The FReeper Foxhole Remembers John Waldron and The Battle of Midway (6/4/1942) - June 4th, 2003

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-w/j-waldrn.htm ^

[SAMWolf]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

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FReepers from the The Foxhole
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

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Lt. Commander John Waldron
Torpedo 8 at The Battle of Midway

John C. Waldron was born at Fort Pierre, South Dakota, on 24 August 1900. Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1924, he became a Naval Aviator in 1927. During the years prior to World War II, he served in several air units, was an instructor at the Naval Academy and at Pensacola, Florida, and performed other duties connected with aviation. In 1941, LCdr. Waldron became Commanding Officer of Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8), which was to serve on the new aircraft carrier Hornet (CV-8). He led that unit during the Battle of Midway, when all fifteen of its planes were lost to overwhelming enemy fighter opposition while making an unsupported attack on the Japanese aircraft carrier force. Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron was killed during that action.

Lieutenant Commander John Charles Waldron, USN (1900-1942)

John Waldron was commanding officer of Torpedo Squadron 8 which the lost the entire squadron of 15 TBD's at the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942. His body was not recovered.

As reported in Captain M. A. Mitscher's report to the Commander in Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet on June 13, 1942: "Torpedo 8 led by Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron was lost in its entirety. This squadron flew at 100 knots below the clouds while the remainder of the group flew at 110 knots, climbing to 19,000 feet. Lieutenant Commander Waldron, a highly aggressive officer, leading a well trained squadron, found his target and attacked.... This squadron is deserving of the highest honors for finding the enemy, pressing home the attack, without fighter protection and without diverting dive bomber attacks to draw the enemy fire. Ensign G. H. Gay, A-V (N), U. S. N. R. is worthy of additional praise for making a torpedo hit and for the presence of mind he showed in hiding under his seat cushion, after being shot down, for several hours, thereby probably saving his own life and giving us an excellent eye-witness picture of the damage caused by the attack on the enemy carriers".


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

Captain Mitscher later added in his report the following , making reference to recommended awards: "In particular, the Commanding Officer feels that the conduct of Torpedo Squadron Eight, led by an indomitable Squadron Commander, is one of the most outstanding exhibitions of personal bravery and gallantry that has ever come to his attention in the records of the past or present".

Commander Waldron was awarded the Navy Cross for heroism posthumously. The Battle of Midway has been termed the turning point in the Pacific Theatre in WW II and was the subject of an epic motion picture film.



Waldron Field was named 5 March 1943, prior to establishing of station, in honor of Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron, killed in action leading the attack of Torpedo Squadron 8 in the Battle of Midway; 4 June 1942. The former NAAS now an OLF to NAS Corpus Christi.

On August 10, 1941, Waldron became commander of Torpedo Squadron 8, based on the USS Hornet. Waldron was forty-one when he was killed in the Battle of Midway, the turning point of the war in the Pacific. Flying without fighter protection and without sufficient fuel in which to make it back to his carrier, Waldron, leading the rest of his Torpedo Squadron 8, delivered an attack against the Japanese on June 4, 1942. Battling fierce Japanese fire, Waldron’s squadron had little chance. He and others tried to escape their planes as they were hit, but few were successful. Of the fifteen planes and thirty men, only one officer lived to tell of the heroic leadership of Lt. Cmdr. Waldron. It is apparent that Waldron’s outstanding leadership motivated his men to die for him and with him and the cause for which they stood.


John Waldron (left), and Horace Dobbs (right) during Coral Sea

An airfield at Corpus Christi, Texas, was named for Cmdr. Waldron in April of 1943. A destroyer, USS Waldron, also became his namesake. In addition, a street in Ft. Pierre, South Dakota is named for John Waldron, WW II hero.

[SAMWolf]

Spooky!!! How you been?

[Valin]

Give yourself an attaboy.
ATTABOY!!

[Valin]

Victor Davis Hanson devotes a chapter in his book "Carnage and Culture" to the battle of Midway. Highly recomended reading (and it's now out in paperback).

[Darksheare]

Explained on last post of previous thread...
Nope.
No luck.
The PNP part of the bios refuses to detect the 'newer obsolete' card. (geforce2 mx200 pci)
But it will detect my 'older obsolete' card (Riva TNT pci)
Seems it refuses to recognise cards made after a certain date. (Mid 2000.)
And as an added bonus, the bios rom itself would need to be replaced anyway to get it to recognise the 'newer obsolete card'. *chuckle*
Guess what the odds are on finding a compatible PNP bios rom?
Slim and none.
*chuckle*
I guess I'm just gonna have to get 'un-stingy' and buy a new motherboard, maybe one for my new but empty ATX case...

[snippy_about_it]

Stop it, you're making my head spin. lol.

At least it seems you had 'fun' trying to make it work. And hey, who doesn't want a new motherboard. *grin*

[snippy_about_it]

0 dark 30. lol.

[snippy_about_it]

Hiya Spooky, good to see you, what's the picture of for the puzzle?

[snippy_about_it]

Explained on last post of previous thread...

I apologize, I was reading backwards and didn't see your last post on previous thread until now.

[Darksheare]

Spinning heads?
Not accompanied with a voice saying, "This one belongs to us now!"?
*Darn*

I use my machine for various different things.
Vid games, mp3's, and my scanned drawings.
(I've pretty much maxed out what this MB can do.. as well as crammed my hard drive full.) ;-)
Yes, I dream of having a new motherboard.
Have Tigerdirect's new catalogue here in my very own little hands, now somewhat dog-eared and drooled on though. (Hey, techy types or technophiles drool about POWER, pure absolute computing POWER..)

'Course, I also have to balance out the fact that I'm way too cheap to buy anything at full current market price..
(That leaves out the Barton core AMD Athlon XP3200.. @$424.99 with fan and 3 year warranty..)
But the XP 2200 is only $65.
And I know people who can get one for me for less should I farm out the shopping like that.
(I'm and AMD man, after having a 386 [normal operation, not overclocked] melt down on me once upon a time and having Intel say "It's not our processor's fault, regardless of the defect in the chip, it's YOUR fault." I kinda have it in for Intel..)
Kinda unique.
One NEVER forgets the smell of melted CPU.
Smells almost like a fried Selenium Stack on an elevator..

I had fun, yes.
Now it's time to find out solutions for this new problem.

[Darksheare]

No prob.
Just letting you know that an explanation that PROBABLY made more sense was elsewhere..
I find I make less sense as the day wears on.
(???)
*chuckle*

But hey, it's ENTERTAINMENT!
"Entertainment is where you find it."
"I know a bad idea when I see it. And this, is a bad idea." -said right before popping several circuit breakers and frying a stereo.

[SAMWolf]

[Darksheare]

"If it's touted as unbreakable, hand it to a soldier. He'll soon find out."

[snippy_about_it]

(Hey, techy types or technophiles drool about POWER, pure absolute computing POWER..)

Men drool about power...cars, computers, toys, lol..It's a good thing. Mind you women like power too, we just try not to drool. *grin*

[Darksheare]

Well, I DID meet a woman who drooled over a 454 big block engine with a hemi carb on it.
She also liked the stats on the VW W12 engine, and the W18 engine...

And she tried not to drool too much, but sometimes it's impossible.

[snippy_about_it]

lol.

I'm sure it is.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Or give it to a 5 year old boy.

[Darksheare]

Yes.
Kinda embarrassing too.
Especially when I have to say to her, "Wipe that look off your face, you look... predatory."

[snippy_about_it]

lol!

[Darksheare]

I DID get her a "No Fear" hat that says "A Predator's eyes are always in front"

[Darksheare]

True enough, if it's childproof.. hand it to a child.
My parents could NEVER get supposed childproof locks and caps open.