Motion Picture Combat Cameraman Paul D. Guttman (Photographer's Mate 3/C) on USS Yorktown (CV-10) with Grumman TBF Avenger during 1944. He always said that the Avenger was his favorite of all the planes in which he flew combat missions. Once, off the Philippines, he had to ditch into the sea in an Avenger from the USS Hornet that had been damaged by flak, and in which the top-turret gunner had been killed. Despite the damage the plane was so tough that it wouldn't sink until he and the pilot shot it full of holes with their pistols! They wanted the plane to sink because they were afraid the Japanese might see it, come out in a boat and capture them before they could be rescued by their own side. In those days, the last thing any American wanted was to be captured by the Japanese!
