In their own words...

[bobbysocks]

Remembrance of a Rear-Seater

by CAPT N. J.”Dusty” Kleiss, USN-Ret

27 April 2007

Tracy Lewis asked the Roundtable if it could give her more information about her great uncle Thurman Randolf Swindell, AOM1/c, who was KIA in the Battle of Midway. Tracy is interested in knowing this man not only as a relative, but because she is taking a history class in college and must have a paper about a famous person of WWII. The Roundtable passed Tracy's request to me to determine if I could give any additional information other than that given to her by the Roundtable.

I first met Thurman Swindell in the fall of 1941, when I was given a collateral duty as Education Officer of Scouting Six. One of my first assignments was scoring the official (closely secured) tests for enlisted personnel to meet qualifications to a higher rating. One of the first official tests I examined was for determining the necessary qualifications of moving from 2/c to 1/c status. There were only two enlisted men of Scouting Six who met possible advancement to that difficult promotion. Meeting official tests was not enough. The contenders also had to score on petty officer ratings, approval from their division officer, their executive officer...and they had to obtain approval of Chief Myers. Gaining approval from Chief Myers was about as difficult in reaching Mount Everest without stopping for breath.

Chief Myers, with a small crew, could repair a shot-up plane brought in on an afternoon and have it ready for flying at 0400 next morning; that was after replacing a wing or a tail and checking all items including the compass. If the plane was beyond repair, he would hoist it onto the overhead and bring down a new one and make certain that everything worked. Then he would repaint the plane and put in all markings and insignia. He would do everything except replacing an engine. That chore was left to Chief Dodge. Before the Pearl Harbor attack, Chief Myers’ hair was black. A few months later it was totally gray.

My little black book shows that Swindell made 3.54 on the official exam, 3.8 on petty officer ability, good ratings from all commissioned officers, and an OK from Chief Myers. That was the highest rating ever given by Myers. In contrast, the other applicant for possible advancement to first class made 3.1 on the official exam, a 3.2 rating for petty officer ability, and was not recommended for advancement by the division officer, the executive officer or by Chief Myers.

Now let me give some indication of what an AOM1/c [Aviation Ordnanceman First Class] was expected to do, and how he must train those under him. On the night of 7 December 1941, our Torpedo Squadron Six and five of us in SBDs (carrying hydrofluoric acid for TBD smoke screen), and some F4F fighters searched late into the night to hit Japanese carriers. We couldn't find any. Those F4F fighters were shot down by our people on Pearl Harbor. We SBDs landed on our ship ahead of the TBDs. One new TBD pilot, who had never landed on a carrier at night, made a rough landing. The torpedo broke loose, its propeller started twirling, meaning that it was armed and needed only a little bump on the nose to explode. "Slim" Townsend, the flight deck officer, saw it coming towards him at high speed. Slim jumped on it like a bucking bronco, steered it away from the island, and stopped it. Two ordnance men ran to it, disarmed it in two or three seconds, and helped place it on a cart, out of the way, allowing the next plane to land without circling.

Swindell was not on any SBD of those 7 December 1941 flights. He and his crew were too busy putting depth charges, bombs and ammunition on aircraft. On 20 February 1942, AOM2/c Swindell flew with ENS M. A. Merrill in 6-S-19 on our attack against Wake Island, which had been captured by the Japanese. We sunk one ship in the harbor and damaged another ship as we made a "dog leg" heading back to our Enterprise. (We never went directly back to our ship because that would show the enemy our position.) We were tearing that ship apart, using left over ammunition, when a U.S. cruiser several miles away saw what was happening. She fired one salvo, sinking that ship. Only four Japanese survived. We captured them, interrogated them, and made them the first Japanese prisoners of war. Lots of damage was done to Wake Island from our dive bombers and from shells from our cruisers.

On 4 March 1942 Swindell flew with ENS Merrill in 6-S-3, making an attack on Marcus Island. Based on heavy cloud cover and many AA batteries aiming at us, it was hard to tell how much damage was inflicted on their hangars, storehouses, and oil and gasoline tanks. One thing we knew for certain: we clobbered their radio station. We heard Tokyo repeatedly calling Marcus to answer. They continued for the next 24 hours. Marcus never replied.

A photograph of 13 May 1942 has a caption showing that Swindell was now AOM1/c. Apparently a vacancy had opened for that petty officer slot. Almost always a slot opened only when the previous recipient was lost in battle.

On the morning of 4 June1942, Swindell flew with ENS J. Q. Roberts. I watched them dive on the Kaga, two planes ahead of me. They were in the fifth plane to dive. I never saw them again. I was too busy aiming my bombs on the Kaga. The official battle report states, "forced landing near Kaga." Neither Roberts nor Swindell were ever found. All available evidence indicates that their plane was shot down by AA gunfire.

It took only four hits, only seconds apart, to demolish the Kaga. Each of us carried a 500-pound bomb and two 100-pound incendiaries. Additional hits were made, but many SBDs had to select other targets because flames and smoke obscured the carrier. The Battle of Midway was won in less than five minutes. That's all the time it took to make three of the best Japanese carriers into balls of flame.

It might be noted that only the very best people occupied the rear seat of our SBDs in battle. Don Hoff, of Fresno, California, who was a Radioman 3/c at that time, assures me that AOM1/c Swindell had flown numerous previous flights. He was an expert in gunnery, and was capable of operating all the numerous radio equipment in our SBDs. That included knowing how to operate the new YE-ZB homing equipment. Not all SBD plane crews from other carriers were able to operate the new YE-ZB homing system. They landed on the ocean. Fortunately, most of those crews were picked up at the end of the battle.

Statistics show that our dive bombers were the best in the world and they sunk more Japanese military ships than any other method, including attacks by submarines and surface ships. That great method paid a high price. More than half of our original Scouting Six crews were lost in the first six months of WW II. Just imagine sitting on the back seat of an SBD during combat. You would face to the rear, holding twin .30 caliber machine guns, scanning the sky for Zeros, ready to shoot them down before they shoot you. Then, suddenly, you are plunged downward vertically at 250 miles per hour, pushing downward on your seat with a force of one ton at eight "G’s" after the pilot has dropped his bomb. Then you must be ready to aim at more Zeros. Then the pilot tells you to go on the air, or switch to the homing frequency, or give hand signals to nearby crews in Morse code. All of this requires securing the guns, reaching forward, changing radio coils, and moving dials accurately and quickly.

We pilots always received medals when our airplane and crew did something important. The enlisted man in the back seat was rarely mentioned. I would have been killed long ago had it not been for the skills of my RM3/c, John Snowden. As Educational Officer, I had selected him before other pilots noticed his abilities. He scored number one in all categories for promotion, the highest ever recorded in my little black book.

[bobbysocks]

Captain N.J. "Dusty" Kleiss

MIDWAY!

Prior to the Battle of Midway our only "200 mile out and 200 mile back" searches relied on dead reckoning, using wind information, and revising wind changes by watching ocean waves using the Beaufort Scale. Just before the Battle ofMidway we had YE-ZB line of sight electronics equipment. When we were up 4 miles high we could locate the carrier more than a hundred miles away.

After taking some Marine airplanes to Wake Island early December 1941, we encountered a terrific storm as we headed back to Pearl Harbor. One destroyer broke a seam, and we were one day late arriving into Pearl Harbor. Had we arrived on time at our berth Fox Nine, on 6 December 1941, WW2 History would have been different. The ENTERPR1SE would have gone down with the battleships. The Japanese would have made more scheduled attacks, destroying ammunition depots, fuel depots and repair facilities. Also there would have been no early raids in the Pacific, no Jimmy Doolittle Raid and no victory in the Battle of Midway.

Because we were a day late, were carrying full loads of service ammunition and were declared to be at war, (As stated in this 28 November order in my LogBook, the ENTERPR1SE pilots tangled with the Japanese before the Japanese attack,tangled with them during the attack, and chased them as they ran for home that night. All this is recorded in THESE PAMPHLETS written by Dr. Cressman, a retired Navy historian.)

Many historians report that FUJITSU, the Japanese Air F orce Commander, sulked in his cabin for a month afterwards because he was not allowed to make additional attacks. On the other hand the Japanese Admiral was told that radar pictures indicated that 59 aircraft were headed his way and he decided to scram for home. But enough of previous history.

The Battle of Midway foundation started in the code room of Admiral Nimitz's headquarters in Honolulu. His experts had broken the latest Japanese code, knew that a giant armada was being assembled in total secrecy, but couldn't figure out the code word designated for the United States target.

The code breakers guessed that Midway Island might be the target but they weren't at all sure. Admiral Nimitz gave them a go-ahead to have a fake, unclassified signal sent from Midway Island. It said that the fresh water distilling system was out of commission and fresh water supplies were running low.

The Japanese bought this garbage and reported, in their new code, that target X was running short of fresh water. Midway Island was definitely the target. At that point in time, the ENTERPR1SE was dropping off planes and pilots at Efate Island. The Battle of the Coral Sea was in progress. We arrived there just as the battle ended.

The United States won, but the old LEXINGTON was sunk and the YORKTOWN barely made it afloat to get back to Pearl Harbor. The repair facility said that her repairs would take several months. Admiral Nimitz said the YORKTOWN had to be repaired as best as could be accomplished in a days.

Like the ENTERPRISE, the YORKTOWN was to lie in ambush for the midway attack. The movie named the "Battle ofMidway" depicted the YORKTOWN pilots singing and playing guitars to pump up their spirits for the forthcoming battle. As a matter of fact the YORKTOWN pilots were trying to get a little badly needed hours of sleep, and the ship's crew ere trying to get some things working. Our Captain Murray outlined our ambush strategy, and said that the Japanese would make a feint attack on Dutch Harbor, Alaska, intending that we would send all our forces there. The one thing he didn't tell us was the Japanese were sending 189 ships and we were ambushing with ___.They had eight of their aircraft carriers and we had the HORNET, the ENTERPRISE and the battle damaged YORKTOWN.

Vice Admiral "Bull" Halsey was unable to go with us. He was hospitalized with hives. Our shipmates revered him. Ensign Tom Eversole and his torpedo bomber plane got lost in fog and bad weather enroute to attack Wake Island. Halsey turned his entire fleet around, found the rubber raft of Eversole and crew, and clobbered Wake Island a day later than scheduled.

Halsey chose Admiral Spruance to replace him. Spruance was not an aviator, but he matched exactly Halsey's evaluation of risk philosophies. He knew the abilities and limitations of carriers and the abilities and limitation of other ships. Admiral Kimmel, by contrast, understood neither.

Halsey knew that our cruisers had only 8 inch guns and the Japanese had some 18 inch guns. Both the US and the Japanese signed the Washington Conference Treaty. We trashed our 18 inch guns, the Japanese built theirs. As Will Rogers said, "America never lost a war or won a peace conference. "

On 3 June 1942 we waited in ambush. All pilots were ready for take-off on a minutes notice. Later in the day we were told that an Air Force pilot had reported, "Enemy sighted. Main body", nothing further. Finally we pilots were told to get a few hours of sleep and get a hasty breakfast. Next day our ready room speaker reported that a PBY pilot flying through clouds had spotted a number of aircraft carriers below him. He calmly reported Latitude, Longitude and course and speed of the enemy. Later some pilots would also argue whether he added, "Please notify next of kin." Somehow the PBY was not observed by the Japs.

We immediately launched our dive bombers at 0945. LCDR McClusky headed the Air Group with Lt. Earl Gallaher just behind him. I led the next section to the right of Earl. We had 16 SBD's.

Just behind and below us were 15 SBD'S led by LT. Dick Best. Thirty-one ENTERPRISE planes in all. A similar number was launched from the YORKTOWN and from the HORNET.

Shortly after we took off, a scout from Midway reported that the Japanese carriers had reversed course. Now they were coming closer to the ENTERPRISE instead of going farther away.

The TBD torpedo planes were now within range. They were launched immediately from our three carriers. Hopefully these slower aircraft, with a closer target distance, would arrive just as our dive bombers made their attacks. Strict Radio Silence kept our dive bombers from learning about the new location and direction of the enemy.

Now let us think about things as Admiral Yamamoto, head of the armada, saw them. The Midway Island attack would be a piece of cake. The easy capture of this important base would cause the United States to sue for peace. His plan had worked perfectly and he had taken every precaution. His huge armada had travelled farther north than normal sea lanes. No submarines had detected him. Midway was unaware, and ill-prepared for an attack. The side attack of Dutch Harbor would surely send U.S. forces to head directly there. He would ambush and slaughter them.

As he expected, our U.S. Midway scouts finally detected his main body forces. All U.S. forces would go there. His undetected four best carriers a safe distance away, could wreck Midway at will. Then his battleships would clobber what was left, and his 5,000 troops from his transports would come in. Admiral Naguma, in charge of the Japanese carriers, had taken every precaution. He didn't think that any U.S. carriers were present, but to make sure he sent his scout planes 360 degrees for all possibiltties. One scout in one sector was delayed a couple of hours. Engine trouble. The other scouts returned to Naguma assuring him that no U.S. ships were present. The flustered, hurried, remaining scout, covering this missing sector, flew directly over the cloud cover on top of our aircraft carriers. He reported to Naguma that no U.S. Ships were present.

Nagurna wasn't worried even if U.S. carriers were present. He had his best carriers and his best pilots with him. His aircraft torpedoes were vastly better than ours. Our torpedoes would malfunction if dropped higher than a hundred feet or dropped at a speed faster than 100 knots. Ours had a tiny explosive warhead. Japanese torpedoes worked well when dropped from 200 feet and at speeds up to 200 knots. They also had a deadlier war head.

His carrier pilots bombed Midway exactly as planned. They told him that they severely damaged the installation and they had encountered little oppostion. Still Nagumo had that sixth-sense feeling that all was not well. Some SBD's and TBF's had been sighted. Were they coming from Midway? He ordered his planes loaded with torpedoes and carrier-type bombs.

No sooner than this was accomplished than his scouts reported that the U.S. Air Force was bombing his transports. Urgent help was needed to bomb Midway a second time to keep B 17's from using Midway. The combat loads of his carrier planes were removed, and exchanged for bombs to make holes in runways. No sooner was this accomplished than a Japanese scout reported finding our ENTERPRISE and YORKTOWN carriers. Japanese planes were again reloaded with torpedoes and different type bombs. Bombs and ammo were stacked everywhere.

In the midst of all this confusion, all three squadrons of U.S. torpedo planes arrived. Japanes fighter planes slaughtered them. All TBD's had attempted to drop their torpedos. Only a handful of torpedo planes escaped. No torpedo hit any carrier.

The Japanese had learned from the Battle of the Coral Sea that our torpedoes could only speed at 31 knots. Jap carriers moved at 30 knots, so they just sped away from torpedoes being launched. Our loaded TBD's could only fly at 100 knots. Jap fighters easily picked them off as the TBD's tried to get ahead of the carrier.

Now fast track to our SBD's. McClusky found an empty ocean where the enemy carriers were supposed to be. He figured that the Japanese must have reversed course. Soon he saw a destroyer going at high speed. This had to be a picket ship going to catch up with his fleet.

Suddenly we saw the KAGA, the AKAGI and the SORYU almost below us, in an open stretch of clouds.

"Earl and I will take the one on the right. Dick, you take the one on the left."

We went into eschelon formation. McClusky and his two wing men dived first, then Gallaher and two wingmen, then me and then the rest of Scouting Six, all heading for the KAGA. Dick Best and Bombing Six dived for the AKAGI. The YORKTOWN dive bombers dived for the SORYU.

The situation was a carrier pilot's dream. No anti-aircraft, all three carriers heading straight into the wind. Two fighters were above us, but they were not making an attack.

MClusky and his two wingmen missed. Earl Gallaher's 500 pound bomb hit squarely on a plane starting its take-off. His two 100 pound incendaries hit just beside it. Immediately the whole pack of planes at the stern were in flames 50 feet high.

I couldn't see the bombs landing from the next two planes, but flames had spread. to the middle of the ship. My bombs landed exactly on the big red circle forward of the bridge. Seconds later the flames were 100 feet high. Walter Lord later learned from the Japanese that my bomb splashed a gasoline cart, throwing its flaming contents into the KAGA's bridge.

A fighter attacked us as I pulled out of my dive. John Snowden, my gunner, disposed of him in five seconds. A second fighter came at us. John disposed of him. Then it was a survival to escape anti-aircraft fire while passing near a dozen ships until I'd reached ten miles toward Midway.

Ten minutes after the attack I saw a large explosion amidship on the KAGA. Rockets of flame, pieces of steel bolted upward to about three or four thousand feet high.

Dick Best's squadron had bombed the The KAGA and the YORKTOWN bombers hit the SORYU. Both were burning fiercely

The KAGA then sent up a huge brown cloud of smoke. I could no longer see the ship and presumed it was sunk. The other two fires were visible 30 miles away. As directed, I headed 40 miles toward Midway before heading to our carrier. As I climbed slowly up to cloud level I saw a Jap fighter heading at me. I headed directly at him and he ducked away into a cloud.

Then I saw a Bombing Six plane land in the sea and the crew getting their rubber raft. I marked their position

Then on my left a few miles away I saw several dozen planes from the HIRYU flying at high speed toward our carriers. I'd glimpsed this 4th carrier, about 20 miles away, during my dive.

I had used every trick I knew to get every mile out of each drop of gas. The ENTERPRISE saw me coming, headed into the wind. I landed on the carrier without circling. I landed with five gallons of gas. We had launched 16 SBD's. Eight made it back

As soon as our SBD's were loaded and gassed, we took off for the HIRYU. Before I got back to the Big E, the Japanese from the HIRYO had exploded torpedoes on the YORKTOWN, setting her temporarily on fire and causing her to be abandoned. Her airplanes landed on the ENTERPRISE and HORNET .

We added these additional YORKTOWN SBD's to our group, making a total of 24 planes for our second attack and headed for the HIRYU. None of the HORNET's dive bombers were with us becase they were not able to find the enemy carriers.

Our second attack was different. Lots of fighters everyhere. Four of them attacked the plane ahead. Adkins, the radioman-gunner started aiming at them. Somehow his twin machine gun broke loose. He shot down the first fighter holding the twin machine guns like a shotgun. The three other three fighters ran away. Previously Adkins needed help to carry this weapon.

Gallaher was first to dive. He and the next pilot missed because the HIRYO made a tight semi-circle. The third pilot made a hit directly in the center of the flight deck. Mine landed on the same spot. More hits were made. Explosions and flames appeared but they were mild as compared with the damage witnessed on the KAGA and the other carriers.

We launched 24 planes for this attack. We lost none of them.

During the middle of the night Nagurna sent out a message to his fleet to take Midway regardless of all cost. Meantime a U.S. submarine reported seeing a silhouette of a Jap Carrier. It could by the damaged HIRYU or maybe a 5th carrier.

Admiral Spruance wasn't about to trade 8" guns against 18" guns in a night battle. He also might encounter an unknown Jap carrier. By daylight it became obvious that the entire armada had headed for home.

Why Naguma changed his mind is uncertain. It might have been the report he received from an interpreter who had drawn information of Ensign O'Flaherty and Peter Gaido, lst Class Machinist Mate of our Scouting Six squadron. Their SBD had been forced down. They were rescued from their rubber raft by the Japanese. They knew they would be questioned, and had time to set their stories straight. Neither had even seen Midway.

Independently, under death threats, they had to describe the fortifications of Midway. Each told about the hundreds of five inch guns that ringed Midway, the dozens of PBY's there, the thousands of Marines there and all the extra reenforcements. The Japanese sent the information to the Naguma, killed both of them, and dumped their bodies in the ocean.

At dawn we found only an empty ocean, The Japanese had headed hell-bent for home.

On the fifth of June we could only catch up with a small cruiser at dusk. She did everything right. We scored no hits. She shot down one of our planes. On the sixth of June we caught up with the battle cruiser MIKUMI and sank it. Her picture is in my log book, with its few survivors on its stern, just before she sank. Some destroyers were badly damaged.

The HORNET dive bombers found some more large cruisers, sinking at least one. Then we could no longer chase the Japanese. The destroyers were bone dry. We were ready to head for Dutch Harbor to give them some help, but we were told that the Japanese had left, and no help was needed. So we headed back to Pearl Harbor for a beer.

And now I will mention the REAL heroes of the Battle of Midway.

The Marine pilots who flew our discarded, shot-up SBD's attacking the Jap carriers. Of the entire squadron, only one pilot survived.

Of the TBF pilots from Midway, only one survived.

The Air Force B-17 pilots like Dave Hassimer, of Air Force Village I who scouted the Japanese foces and engaged in combat with their planes, bombed transports, and made our dive bombing attacks possible. They let us sneak in the back door and do the mischief.

Let us not forget the valient torpedo crews who unflinchedly gave their lives to give a great shot at the laps. Also let us pray for the dive bomber crews who knew they had no chance of reaching our carrier.

Remember also the shipboard crews of the YORKTOWN and the ENTERPRISE who did their work perfectly.

Particular kudo's go for the boiler-tenders of the ENTERPRISE, who totally rebricked her boilers with the ship underway. A hot, dangerous operation. One I'd never heard of before. They gave us 30 knots of speed which helped us dodge a submarine torpedo. It passed astern 50 feet behind the ship.

We, the survivors, had the easy part. The tough ones are the wives and family members who lost everything.

[bobbysocks]

In the Rear Seat at Midway and Santa Cruz

by ATC Richard T. Woodson, USN-Ret

Born Into a Navy Family

I was born on Nov. 24, 1920 in Paterson, NJ to Russell M. and Eileen Nellie (neé Ring) Woodson. My father was a chief radioman in the U.S. Navy. We moved to Philadelphia in 1924, but my father was soon transferred to Guam in the Marianas Islands. After he found housing for us (a corrugated iron shack in Merico), my mother, older sister, and I took the train cross-country to San Francisco, got aboard the USS Gold Star and sailed to Guam. After a few months at Merico, my dad found a much nicer residence for us in Agaña.

We left Guam in February 1927 and came back on the USS Henderson through the Panama Canal. We arrived a month later in New York City where there was approximately two feet of snow at the time. We then went to Fire Island on Long Island, which had a lifeguard station with high-speed boats to get the rum runners, a lighthouse station and its crew, and a USN radio direction finder’s station where my dad was in charge. Due to the fact there was no school there, he requested a humanitarian transfer and we ended up in Amagansett, Long Island, NY. I started first grade there in 1927.

Late in 1928 my father was transferred to the Philadelphia Navy Yard to a destroyer and we moved to Philadelphia where I attended St. Agatha’s School. My dad retired from the Navy in 1930 and we moved to Pittsburgh, then Cleveland, Ohio; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Miles City, Montana; and finally to Denver, Colorado where I finished my education in 1939 at East Denver High School.

Aviation Radioman

I joined the National Guard while still in school. While in the Guard, I applied for Annapolis but was not accepted. In December 1939 I joined the Navy (without being discharged from the National Guard) and went to boot camp at San Diego. My friend Doan Watson reported at the National Guard roll call that I had joined the Navy. After boot camp I went to aviation radio school on North Island NAS, and graduated in June 1940, I believe. I went aboard the USS Manley, DD-74, for transfer to the Panama Canal Zone. I arrived at Cocosolo about one and a half weeks later and was assigned to a PBY squadron, VP-32, in Panama.

I stayed with VP-32 until August 1941 when I was assigned to the commissioning of the USS Hornet Air Group. I was posted to VS-8, a dive bomber squadron. We flew SBC4s. We had our shakedown cruise in the Caribbean, went back to Norfolk (we were there on December 7, 1941) and finally went to San Diego around March 1942 where we changed our SBC4s to used SBD3s. We went from San Diego to San Francisco where we picked up Jimmy Doolittle and his 16 B25s and sailed for Tokyo. We launched the B25s for their raid on Japan on April 18, 1942 and returned to Pearl Harbor.

Four Sorties at Midway

We went to Midway. I flew four times during the battle: the morning of June 4th with pilot Don Kirkpatrick, the evening of the 4th with Al Woods (his rear seat man was missing so I volunteered to fly), and the evening of the 5th and the morning flight of the 6th with Kirkpatrick. We made attacks at all times except the morning of June 4th, which was an abortion for Hornet air group. We never found the Japanese on that run. Torpedo Squadron 8 found the Japanese, however, but they were all shot down with one survivor, George Gay. My friend Ronnie Fisher was killed in that raid. I wrote to a girl he had been corresponding with to let her know about Ronnie. We continued writing to each other and she later became my wife.

I was injured at Midway, but not seriously. After we landed I mentioned to a friend that it really hurts when you wear your helmet for a long time. He asked, “what’s all that blood?” I took my helmet off and he got some pliers and pulled a half-inch piece of shrapnel from under my left ear. I didn’t know about Purple Hearts and knew there was another flight that day that I didn’t want to miss, so I never reported that injury.

Visiting the Cannibals

We returned to Pearl Harbor and then left for the South Pacific and the Coral Sea. We were to be joined by the Saratoga approximately the end of August, but it was hit by a torpedo. My pilot, Kirkpatrick, and I saw the oil slick while on the lookout for Japanese submarines. The Saratoga had a 20 by 26 foot hole in its starboard bow and was returned to the states.

The Wasp then joined us and on September 15th was hit by torpedoes and caught fire. Ten of our planes took off from the Hornet and flew to Espiritu Santo so the Wasp’s planes could land aboard. Five dive bombers were sent ahead of the ship on a search mission for Japanese subs and were then to go on to Espiritu Santo. Five of us in SBDs ran out of fuel and ditched near Pentecost Island in the New Hebrides. One pilot, Tipas, didn’t have a radioman since he had about five cases of liquor in his back seat to possibly sell on the island. He took a different route and crashed on another island in the area.

We spent about four days on the island and were finally rescued by PBYs. All of the islands were inhabited by cannibals—friendly, we hoped. We got back aboard the Hornet and our next mission was on October 5th when we (four fighters and 12 to 14 dive bombers) attacked Rekata Bay in the morning and Guadalcanal later that day. Rekata Bay was a seaplane base that we helped destroy.

Life and Death in the Santa Cruz Islands

On October 15, 1942 we hit Bougainville in an early morning raid, and on October 26th we fought at the battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in the Solomons campaign. As Kirkpatrick and I pulled out of our dive after dropping our bomb, we found we were joined by four Japanese Zeros, two starboard and one to port several hundred yards away, plus one behind and below only about 25 yards away. We were 50 feet above the water and making evasive moves, but we were shot in the tip of the wing and rudder. The Zero behind and below us shot me with a 20 mm. cannon shell that came up between my feet and destroyed my radio transmitter and another that went through my left knee and left side, taking out part of my cockpit. That shot slewed me around which put my guns toward the port side of our plane. I shot his wing off and watched him crash. We were so close that, if he had lived, I could have recognized him if I saw him on the street. He was my third unconfirmed kill that day.

We made it back aboard the Enterprise since the Hornet had been sunk. We were the next to last plane able to land on the Enterprise. A crewmember was heard to say, “look, that plane’s bleeding!” It was from my wounds. Our plane was so damaged that it was shoved over the side.

I had surgery two days later. When we pulled into Noumea, New Caledonia, I was transferred to the Solace, a hospital ship. The Solace had to go back to Guadalcanal so the injured were transferred to the Lurline, a passenger ship, and I ended up in San Diego in December at Balboa Naval Hospital. I was finally allowed to go on liberty in February and met my future wife for the first time.

Into the Atlantic

I spent five months in the hospital at Balboa and was released in April 1943. I had orders to CASU 5 (Carrier Aircraft Service Unit) which I didn’t want and reported instead to Commander, Fleet Air West Coast for an assignment. I finally found a dive bomber squadron (SBD-4s or -5s) that I was qualified for and went to VC-58, then forming at Sand Point Naval Air Station in Washington. We changed to TBF-1s and after training we went to San Diego, were fitted with rocket rails, went across country to Quonset Point, and finally down to Norfolk where we got aboard the CVE USS Block Island. We made one trip with four destroyer escorts to Casablanca and back which took about six weeks. We dropped sonic buoys after German submarines submerged but didn’t make any attacks.

My pilot, LCDR McCroskey, died in a night field carrier landing practice accident at East Field. I started flying with LT Helmuth E. Horner on the USS Guadalcanal on the next trip. In the middle of April 1944 we contacted a submarine on radar, made an attack and hit it with two depth charges that destroyed the ballast tanks. It couldn’t submerge and they abandoned ship. All 58 or so crewmembers survived and were brought aboard ship.

About two nights later (we flew five nights out of six, launching at 2330 and recovering at 0400) we caught another submarine on the surface. It submerged while we were making a run on it and we dropped a sonic mine, a “hot dog,” which went off and destroyed the submarine. We recovered seven or eight survivors.

Patrol Bomber Aircrew

The Guadalcanal returned to the states and Horner and I went out next time on the USS Wake Island. We didn’t see anything on that trip. We returned to Norfolk where I got orders to flight school at Pre-Flight Training in Iowa City, Iowa. Before reporting for pre-flight training, I married Betty Lou Mathes in Long Beach, CA. I then went to the University of Iowa for pre-flight school. I got out of there in June 1945 and went to Memphis, TN for primary training. I was in primary training when the war ended and we stopped flying for several weeks while the authorities figured out what to do with us enlisted pilots. They basically ended up purging us from the program.

I went from there to electronics school at Dearborn, Michigan at the Ford Factory. Mr. Ford wanted his property back since the war was over so the school was transferred to Great Lakes Naval Training Center. I left there and went to Annapolis. While there, I got my private pilot’s license. I spent a year at Annapolis and then was transferred to VPMS-1 in Bermuda. When I reported to Norfolk, I found out that VPMS-1 was being decommissioned and I ended up in VPML-8, the first P2V squadron formed at Quonset Point. I went there in July 1947.

I took a discharge from service in October 1947 in order to get on the west coast where my wife and newborn daughter were living at the time. I reenlisted a month later in VP-42 at San Diego, a PBM squadron. In September 1948 we left San Diego and went to Tsingtao China. We spent seven and a half months in Tsingtao, came back from there and were decommissioned. From there I went to VA-195 at Alameda Naval Air Station. I spent about four months there, then requested a transfer to VC-5 at Moffett Field. I got the transfer around September 1949 and stayed in VC-5 until June 1954.

Around April 1950, while with VC-5, I was in one of three crews that flew a P2V off the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Navy wanted to get into the atom bomb race. This was a test run to see if a P2V could possibly carry an atom bomb for a long distance. I flew with Fillmore B. Gilkeson non-stop for 24.5 hours. We had to maintain a true air speed of 200 knots and climb to 10,000 feet in order to drop the bomb. In that trip we passed over Cuba, bombed (simulated) the Panama Canal, and returned to Moffett Field non-stop, a trip of approximately 5,000 miles.

Down to Earth At Last

I left VC-5 in 1954 and took orders for shore duty at Pt. Mugu, CA. I stayed at Pt. Mugu for two years and in July 1956 received orders to the Naval Air Technical Training Center ATV School. After finishing there I went to Jacksonville, FL to VFP-62. I retired from active duty in August 1959 and returned to California where my wife and I had bought a house. I completed my service with a Silver Star, three Air Medals, two Letters of Commendation and one Purple Heart.

I went to work for Naval Air Missile Test Center at Pt. Mugu in November 1959. I worked there on several different projects, Gorgon Five and so on, until 1976 at which time I retired with a total of about 37 years of federal service. I had a TV shop in the meantime and ran it until 1983 when my wholesaler closed down. Without a source of parts I decided to give up that work. I played golf with a group of friends most of the time, did crossword puzzles, etc. My wife and I had four children. They are now all married and live in California. I have one grandson, three granddaughters and two step-granddaughters.

My wife passed away on June 4, 2001 from ALS (Lou Gherig’s Disease). I’ve been living by myself with my two cats since that time in the same house we bought in 1954. And that’s about all I have to say.