Devastators off the port quarter!
In life we as people look up to others as heroes. They may be a famous football player or some other sports personality. Heck, yours might even be a movie star!? Well, mine so happens to be someone that you all may not have heard of. That person would be Lt Cdr John C. Waldron. He was 41 years old and in command of Torpdeo Squadron 8 based on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and took part in the greatest Naval battle in history. This is known as The Battle of Midway.
June 4th, 1942. Torpdeo Sqaudron 8 roars down the deck of the flat top USS Hornet. Fifteen TBD-Devastator torpedo/bombers with their pilots and aft gunners lift into the morning sun. Their mission is to stop the Japanese task force. The very same aircraft carriers and planes that had attacked and destroyed the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Lt Cdr Waldron was the most experienced aviator of all attacking Devastator flight groups. He was confident of his navigation and pin pointing where the Japanese carriers: Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, and Soryu would be.
Few aviators had seen combat and the ones in the attacking Devastator squadrons from Hornet, Yorktown, and Enterprise where green. The Devastator was a slow moving plane of only 220 mph. The Japanese Zero and anti-aircraft guns they were "stand still targets".
From eight miles out Torpedo 8 made there slow advance on the carrier Soryu. Almost immediatley the sky is turning black with flashes of tracer rounds and flak. Low to the water, unwavering as they had been trained. Straight and steady towards the danger where most would flee from. The Devastators fly in with out Wildcat fighter cover. One by one the Devastators are blown out of the sky until one plane remains. Ensign George Gay flying a plane literally shot to pieces having just seen his friends blown to bits and watched as his skipper Lt Cdr John C. Waldron and his aft gunner take a hit in the left fuel tank and as their plane was engulfed in flames, Ensign Gay could see them struggling to get their harnesses off. Too late. They smash into the ocean. But still, Ensign Gay has a job to do. Having lost his aft gunner and feeling he had nothing else to lose he flew straight towards his target.
Ensign Gay would be the sole survivor of Torpedo Squadron 8. Out of twenty-nine men he was the only to come home. He "swam his fish" and was soon after shot down. Other Devastator attack groups suffered the same fate. Out of 42 planes only two made it back.
They had a job to do. The Japanese were a threat to the U.S. and many made the ultimate sacrifice. No one asks to be a hero. Lt Cdr Waldron knew this and knew he and his boys had to do something about it. By an act of God (!?) after the attack run by the Devastators all of the Japanese planes and ships were focused on American aircraft that were low to the water. They did not notice in the sky above the attacking SBD-Dauntless dive bombers that had picked up Lt Cdr Waldron's co-ordinantes. The attacking force was led right to the Japanese Navy and the Devastators lived up to their name.
Without the skill and heroism of Lt Cdr Waldron and Torpedo Squadron 8, Torpdeo Squardon 3, and Torpdeo Squadron 6 the Battle of Midway could have been the turning point for the eventual assault on the US. These men need not be forgotten. They are all heroes in the truest sense of the word.
A farwell salute to you brave souls on your daring raid on the Japanese Navy in June of 1942. May the memory of your names forever be etched into the hearts of those you saved. On the wings of the Devastators you are on eternal patrol. Our skies are safe and you are loved and missed. Good night heroes of the Navy.
June 4th, 1942. Torpdeo Sqaudron 8 roars down the deck of the flat top USS Hornet. Fifteen TBD-Devastator torpedo/bombers with their pilots and aft gunners lift into the morning sun. Their mission is to stop the Japanese task force. The very same aircraft carriers and planes that had attacked and destroyed the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Lt Cdr Waldron was the most experienced aviator of all attacking Devastator flight groups. He was confident of his navigation and pin pointing where the Japanese carriers: Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, and Soryu would be.
Few aviators had seen combat and the ones in the attacking Devastator squadrons from Hornet, Yorktown, and Enterprise where green. The Devastator was a slow moving plane of only 220 mph. The Japanese Zero and anti-aircraft guns they were "stand still targets".
From eight miles out Torpedo 8 made there slow advance on the carrier Soryu. Almost immediatley the sky is turning black with flashes of tracer rounds and flak. Low to the water, unwavering as they had been trained. Straight and steady towards the danger where most would flee from. The Devastators fly in with out Wildcat fighter cover. One by one the Devastators are blown out of the sky until one plane remains. Ensign George Gay flying a plane literally shot to pieces having just seen his friends blown to bits and watched as his skipper Lt Cdr John C. Waldron and his aft gunner take a hit in the left fuel tank and as their plane was engulfed in flames, Ensign Gay could see them struggling to get their harnesses off. Too late. They smash into the ocean. But still, Ensign Gay has a job to do. Having lost his aft gunner and feeling he had nothing else to lose he flew straight towards his target.
Ensign Gay would be the sole survivor of Torpedo Squadron 8. Out of twenty-nine men he was the only to come home. He "swam his fish" and was soon after shot down. Other Devastator attack groups suffered the same fate. Out of 42 planes only two made it back.
They had a job to do. The Japanese were a threat to the U.S. and many made the ultimate sacrifice. No one asks to be a hero. Lt Cdr Waldron knew this and knew he and his boys had to do something about it. By an act of God (!?) after the attack run by the Devastators all of the Japanese planes and ships were focused on American aircraft that were low to the water. They did not notice in the sky above the attacking SBD-Dauntless dive bombers that had picked up Lt Cdr Waldron's co-ordinantes. The attacking force was led right to the Japanese Navy and the Devastators lived up to their name.
Without the skill and heroism of Lt Cdr Waldron and Torpedo Squadron 8, Torpdeo Squardon 3, and Torpdeo Squadron 6 the Battle of Midway could have been the turning point for the eventual assault on the US. These men need not be forgotten. They are all heroes in the truest sense of the word.
A farwell salute to you brave souls on your daring raid on the Japanese Navy in June of 1942. May the memory of your names forever be etched into the hearts of those you saved. On the wings of the Devastators you are on eternal patrol. Our skies are safe and you are loved and missed. Good night heroes of the Navy.