Honoring Dad On A Special Flight

HONORING A FATHER

ON A SPECIAL WARBIRD FLIGHT

By Andrew Robbins

On September 2, 2020, I was honored to have been invited to fly aboard a PBY, one of two historic World War II seaplanes that were flown by both the U.S. Navy and the U.S Army Air Corps. It was a breathtaking ride that took us from Wheeler Air Force Base, over Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial, and the USS Missouri, book casing the beginning and end of World War II. To be in the air while the ceremony commemorating the end of World War II was going on below us, including the presence of local World War II veterans, was so meaningful.

But for me, this ride was even more special. My father, Milton Rabinowitz, who passed away at age 96 in 2019, was a Flight Engineer with the 4th Emergency Rescue Squad (ERS) of the Army Air Corps during the war. He did this while his brother George, headed off to Europe to fight in both the Battle of the Bulge and, as we found out years later, during “D-Day” at Normandy, all while leaving their mother, who had lost her husband, alone wondering if her sons would ever return home.

The 4th ERS was based in the South Pacific, flying mission after mission, landing their PBY in the ocean and rescuing pilots and others who had been shot down. They described their missions, often staying in the air for close to 24 hours at a time, as hours of boredom followed by moments of sheer terror. It was noisy and often bumpy, but they loved each other and they so dearly loved their PBY.

Following the war, my father, like so many veterans of the Greatest Generation, never talked much about his experiences, and instead focused on marrying, starting his family and his delayed career as a municipal engineer back in New Jersey.

Years later, as I reached my teenage years, my father rekindled his connection with his PBY buddies who started an association that resulted in yearly reunions in various cities. Having attended some of these, I was so touched again by their love of each other and their love of the PBY. I grew up understanding just how special the PBY was to each of these men, and just how important and adaptable it was to both the Army and the Navy.

My father and I visited Honolulu many years ago and searched in local museums to see if we could find a remaining PBY, only to learn that while Honolulu was a major base for PBY’s during the war, that none remained.

So here I was in 2020, now a resident of Honolulu, and so delighted to learn that two private owners went to all the trouble to bring their restored PBY’s to Honolulu for the end of World War II commemoration. When they flew around the island, I was sure to be ready to see it in the air. And with great thanks to my friend and colleague, Mr. Ed Hawkins, I was honored to have had a seat that day onboard, something in my wildest imagination I could not have envisioned.

It was a true honor and tribute to my father and all of his buddies, to have flown on that special day, over that special place, on the PBY.