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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Posted on 06/04/2007 6:58:54 PM PDT by snippy_about_it
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are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 US NAVY NEWS Story Number: NNS070604-11 Release Date: 6/4/2007 12:32:00 PM By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class James E. Foehl, Commander, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- On June 4 more than 1,500 distinguished visitors and guests will gather on Midway Atoll to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. The sacrifices of those U.S. Sailors who fought so valiantly during that battle at sea June 4-7, 1942, will continue to be commemorated every year by the Navy as the critical turning point of the war in the Pacific--a battle that changed the course of history. The story of the battle begins months earlier, when a daring bombing raid on Japan was launched from U.S. aircraft carriers, led by then U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, striking America's first blow in the Pacific after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. One of the Sailors who participated in both the Doolittle Raid and the Battle of Midway spoke of the sacrifices of heroic Sailors. “The day of the [Doolittle Raid] launch was a rough day. There was some speculation of fishing boats that were out there who would alert the Japanese of what we were doing and what type of ship we were,” said William A. Tunstall, an aviation machinist's mate 2nd class from Springfield, Mass., who was assigned to Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8). “Capt. Marc Andrew Mitscher, [Hornet's commanding officer], came on and told us the reason the airplanes were on our flight deck was that we are going out and bomb Japan,” said Tunstall. “We went up on 40 [degrees] north and started to cross the ocean. When we got to 180 [degrees], low and behold, there’s another aircraft carrier.” From the flight deck of USS Hornet (CV 8), the U.S. Army Air Force B-25 bombers launched what would prove to be a greatly embarrassing attack to the Japanese on their homeland soil. “When these [B-25] aircraft started to launch, I went up to hangar deck, then on up to the catwalk. When the bow went down, [the landing signal officer] would tell them to launch. When the deck came up, they’d be right in a position to take off,” said Tunstall. The strike was a success. Shocked that their home islands were vulnerable to attack, the Japanese now knew that the U.S. carrier forces in the Pacific posed an immense threat, which they had to eliminate. After the Doolittle Raid, the Japanese devised a plan for an attack on Midway, designed to cripple the U.S. Pacific Fleet carrier forces and capture Midway Islands, which could serve as a launching point for further attacks on Hawaii or the U.S. mainland. Japanese submarines would be sent to intercept carriers from Pearl Harbor to Midway, and as attacks on Midway began, the Pacific Fleet carriers would be ambushed as they attempted to come to the island’s rescue. However, unknown to the Japanese, superior American communication intelligence gave the edge to U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Chester W. Nimitz. Nimitz used information gleaned from decoded Japanese message traffic to strategically position his fleet for battle with the unsuspecting Japanese carrier forces while keeping the American fleet out of reach of the Japanese submarines. USS Enterprise (CV 6) and Hornet quickly moved from Pearl Harbor, heading to a point north east of Midway, with USS Yorktown (CV 5) following soon after. The stage was set. “June 4, 1942, I was on the flight deck of [USS] Hornet,” said Tunstall. “I was a plane captain of a TBD [torpedo bomber]. It was a fine old airplane, I had flown a lot of hours in it and flying the middle seat as a Bombardier when it was needed.” “When they announced they had found the Japanese and their ships were coming closer, within range of our airplanes, they sounded general quarters and we went up and got our planes ready to go," said Tunstall. "I had my airplane ready to go. I said to [my pilot] ‘Mr. Abercrombie, I want to wish you the very best. Good luck.’” The planes were all quickly launched, and formed up with the other squadrons to head off the Japanese Fleet. “Waldron, commanding officer, VT-8, found [the Japanese Fleet] and called in all the available aircraft he could get,” said Tunstall.  VT-8 received the Presidential Unit Citation, which was awarded on April 5, 1943, for their attack that day. The citation gives a vivid account of the squadron's desparate and, ultimately, doomed attack which led the way for other air attacks to succeed. “Flying low without fighter support, Torpedo Squadron (VT) 8 began the perilous mission, ‘Intercept and attack!’ First to sight the enemy, the squadron attacked with full striking power against crushing enemy opposition, scoring torpedo hits on Japanese forces. Realizing to a man that insufficient fuel would prevent a return to the carrier, the pilots held doggedly to the target, dropping torpedoes at pointblank range in the face of blasting anti-aircraft fire that sent the planes, one by one, hurtling aflame into the sea."  The last of Torpedo Eight's TBDs, T-16 (BuNo 1506), flown by LCDR John C. Waldron with Horace Franklin Dobbs, CRMP, in the rear seat, taking off Hornet on 4 June 1942. Notice the unstowed twin .30 cal. Photo courtesy Mark Horan Following the brave attack by VT-8, dive-bombers from the Yorktown pummeled Japanese carrier Soryu, making three lethal hits with 1,000-pound bombs that turned the ship into an inferno. Meanwhile, Enterprise planes hit Japanese carrier’s Akagi and Kaga, turning them into scrap metal within a short period of time. Within a span of minutes, three squadrons of SBD scout bombers; two from Enterprise and one from Yorktown, successfully bombed and set ablaze three of the four Japanese carriers and crippled the Japanese carrier forces at Midway. As a final effort, the remaining Japanese carrier, Hiryu, launched an attack on Yorktown.  Despite hits from dive bombers and going dead in the water, Yorktown regained 20 knots and launched her aircraft to intercept inbound Japanese torpedo bombers.  Two Japanese torpedoes opened a huge hole in Yorktown’s midships port side and left her with a severe list. Fearing the ship would roll over, abandon ship was ordered. Enterprise planes, which now included 10 refugees from the Yorktown, answered Hiryu by putting more than four bombs into her, destroying the forward flight deck and setting her ablaze.  Shocked and overwhelmed, Japanese Combined Fleet Commander Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto ordered a retreat and his Midway operation was called off. Recounting what happened to his own squadron, Tunstall said, “All our (VT-8) planes were shot down. The one [pilot] that came back, parachuted into the water and his name was [Ens.] George Gay.”  All of the men of "Torpedo Eight" (VT8), in the above photo, save Ensign George Gay (with the circle around him) were killed in action on June 6, 1944 in a gallent charge of the Japanese Carriers while flying slow, obsolete planes with no fighter cover. Their actions were not in vain however, as they distracted the Japanese fighters and AA gunners just long enough that they did not notice the Dauntless dive-bombers soon to reign down death from above. The sacrifices and daring action by the vastly outnumbered U.S. fleet proved decisive in a way few battles ever have; Japanese plans to extend their empire across the Pacific Ocean by sinking the remaining U.S. Pacific Fleet carrier forces were smashed. The heroic actions of the American Sailors in the Battle of Midway set the stage for the ultimate vistory in the Pacific theatre of World War II, and left a legacy of valor for future generations of U.S. Navy Sailors.  [Some of the information used in this story was provided by the Naval Historical Center]. For more news from around the fleet, visit www.navy.mil.      |
I have such admiration for Adm. Nimitz. He took some thin intelligence, put himself in the mind of the enemy commander, made a very gutsy and very right call to throw everything he had at the enemy, and position his forces just right to win.
Then, of course, you have the tremendous stories of heroism and sacrifice, epitomized by Squadron 8 and Cmdr. Waldron. Certainly, one of the Navy's finest hours.
Shokaku—Happy Crane
Zuikaku—Lucky Crane
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Somewhat related...we did a thread a couple years back here at the Foxhole on “Naming Navy Ships”. What a hoot that was, learning the way decisions were made, changed, remade.
Happy anniversary!! Good to see you in the Foxhole.
Yeah, whatever happened to him? I guess that girl that was helping is a slacker, too!
We got a lot of the smoke, everytime the winds blew from the east or north we got hit. You’d swear the fire was across the street. I don’t know how the folks close in managed.
Hi Jinxy. Hopefully it will continue to be retold long after they and we are gone.
(((HUGS)))
Nice shot. Great pic, thanks alfa6.
Hey, we don’t care when you fall in just fall in. I posted late last night, eastern time but my window of opportunity for posting keeps interfering with work or sleep so it gets tough. :-)
Good to see you.
Thank you Phil. We could use some of these slogan posters for the new invasion, this one from our south.
Hi ya sweetie. Thanks for stopping by. I like your tagline.
WHAT?!!!
Oh, nevermind. For a minute there.....
Yes, this was smartly done. With all the reading Sam and I do of battles and individual fights we are always remarking how one person, one move, wrong or right can change so much.
LOL
;-)
I switched out computers and I need to hunt down the files so I can update them. (For that matter, I need to hunt down the software I was using).
I suppose you could always just copy the source code from the threads they are on now. I had no idea you were using software. Handy!
I think I ended up using FrontPage. I know I tried a couple of other programs first.
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