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| Tailhook Aces - U.S. Navy Aces of World War II | Mar '10 |
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| By Larry W. Bledsoe |
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The latest Southern California Friends' (SCF) Aces symposium was held at the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in San Diego, Calif., on Sunday, March 7, 2010. It was a rainy day, but that didn't deter a large crowd from showing up for the event.
This picturesque museum, typical of southern California architecture, was originally built as a chapel for the San Diego Naval Hospital. Several years ago, it was slated to be torn down and replaced with a parking lot. Fortunately, it was saved from the wrecking ball thanks to some dedicated souls. It is now an exceptional museum that is a must-see for anyone visiting or living in the area.
Rear Adml. R. C. Melendez, who is the museum's executive director, welcomed everyone and opened the symposium by sharing a brief history of the museum. Following the admiral's introduction were the Presentation of Colors, the Pledge of Allegiance and our National Anthem. Dennis "Scott" Thomas, who is the SCF President and an American Fighter Aces Association Director, was the moderator for the symposium. Thomas introduced the guest aces and visiting dignitaries.
The guest aces were carrier pilots who fought in different naval battles of WWII. For example, Cpt. Vejtasa flew in some of the early carrier battles of 1942, the Battle of Coral Sea and Santa Cruz Islands.
Lt. Cmdr. Dungan was involved in fleet carrier operations of 1943 in the Central Pacific, including the Marianas Turkey Shoot. Cmdr. Laird served in the North Atlantic off the coast of Norway and then arrived in the Pacific in time for the Battle of Okinawa. Cmdr. Wendorf participated in the first carrier air strikes against Tokyo, the Japanese mainland and the last Pacific Island campaign for Okinawa.
Cpt. Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa, Jr. will celebrate his 96th birthday on July 27, 2010. In May 1942, he was aboard the carrier Yorktown flying a Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless dive-bomber with VS-5. The weather was terrible during the opening day of the Battle of Coral Sea.
They were looking for the Japanese carrier that they knew was in the area. It was only 22 miles away, but they couldn't see it due to the weather. Vejtasa's first hint that the carrier was nearby was when he saw Japanese planes try to land on the Yorktown, then zoom on by when the pilots realized their mistake. The reason the Japanese pilots didn't bomb the carrier was because they had already attacked another ship and needed to rearm. The next day while on combat air patrol, Vejtasa (flying an SBD) shot down three Japanese Zeros. Five months later on Oct. 26, 1942, Vejtasa shot down seven enemy aircraft during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, making him an Ace in a Day.
That time he was flying an F4F Wildcat with fighter squadron VF-10, which was serving aboard the carrier Enterprise. One highlight of his long career was his service as first skipper—from November 1962 to November 1963—of the U.S.S. Constellation, the first U.S. super carrier.
Lt. Cmdr. Fred "Buck" Dungan was assigned to Navy Night Fighter Squadron VF(N)-76 aboard the carrier U.S.S. Hornet. In 1943, enemy night fighters and bombers were harassing U.S. carriers in the Pacific. To counter this threat, the Navy formed its own Night Fighter squadron at Quonset Point, RI. Dungan noted that Charles Lindbergh helped with the initial training.
Dungan said they were originally trained in Corsairs, but transitioned to Hellcats when they were sent to the Pacific. After being formed, the group trained an additional 27 hours at Alameda before being shipped out to Hawaii on a jeep carrier. In January 1944, they were assigned to the U.S.S. Yorktown and soon met the taskforce's commander Adml. J. J. "Jocko Jima" Clark. He said, "Call me 'Jocko,' not 'Adml. Jocko'—just Jocko!"
That was the name he wanted to be called by everyone. Dungan persuaded Jocko to let his detachment of night fighters fly day and night missions in order to maintain their proficiency. It should be noted that Adml. Jocko Clark has gone down in history as one of the outstanding admirals of WWII.In April, Dungan was transferred to the U.S.S. Hornet.
Then on July 4, 1944, he spotted four Japanese Nakajima A6M2-N Rufe floatplanes. He headed for two of them—one of the planes spun out, and Dungan shot him down when he pulled out of the spin. He then met the other Rufe head on. Dungan faked a left turn and shot that one down, too. He followed another enemy plane to the deck. The enemy plane caught a wingtip in the water and crashed.
Dungan shot down all four planes, but he was wounded in the battle. After recovering from his wounds, he went on to train other night fighters.Cmdr. Dean "Diz" Laird was with VF-4 (the "Red Rippers") in 1943 aboard the U.S.S. Ranger during a tour of duty in the North Sea. They were flying the F4F Wildcat at that time. Mostly they were stationed off the Norwegian coast above the Arctic Circle, and it was frigid cold.
In addition to freezing, Laird had a problem with seasickness, but ironically was fine when he was flying, so he tried to fly as much as possible.On Oct. 4, 1943, Laird and others were on a CAP mission. His flight received a report of a bogey in their area, but they couldn't find it even though the ship's radar showed that it was very near. Finally, he spotted the bogey coming from behind a cloud—it was in a rain squall when Laird was close enough to take a shot.
He was outside the squall looking into a sheet of rain; all he could see was a blurred image of the German float plane when he opened fire. They encountered another plane shortly after and shot it down as well. Laird was awarded only partial credit for the two planes. That story was the only action the squadron saw on their tour of duty in the North Atlantic, which ended in December 1942.
After returning to the States, VF-4 transitioned to the Hellcat and then to the Pacific Theater, first assigned to the U.S.S. Bunker Hill and then the U.S.S. Essex. Between November 1944 and Feb. 17, 1945, Laird shot down five Japanese aircraft to become an ace. His last two victories were over Tokyo.
Cmdr. Edward "Wendy" Wendorf joined VF-16, the "Fighting Airedales," in September 1943 and served aboard the U.S.S. Lexington until August 1944. On Dec. 4, 1943, while on an escort mission, he spotted a Betty bomber trying to sneak out of the fray and quickly dispatched it. As he was climbing out, he spotted four aircraft at 10,000 feet.
Thinking they were ours, he started to join up, but soon realized they were Japanese Zeros.
About that time they spotted him and broke up, all heading off in different directions. He quickly dispatched two and was concentrating on the third when he was hit by the fourth Japanese plane. During the aerial combat, one round hit him just above the eye, and the wound was bleeding profusely. He had to use his left hand to staunch the flow of blood.
He was able to get away, but his plane was badly shot up—he had no hook, no flaps, no brakes and couldn't see out of his left eye, but he decided to fly back to the carrier anyway.After 45 agonizing minutes, he arrived where his ship was supposed to be, but it was nowhere in sight. He started the prescribed search pattern and soon found the wake of one of the ships in his task force.
By following the wake, he found a U.S. carrier which wasn't his. The deck crew on that carrier placed an arrow on the deck, pointing in the direction of the Lexington. Finally, he arrived at his carrier and made a forced landing on his third try, rolling down the deck and into the barrier. His plane was written off as a total loss.These four carrier aces are representative of the Navy aviators who fought bravely in WWII.
These brave men flew off to encounter the enemy wherever they were found, then flew back to carriers to rearm and refuel, ready to do it all over again. Often they returned from battle with their planes shot up. Sometimes they were wounded and still faced with the onerous task of landing on the deck of a carrier, which looked to be about the size of a postage stamp.
The deck was often pitching up and down, and they did it in all kinds of weather, day and night. These tailhook aviators are to be commended for their exceptional flying skills as well as their feats in aerial combat.
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