalk.
As he crawled his way back, the bomb bay doors shut, much to the relief of everyone on board. His command pilot, Col. C. J. Adams, eventually chronicled the incident in writings about his war experiences.
Roddy’s next mission, five days later, proved equally fateful. While manning the gun in the top turret during a raid, a piece of flack pierced the bottom of the plane, hitting a shell in the turret. The explosion temporarily blinded Roddy, but he flew another mission eight days later.
Overall, Roddy flew 22 missions plus several other mercy missions after V-E Day to pick up war prisoners and return them to France. In February 1945, he also flew with one of the war’s largest air sorties when close to 6,000 allied aircraft left England on a bombing mission to take out enemy communications systems in Germany and Holland. But even when he wasn’t on a combat mission, Roddy was up in the air testing recently repaired planes.
“We flew every day but Sunday and had many close calls over England,” he said. “When you have 800 planes in the air at the same time over a small area without today’s air traffic control technology, incidents happen.”
Roddy comes from a military family. His father, Edward, served in World War I and later helped start Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 47 in Uniontown. His brother, Edward, served in the military, as did his brother-in-law, John Amandola, who was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the attack on Dec. 7, 1941.
Growing up in Uniontown, Roddy remembers delivering the newspaper to Gen. George C. Marshall’s sisters’ home. One day, he said, he was surprised to see the general open the door of their home and take the paper from him.
“Marshall was visiting his sisters on vacation,” he said. “I was so shocked to see him that I didn’t get to say much. After my discharge from the army, my father urged me to join the VFW he helped found, which now bears the name of General Marshall.”
Soon after his return home from the war, Roddy took a job with Firestone as a tire salesman. In 1954, he married Dolores Amandola, a girl he first saw marching as a majorette in the Uniontown High School band. A year later, the couple moved to the Ocean City area, where they’ve remained ever since.
“Dolores and I have a lot of relatives in Fayette County, and used to get back about once a month,” said Roddy. “Now, at the age of 80, I get back a lot less frequently.”
With three children and seven grandchildren, including a son, David, who lives in White Oak, Allegheny County, Roddy said he spends his retirement years as an active participant in veteran affairs and as someone who “tries to make my family happy.” He also retains a part-time job as a tire salesman for Regional Tire, a large earthmover tire manufacturer.
“The company and my customers just don’t want me to leave,” he said.
Roddy said he’s pleased to see this week’s commemoration in Uniontown of the end of World War II, Heroes All: 60 Years Later.
“There are a lot of great fellows in the area that did a wonderful job defending the nation in the war,” he said. “I’m glad that Fayette County has decided to honor them during the anniversary celebrations.”