Aviation Ordnanceman

Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 334
9th Marine Air Wing
MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina

Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 243
Marine Air Group 32
1st Marine Air Wing
Philippines
Pacific Theater of Operations

Marine Bombing Squadron 443
Zone of the Interior

John Kiszak was 17 years old and living in Cleveland, Ohio when the USA entered the Second World War.
On April 8th, 1943 he enlisted in the Marine Corps at the District Headquarters Induction and Recruiting
Station in Cleveland and was sent to the Marine Corp Recruit Depot in San Diego. Arriving later the
same month, he was assigned to the First Recruit Battalion and began eight weeks of basic training.

At some point John was accepted into Marine Aviation, was sent to Marine Corps Aviation Depot Kearny
Mesa, San Diego and assigned to Aviation Training Squadron 131. In July of 1943 he was sent to the
Aviation Ordnanceman's School at the Naval Air Technical Training Center in Norman, Oklahoma, and
assigned to Training Squadron 21 of the Marine Aviation Detachment there. While at Norman, John
learned how to handle every kind of weapon that was carried by Navy and Marine aircraft,
from machine guns and their ammunition, to all manner of bombs and rockets.

After completing the course at Norman, John's next known assignment was with VMSB-334 (Marine
Scout Bomber Squadron 334), 9th Marine Air Wing, at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. It was with
VMSB-334 that he underwent roughly six months of operational training on the type of aircraft
with which he would go to war in the following year, the Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber.

A number of Marine scout bomber squadrons were deactivated in October of 1944, including VMSB-334.
John was temporarily attached to the HQ squadron of Marine Air Group 34, 9th Marine Air Wing, at
MCAF Newport, Arkansas before his combat assignment; VMSB-243, Marine Air Group 32, 1st Marine
Air Wing, which was at the time operating from Emirau Island in Papua, New Guinea. Though I don't
know exactly when John arrived out in the Pacific, it was most likely before late January of 1945
when the squadron moved northwest to Mangaldan in the Philippines to participate in the
campaign to retake that island nation from the Japanese.

VMSB-243 is mentioned several times in a book titled 'Marine Aviation in the Philippines',
which you can read in PDF form on the Marine Corps University website, HERE...

I'm not sure exactly when, but John was transferred to another outfit, VMB-443, sometime in 1945,
possibly after the end of the war. VMB-443 was a medium bomber outfit that flew the PBJ, the USMC
version of the North American B-25 Mitchell. His time with VMB-443 was not very long, as the outfit
was inactivated in November of 1945. I have no further information about John's service history,
but it's more than likely that he was discharged in late 1945 or early to mid 1946.

John returned to Cleveland but moved to Depew, NY in 1952, raising a family of four children with his
wife Mary, and taking a job at Westinghouse in the old Curtiss-Wright Plant #2 at the Buffalo Airport in
Cheektowaga, NY. He retired in 1972 and moved down South to Sarasota, Florida. He passed away in 1990.

This extract from the USMC Recruit Depot muster roll for the month of April 1943
shows when John showed up in San Diego, California for basic training.


National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry

These next two muster roll extracts show that in July of 1943, John was present in the
ranks of Aviation Training Squadron 131 at MCAB Kearny Mesa in San Diego, and that he
was transferred later that month to Training Squadron 21 of the Marine Aviation Detachment
at the NATTC in Norman, Oklahoma where he attended the Aviation Ordnanceman's School.


National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry


National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry

An aerial view of the Naval Air Technical Training Center at Norman, Oklahoma.

There were two Naval facilities at Norman: The NATTC and the Naval Air Station.
You can see many more photos of both, as well as photos of the town of Norman itself, HERE.


Moore-Lindsay Historic House Museum - Larger Image

Here we see that John was still at the NATTC in Norman during October of 1943.


National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry

By April of 1944, John had been transferred to VMSB-334 to undergo operational training.


National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry

And he was still with VMSB-334 in July...


National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry

On October 10th, 1943 VMSB-334 was deactivated, and John was temporarily assigned to
the Headquarters Squadron of Marine Air Group 34 at MCAF Newport, Arkansas.
From there he would be sent to MCAD Miramar in California prior to overseas deployment.


National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry

In April of 1945, John was counted on the roll for VMSB-243. He was 'in the war' now,
based in the Philippines, and probably had been for at least a couple'a months.


National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry

With a 250lb bomb already hung under each wing, USMC aviation ordnancemen load a 500lb bomb
on the centerline rack of an SBD Dauntless during the Philippines campaign in March of 1945.
John undoubtedly performed this very same task many, many times.


Project 914 Archives - Larger Image

By October of 1945, John had been transferred to VMB-443, a veteran medium bomber outfit
that had seen much action in the Pacific and which would be deactivated the following month.
John would follow soon after, with his discharge likely coming within the next several months.


National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry

VMB-443 flew the PBJ, the USMC version of the B-25 Mitchell that was flown by the USAAF.


Project 914 Archives - Larger Image

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The PDF is non-interactive and you cannot copy/paste text.
I'll try to change that in the future, if I can.