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A Former President’s War Story
How George H.W. Bush Narrowly Survived WWII
World War II was one of the darkest eras in human history. Many only survived because of guts, ingenuity, resilience, and luck. Former President George H.W. Bush — not to be confused with his son,
one died when his parachute didn’t open, and the other couldn’t get out of the plane before it hit the water. The future president was the only survivor and was left floating in a raft roughly the size of an inner tube in the Pacific Ocean. Lucky for him, a submarine found him and pulled him aboard.
George W. Bush — was one such person. The elder Bush was a pilot during WWII, one of the most dangerous
positions in the military. Twenty percent of U.S. pilots were severely injured or killed during the height of the war. On Sept. 4, 1944, Bush was assigned a bombing mission over Chichi Jima, a tiny island that lies southeast of the Japanese mainland.
Recounting the story, he would later say that he felt responsible for the deaths of his crewmates. “I’m not haunted by anything other than the fact that I feel responsibility for the lives of the two people who were killed,” he said to reporters. “Why didn’t the chute open for the other guy?”
Flak hit his Avenger aircraft while en route, setting its engine ablaze and filling the
While his story is tragic, he was lucky compared to the other mission survivors. In the infamous Chichi Jima Incident, eight soldiers landed on the shore of the island and were taken prisoner. None of them survived the horrific torture inflicted upon them. In 1947, four Japanese officers who were stationed in Chichi Jima
cabin with smoke. Unable to fly much farther, Bush and his two crewmates evacuated. After dropping four 500-pound bombs on their target, they flew the plane eastward over the ocean as it went down. They figured they’d rather risk the sea than be captured by the Japanese.
were executed for war crimes by a U.S. commission in Guam.
Bush jumped, hitting his head and ripping his parachute on the plane’s tail. Still, his parachute worked, but his crewmates weren’t so lucky —
It’s impossible to comprehend the full scope of World War II. Bush’s story of bravery and survival gives us a glimpse into this historic event.
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