Aircraft Action Report #2 for 12 June 1944 Guam (5 pages)

AOM2c Marvin Lieberman was in the second group of aircraft to attack Orote Airfield the morning of June 12th. This was VT-1's first taste of combat and certainly "Murphy" would have been quite nervous and apprehensive. To add to that, just before they took off they likely heard the radio transmission from the first strike group stating that Lt Merrell's plane was hit and went down. Also in that plane was his close friend AOM2c Stanley Carr. He was crewed with Ltjg James Thorburn and (probably) ARM1c William Richards. They took off about 7:09 in the morning (local time) with seven other VT-1 aircraft, each carrying three 500-pound "General Purpose" bombs in their bomb bay and two rockets mounted on each wing. They were each assigned specific targets on Orote Airfield and made just one bomb run. Dropping their bombs and firing rockets on the same bomb run proved to be very ineffective.

VT-1 would encounter intense antiaircraft fire that day. According to radioman Horace Harris "…didn't see how it was humanly possible for a plane to go through the barrage without being hit. I said my most fervent prayers right. It worked - we came through without a scratch, while nearly every plane in the formation was hit."

Marvin Norman Lieberman