P-38 Can Opener / John Wayne

This discussion was excerpted from our Yahoo Group page. How we got on to this is a mystery. If you would like to join us the entry fee is free zip nada.  It is easy to do. Click on the link below and sign up.

groups.yahoo.com/group/EmpehiReunion

__

I do remember that can opener. I was not in "Nam but many friends were less lucky. We all carried those little "dog tag" can openers they got from their meal kits, I think. They got dull very quickly so we sharpened them for multiple uses by using a small metal file.

I still have one somewhere, I don't exactly know where.

Tom Schildhouse
__

Ron Robertson wrote:

P-38's.......jeeze. I was in Danang for resupply when my group chief got an urgent call that the Comm site on top of Monkey Mountain went off the air 'cause the air conditioning went down. I was unfortunate enough to have not gotten out of the shop fast enough and got tagged to go fix it. I hated to go up because it was always foggy near the top, and very dangerous to drive. Long story short....the AC crashed because of a small device known as a "Grasshopper" fuse. I knew that the closest replacement was at the airbase, not a trip I wanted to make with night falling.. I noticed that the fuse body looked a little like the P-38.

I had on my dog-tag chain. After installing the P-38 into the fuseholder, I restarted the unit, restarted the comm gear, and left. To my knowledge, we never had another service call up there.

"We have done so much with so little for so long that we can anything with nothing forever" U.S. Navy Seabees......NAVSUPPACT, Danang, RVN
_

P-38 

P-38 was the plane my dad flew in WWII. It has an odd tail that does resemble a can opener. It actually looks more like a bottle opener than a can opener. I've never heard a can opener called a P-38. I like that. 

When you first said your husband took the P-38 to school, Anita, I was thinking it was some kind of weapon - then I remembered a P-38 was my dad's plane - and of course a can opener!

Jan Madsen Alton

__

Ray Justinic MPHS 66 wrote:

The P-38 airplane is fast and sexy. Jan! Odd tail??? 

Yes, I opened many C-rats of "beanie weenies" and fruit cocktails with my P38 which I still have stashed in my footlocker a long with some other memories. I sure who ever goes through my stuff after I make the final flight west is going to wonder what the heck the P38 and some other things were used for. My son cannot figure out why I bought a black and white tv:-)

RayJ ( 66) 

Sent from my iPad
__

I, too, thought of the P-38 airplane at first, then the Walther P-38 automatic pistol issued to German officers during WWII, but settled on the can opener. I did not think taking either of the others to school was going to make you parent of the year, HA HA.

Tom Schildhouse
__

I've tried to attach a picture of a P-38 with it's odd tail. I've added description, but I doubt it will make much sense to most of us. If the picture doesn't attach, what is the best way to send it, Craig? If you google P-38 Lightning you can find a pcitrue of it. It is really cool. It was the fastest plane at the time, but they stopped making it once jet engines came along. I would try to describe it, but a picture is worth a thousand words.

Jan Madsen Alton

Fork-Tailed Devil
A long range, twin engine turbo charged, twin boom fighter, it was easily identified by friend and foe alike, earning it the job of fleet protection in the Normandy landings on D-day (the Navy did not shoot down a single Lightning on D-day, not so for other Allied aircraft). Its twin tail booms were so distinctive that the Germans gave it the nickname of Gabelschwanzteufel, which translated means Fork-Tailed Devil.

__

I put the dialogue on the blog. I added a photo of the P-38 can opener and P-38 WWII Aircraft. We called the P-38 can opener the "John Wayne" in the Marines in Vietnam, I think because it was "Gungy" (Gung Ho).

Craig Hullinger 66
__

Perfect pictures, Craig!  Thank you!   My sister was born while my dad was in the Pacific.  One of his Air Corps buddies was an artist and drew a P-38 with a baby flying it for Merle's birth announcement.  I'd love for everyone to see it.   I'll send it in this email and maybe you can get it on the website.  Thank you!!

~ Jan Madsen Alton

PS  Sure wish my dad were still alive.  He'd love this discussion

__


How my dad would have loved this discussion of P-38's - planes, can openers and repair parts! Thanks Ron, Tom, Ray and Craig!

My sister was born while my dad was in the Pacific. One of his Air Corps buddies was an artist and drew a P-38 with a baby flying it for Merle's birth announcement. I sent it to Craig and he's put it on the blog.

The plane does not look like the P-38 can opener in the picture on the blog, but I wonder if at one time it did look like the bottle openers with the round opening. Until this discussion I never really thought of how a P-38 does look like a can opener.

Dad flew photo reconnaissance. With the strange tail and boom, no pilot ever wanted to have to bail out of a P-38. He was sure to be killed as he flew into the tail. He had some good stories and happily never had to bail out...

~ Jan Madsen Alton, Jan. '65

________________________________________

P-38 / John Wayne

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_can_opener



P-38 WWII Aircraft  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-38_Lightning