Battle of Midway

[reddragon]

TBD from VT-8 (Photo from Mark Haron).


In memory of the brave young men lost this day during the Battle of Midway, 1942.

 

[evangilder]

Nice tribute to remember them by.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Yes it is - If anyone could find a 1992 copy of "Sea Classics" for this month, there is a huge article on the Battle of Midway (50th anniversary). I wrote it!

 

[trackend]

That sure was some scrap to me the definitive carrier action.
No graves but the sea for a lot of those brave young fellas.

 

[reddragon]

It takes a brave man to do what they did that day. I don't know that I could have done it. Of course, there are countless acts of bravery that have taken place both in times of war and everyday life that we'll never know about.

 

[Karbine]

wow thats one big bomb,is it a torpedo bomb?

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Think of Toprpedo 8! A whole squadron lost! When I was in the Navy I couldn't imagine all of our squadron's planes lost, let alone the crews!

 

[R Leonard]

My father, who was XO of VF-3 at Midway, always says, with the respect obvious in his voice, that flying a torpedo plane was one of the most self-sacrificing thing a Navy pilot could do.

Rich

 

[Nonskimmer]

Here's to ya, fellas.

 

[evangilder]

Cool, FBJ! Do you still have a copy of the article?

 

[reddragon]

Several years ago, I saw a documentary about the battle of Midway but I can't remember the name of it. It said that the Japanese picked up three men from Torpedo Squadron 8 who, like Ensign Gay, survived their planes being shot down. If I recall correctly, the men were interrogated then tied up and tossed overboard. Has anyone else heard anything like that?

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Cool, FBJ! Do you still have a copy of the article?

I'll try to find it and post it, it's really long, so I'll post the first few pages.

 

[evangilder]

Cool, I would be interested in seeing that.

 

[R Leonard]

Several years ago, I saw a documentary about the battle of Midway but I can't remember the name of it. It said that the Japanese picked up three men from Torpedo Squadron 8 who, like Ensign Gay, survived their planes being shot down. If I recall correctly, the men were interrogated then tied up and tossed overboard. Has anyone else heard anything like that?

Ensign Wesley Osmus from Yorktown's VT-3 was picked up by the Japanese destroyer Arashi. After interrogating the him, they held him until dark and then took him to the fantail, split his skull open with a fire axe and tossed him overboard.

In a VS-6 (Enterprise) SBD Ensign Frank W. O'Flaherty and his radio-gunner AMM1c Bruno P. Gaido ran out of fuel after attacking the Kido Butai. They were picked up by the destroyer Makigumo. Several days after the battle and after interrogation, O'Flaherty and Gaido were bound with ropes, tied to weighted fuel cans, and then thrown overboard to drown.

Rich

 

[lesofprimus]

And thats just 2 stories out of about 2000 concerning murder and the Japanese..... Sad sad sad.... Ive heard more stories like that than i ever wanna remember...

WAR IS HELL...

 

[evangilder]

Indeed. What happened to our guys at the hands of the Japanese was inhuman. After reading many stories like "Flags of our fathers" "Flyboys" and many others, then hearing my relatives talk (almost all of them fought in the Pacific as Marines or SeaBees), I cannot imagine the hell that they went through.

D-Day anniversary is tomorrow. Also remember that there were over a hundred landings like that in the Pacific. My Uncle Jack was one of those that took the islands and held them until the relief came in. Then they were off to the next island.

 

[lesofprimus]

Ima post a new sig for some rememberance...

 

[Nonskimmer]

Good one.

 

[evangilder]

Fitting for our guys.

 

[lesofprimus]

The guy in the back with the kevlar on his head and the punk with the glasses on to the right are my buddies.... Couple of smooth operators these guys are, with 12 years in ST2... Ive met half the guys in this pic...

No better ull find in the US Military fellas...... Straight up...

Hats off!!!

Heres to the end of all war........ May another D-Day never need be...