Editor’s note: Pearl Harbor Day will be celebrated in Bristol at the American Legion Hall on Thursday, beginning at 11 a.m. The writer learned about Riccio from personal interviews and talking to Riccio’s daughter and son-in-law, as well as newspaper accounts in the Post 2 archives. Riccio has passed.
By Neal Supranovich
Edward Riccio, Jr., from Bristol, Conn., was resting on his bunk Sunday morning, Dec. 7, at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii., awaiting the arrival of a flight of B-17s from the mainland. Ed was a mechanic, tail gunner, line man and flight line member for a flight of B-17 Bombers.
While recounting the morning, Riccio said that while laying on his bunk, he heard an explosion. He jumped up and ran for the doorway thinking it was the water heater–again. The water heater had blown up a few times before.
As he reached the door a bomb came through the roof of the barrack, landed behind him, propelling him out the door and taking the lives of those still in the barracks.
As the B-17s landed they were attacked by Japanese planes. Riccio worked to help land the aircraft during the attack. Since the B-17 does not have a parking brake, Riccio had to direct them on the ground and chuck the wheels so the B-17 would not roll.
By the end of that day Riccio was one of three from his unit still alive. Thirty-three men made up his unit. He spent the next few days working around the clock repairing the aircraft and cleaning up the damage. For days afterwards he worked to clean up and identify his fellow unit members killed in the bomb blast.
Riccio was a gunner on a recon mission sometime later. The B-17 was hit by a burst from a flak round while on a recon mission. The crew was either wounded or killed between the flak hit and the enemy fighters that attacked the lone B-17.
The pilot and co-pilot were gravely wounded and fading fast. Wounded Riccio pulled the pilot from his seat and took command of the aircraft. He turned the plane around to find some Japanese fighters attacking his plane. Riccio said they flew alongside his plane to check out the crew. He said he played dead and kept the plane flying level.
The enemy tried to cause the plane to drop out of the sky by bouncing their landing gear off the top of the plane. Riccio said he closed his eyes and kept the plane level as best as he could.
When he opened his eyes, he had two planes coming straight at him. He feared this was the end until they got close enough and noticed they were American Navy fighters. The Navy chased off the enemy planes. They turned him around because he was heading in the wrong direction. They next guided him to an American air strip.
With messed up landing gear, he made an emergency crash landing. As soon as the plane came to a stop, he said, he passed out from his injuries. He awoke to find he was in the hospital and to be informed the rest of the crew did not make it.
His commanding general stopped by while he was in the hospital recovering to inform him that Riccio was being sent home to help sell bonds. Riccio said he told the officer, no way. He said that wanted to go to flight school to become a pilot. The officer said, no way. Riccio told him he was not going to go home.
As soon as Riccio could, he went AWOL from the hospital, of all places. He hid out with the mud Marines on the beaches, he said. While trying to figure a way to get to flight school the military police (MPs) located him and brought him back.
He had another fight with the commanding officer over going to flight school. Since he was a hero the general could not court marshal him, could he? After a number of tries sending in his paperwork, Riccio’s orders for school came down.
He got sent to flight school. Riccio said he must have been the first student to arrive for school in handcuffs and leg irons. His commanding officer had handcuffed and placed chains on his legs and had the MP throw him onto the aircraft just to make sure he got on. (Not good to fight with a general.)
He went on to pilot P-38s. He also flew in the Berlin Airlift. While in the service he earned a Distinguished Cross for his flying.
After the war he worked at Pratt & Whitney along with doing some construction and flew his own plane. Later he donated it to the New England Air Museum.
Ed attended the Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Over the years he has donated pictures, drawings along with writings. He also has been a guest speaker at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He has been in many local parades and given many talks about his days in the service.
The writer is American Legion Post 2 historian.
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