With the Pacific War raging overhead in late June 1944, William Mooney began surviving the aftermath of being shot down by the Japanese.

The experience taught the Navy fighter pilot from St. Joseph how much the nation needed to celebrate its heroes during the war. Today, the 88-year-old rural St. Joseph man reminisces on his military service while daily helping his son, Russ, repair saddles and work on other leather products.

A Dec. 15, 1944, News-Press article — headlined “Guam Hero Visits Home” — detailed Mr. Mooney’s surprise visit home six months after his participation in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The encounter, which occurred in waters near Guam and other nearby islands, is otherwise known in the war’s vernacular as “The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot” because of the numerous enemy planes the U.S. military shot down.

Mr. Mooney flew a Grumman F6 Hellcat that was based on the aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto. Former President George H.W. Bush belonged to his air group aboard the carrier.

“We were strafing and annoying the Japanese,” he said. “We were absolutely the boss of the air there.”

A turn for the worse catapulted Mr. Mooney into a solitary war of sorts.

“One of their shells hit me,” he said of the Japanese anti-aircraft fire. “I didn’t know I was injured. I went into the water with the plane. I did get out.”

Most of the next few weeks still remain a mystery to him, as he fought to survive his plane’s crash into the ocean. A brief search ensued, but the presence of the Japanese fleet prevented the Navy from immediately plucking him from the water.

The News-Press article said he spent 14 days in the waters around Japanese-held Guam, living in sea caves and the jungle by day and then back in the water by night.

He managed to dust the contents of a sulfa medicine pack on his head to help guard against infection. Eventually, he was spotted in a boat. It’s unknown how he became strapped in the floating device, and Mr. Mooney remembers noticing the craft was filled with his blood.

“Somebody in another fighter plane saw me in the water, which is almost an impossibility,” Mr. Mooney said. “It was purely an accident. ... I was pretty weak when they picked me up.”

He keeps a photo in the shop that shows him back aboard the carrier after the rescue, reclining in a tiny rubber boat. A July 10 Associated Press dispatch said the 22-year-old lieutenant junior grade received the Purple Heart for his wounds.

The time after his rescue sharply focused a lesson on what the remarkable survival meant to the home front. The published story circulated not just back to loved ones in St. Joseph but also traveled across the globe to such locales as England and Hawaii. A special wartime comic book even offered its own edition of the circumstances. In Mr. Mooney’s view, the rescue brought encouragement and a stronger work ethic to the effort back in the States.

“It was a time in the war when they needed heroes,” he said of the impact on morale.

These days, the pastoral tranquility of the saddle shop reposes in marked contrast to the harsh battle scenes. The saddlery relocated to its current site on the outskirts of northeast St. Joseph in 1999 after a Downtown stint of more than 40 years.

The Mooneys don’t purchase any factory goods for use at the shop, except for metal products. They don’t use any plastics or imitations either.

“I have always loved to make saddles,” said Mr. Mooney, who actually retired nearly 30 years ago. “I make ’em because I want to, not because I want to make money out of it.”

He also has made leather fittings for circus animals.

“I have to do something,” he said. “I do like this. ... I’ll leave here when I die.”

Ray Scherer can be reached at ray.scherer@newspressnow.com.