The Poet's Perspective

A Loved One Remembered: A Dive Bomber's Tale

Remembering Charles Edward Bourget

On June 29, 1943, my grandfather Charles Bourget earned his wings in Pensacola, Florida and began a journey that few survived. He flew a Corsair and dive-bombed Japanese installations in the Philippines. At 22, he led a group of planes into some of the most dangerous missions imaginable.

He flew the famed Gullwing  Corsair, with a top speed of 466 mph and a range of just over 1,000 miles.

The fliers were provided maps for their missions. These unique pieces were printed on silk, so as to be washable and impervious to the elements. Below you can see one of the maps he used during his missions.

My great grandfather, Commodore Charles Bourget of the Coast Guard was an avid photographer, and actually had state of the art equipment in the mid '40s, namely Kodachrome color photography, which arrived in '36 but wasn't widely available until later. The picture (below, right) was taken in '44. It shows Lt. Bourget on leave with his wife, Shirley Marshall Bourget.

My grandfather was always quick to share funny stories from the war. When the war was over he had wanted to smuggle some fine Filipino machetes back home.

He slid one down the pant leg of his uniform and a commanding officer noticed his peculiar gait. He passed it off as a war injury and continued on his way.

Lt. Bourget on leave with his wife, Shirley Marshall Bourget.

Despite being a man of war, or perhaps because of it, my grandfather was especially warm and gentle to the children in his life. He didn't project a badass attitude through posturing,  instead letting his actions speak for who he was. He suffered the loss of a daughter, my mother, and helped to assist raising her children in her absence.

CB, or Poppa as we called him attained the rank of Captain before retiring from the Service. In the postwar era he was a test pilot,  flying experimental aircraft and no longer dodging bullets.

He also was a pioneer in plastics, founding North River Plastics in Plymouth, which still operates today. He lived in Duxbury until the late '80s when he moved to Wells, Maine.

He died in 1994 at the age of 73,  on the same day as President Nixon. When our family sought a USMC Honor Guard for his funeral we were informed that all available Honor Guards were in Washington for Nixon's State Funeral. My aunt placed a call to Senator Kennedy's Office and with two days notice he made sure we had an Honor Guard.

It was a fitting tribute to a man worth noting.

I offer special thanks to capecodtoday for their support and inspiration.

   Click here or on the image above to see a larger, complete version of the silk map.

   My grandfather, featured in a newspaper article when he was 22-years-old.