80 years ago this morning, 15 TBDs launched from the deck of the USS Hornet to attack the fleet of Kido Butai. Led by John C. Waldron, all 15 aircraft were lost, with only 1 of the 30 men on that mission surviving. These men knew their aircraft were obsolete and had...
While there is nothing I could possible write today that would add anything of significant value to the incredible amount of published research on the Battle of Midway, I cannot allow the 80th anniversary of this momentous event in our national history to pass without...
SBD-3 BuNo 3232, Lt. (j.g.) Jack ‘Dusty’ Kleiss and radioman 3/c John John Snowden, Scouting Six, USS Enterprise (CV6), June 4, 1942. On the morning of June 4, 1942 Jack ‘Dusty’ Kleiss was flying one of 32 SBD-3s from USS Enterprise led by the...
SBD-3 BuNo 4618, Cdr. C. Wade McClusky, Commander of USS Enterprise (CV 6) Air Group, June 4, 1942. Cdr. C. Wade McClusky played a major part in the Battle of Midway, with Admiral Nimitz saying McClusky’s actions in locating the enemy fleet “decided the...
This video has some incredible footage of planes from USS Enterprise just prior to the Battle of Midway (my guess is May 1942 as the pre-war markings have been painted over for the BoM aircraft, and since some of these were lost on June 4th and are unarmed, we know it...
