The Roundtable Forum
Official
newsletter of the
BATTLE OF MIDWAY ROUNDTABLE
"Dedicated
to preserving the memory of the great battle
and
honoring the men who fought it."
6
JUNE 2004 ......................... Issue No. 2004-06 .........................
Our 7th Year
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AROUND
THE TABLE
MEMBERS' TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE
1. Non-commissioned and warrant
officer pilots
2. Mitscher, Ring, and the USS
Hornet's after-action report
3. Into the Pacific on the Yorktown
4. The new World War II memorial
5. Memorial Day 2004
6. Breaking JN-25
=========================================
"Non-commissioned
and Warrant Officer Pilots" (See Skip Gee, issue
4-03; Alvin Kernan, Bill Vickrey, Skip Gee, and Roy Gee, issue 4-04;
Tom Cheek & Otis Kight, issue 4-05.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30 May 2004
From: Robert Swan rswan@sonic.net (BOM vet, VP-44
pilot/navigator, Midway)
While I went through Pensacola as
a cadet, I few with many ex-APs (enlisted pilot ratings), and my experience
leads me to believe they were outstanding pilots. Jack Reid was an
ex-AP who received his commission shortly before the Battle of Midway. He
was PPC of our plane, and his handling of the plane and action upon
sighting the fleet and subsequent following and reporting on the enemy without
being sighted by them was almost unbelievable. We were over them for
over 3 hours. Some day I may write the story of how we did it.
My next debt to the APs was a
couple of months later when I was PPC and AP Wideberg was one of my
copilots. He took over the controls when we were on instruments at night
out of Johnson Island, and he let me know that what I thought was the moon was
actually the searchlight from the island. When we had just gotten
lined up on it to make an approach in the dark, the island skipper ordered
the light turned off. Ensign Umphrey (ex-AP), pilot of another
PBY, had stayed on the ground when the alert was sounded and we were
ordered to take off to attack the enemy ship. He claimed engine trouble,
so wisely didn't take off in the hurricane. When the order came to turn
off the searchlight, he and his crew said they had the .50 caliber gun in
their plane blister on the 6 inch battery and they
would open up on it the light went out. The light stayed on.
We took two passes to get down, but we made it and it all came out well.
But that particular time I was mighty thankful for two other pilots, an AP
and an ex-AP.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Swan was the
navigator on ENS Jack Reid's crew that first sighted and reported the Japanese
invasion force on the morning of June 4th. The crew's photo appears on
page 54 in "A Glorious Page In Our History." (A small
correction to the photo caption: Reid's squadron was VP-44, not
VP-23.)
*
* *
"Mitscher,
Ring, and the USS Hornet's After-Action Report"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23 May 2004
From: Alvin Kernan, alvin.kernan@worldnet.att.net
(BOM vet, AOM3/c, VT-6, USS Enterprise)
Mitscher, the commanding officer of the Hornet, thought
for a time that his career was over, so badly had his air group performed.
Commander Stanhope Ring, the actual leader of the air group, might well have
seen himself commanding a dry dock somewhere out in the boondocks. After all, how can one explain such a
big-time mistake that had thrown away almost one-third of the American strike
force in what came to be known as “the flight to nowhere?”
The answer is that lifetime navy careers were at
stake, and a cover-up began almost immediately after the battle. After-action reports were explicitly
required, on the standard navy form dedicated to the purpose: (a) to be filled out by the unit commander
immediately upon landing after each action or operation in contact with the
enemy, and (b) do not ‘gun deck’ the report--if data can not be estimated with
reasonable accuracy, enter a dash in space for which no data is available.
But there were no reports for Ring’s Hornet
air group, nor for Scouting 8, Bombing 8, or Fighting 8. So Marc Mitscher’s after-action report for
the entire ship, the Hornet, became the official document describing
what had happened during the battle of Midway. His brief report says
correctly that the position of the enemy at the time of launch was “155 miles
distant, bearing 239° T from this task force.”
It lets readers think, however, that the unspecified “prescribed
bearing” that Ring took corresponded to a direct line to the enemy’s assumed
course. The report goes on to say that
the Hornet planes flew south of Kido Butai, for the enemy
had “reversed his course and started his retirement.”
The report says that a message was received about the
Japanese change in course, but Hornet “did not break radio silence to
report this to the planes.” Unaware of the enemy change in course, Mitscher’s
report goes on, Ring had flown south of the target and made the mistake of
searching still farther to the south when he crossed the point where he
expected to encounter Nagumo. Had Ring “turned north, contact would
probably have been made,” Mitscher concludes.
The effect of the report was to transform Ring’s
failure into an understandable mistake for which no apologies need to be made.
“The strike flew south of the Japanese, (but) the torpedo planes flew a
different course to the enemy.” A map attached to Mitscher’s report appears to
substantiates that Ring flew south of the Japanese on a course of about 240
degrees, that he turned towards Midway in a search, and then returned to the
ship. Why the fighters would have taken the course indicated on this map when
they were low on gas is left as anyone’s guess.
Mitscher’s commander, Admiral Raymond Spruance, did
not approve of the way the Hornet had conducted the battle or written
its action report. At the beginning of
his own report to CINCPAC, he casts doubt on Mitscher’s accuracy with unusual
frankness: “Where discrepancies exist
between Enterprise and Hornet reports, the Enterprise report
should be taken as the more accurate.”
But the Mitscher report and map were not questioned, at least openly,
and in time came to stand as the official representations of the flight of the Hornet
air group on the morning of June 4th.
Did Mitscher personally invent the story told by his
report and its map? Not likely. He and Ring had been cronies at the Bureau
of Aeronautics in the 1930s, and he was known for his loyalty to his
officers. After the BOM, he continued
to support his old friend Ring, not only recommending him for his Navy Cross
but choosing him as his chief of staff in patrol wings he commanded after
Midway. But his Midway report was surely put together by his officers,
and there had to have been a lot of collusion, or, more likely, quiet
agreements among a network of academy graduates who saw their careers as the
paramount consideration. But Mitscher
signed the report, and he was responsible for all that was in it. Whether he
ordered the cover-up or not, he had to have known what was going on.
In 1947, a Naval War College strategic and tactical
analysis of the Battle of Midway called attention to the Hornet air
group’s failure to sight the enemy fleet and turn north (so they
accepted Mitscher‘s report). The report blamed Mitscher only to the extent that
“the commanding officer should ensure that flight leaders are properly
briefed.” But by then Mitscher had been canonized as The Magnificent
Mitscher for his performance as the commander of fast carrier forces later
in the war.
I would greatly appreciate the views of anyone
interested in this topic.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alvin Kernan, a
retired professor of Shakespeare at Princeton University, is a senior advisor
to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the author of "Crossing
the Line" (USNI Press). He holds the Navy Cross for night
action off Tarawa as an aircrewman with VT-6.
*
* *
"Into
the Pacific on the Yorktown"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23 May 2004
From: Bill Roy billgroy34103@yahoo.com (BOM
vet, ship's photographer, USS Yorktown)
RIGHT
AFTER PEARL HARBOR, WHEN YORKTOWN WAS TRANSITING THE PANAMA CANAL, WE
STOPPED THE NIGHT IN PANAMA CITY, PANAMA. I BELIEVE THAT IT WAS
THAT NIGHT THAT THE DECK CREW PAINTED OVER THE BLACK LETTERS YORKTOWN
TO MATCH THE GRAY OF THE HULL. ONLY PROBLEM--THE HIGHLY RAISED AND WELDED
ON YORKTOWN LETTERS STOOD OUT IN RELIEF.
ABOUT
SEVEN THE NEXT MORNING, THERE WERE NO FLIGHT QUARTERS, SINCE WE WERE STILL IN
THE PANAMA CANAL AND JUST ABOUT TO COME OUT INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. WE
WERE PICKING UP SPEED, AND WERE GREETED BY SEVERAL DESTROYERS, AND A
PBY. AND A JAPANESE SUBMARINE--ALL HANDS TO GENERAL QUARTERS!
THE
DESTROYERS DROPPED DEPTH CHARGES, THE PBY FLEW AROUND, WE WENT TO FLANK SPEED
AND DID ZIG-ZAG COURSES. I NEVER FINISHED MY BREAKFAST.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
* *
"The
new World War II memorial"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30 May 2004
From: Bill Vickrey bkv@triad.rr.com
Yesterday, I spent
well over two hours--with tears in my eyes--watching the dedication service for
the WW II memorial. It was on C-Span and will surely be repeated, but I do not
know when. Any WW II vet ought to see this.
Tom Brokow, Tom Hanks,
Bob Dole, President Bush, General F. X. Kelley (former Commandant of the
Marine Corps) and others spoke at the dedication. Former presidents
George Bush and Bill Clinton sat side by side in the audience.
I would have liked to
be there but, having lived in Baltimore for twenty years, I know about the
weather there so I made no effort to attend.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Vickrey was
a navy Pharmacist's Mate in WWII. Today, he is one of our primary
resources for information on the BOM--if there's a fact or piece of data about
the battle that you can't find anywhere else, Bill probably has it on file
somewhere. (And by the way, I recorded the dedication ceremonies
Bill describes above. If you'd like to see the tape, contact me.
--RR)
*
* *
"Memorial
Day 2004"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30 May 2004 [via Military.com]
From: Nancy Mahi, nmahi@comcast.net
During this Memorial Day weekend
and with the BOM anniversary coming up, I want to thank our veterans for their
service and express my gratitude to them for the privilege I have of
living in this free country. That gratitude is mixed with grief for those whose
lives were lost.
I hope the Fish and Wildlife
Service people occupying Midway will pause a moment to reflect on what happened
there 62 years ago, and will perhaps have the courtesy to be respectful toward
the monument and the importance of Midway's history, at least for one day.
Again, all you vets, thank you.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nancy is the
niece of VT-8 TBD pilot Grant Teats.
*
* *
"Breaking
JN-25"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26 May 2004
From: Rich Leonard rdkcleon@erols.com
I received this from a cyber-friend researcher type in
Australia, Geoffrey Sinclair. Geoffrey is working on a timeline fact
sheet on the work to break the Japanese Navy's JN-25 code. He has
requested that the Roundtable take a look at his work so far and comment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
URL for Mr.
Sinclair's document: http://www.midway42.org/temp/JN25-Sinclair.htm
After reviewing it, you can send him
feedback at gsinclair@froggy.com.au. CC
your reply to us, too.
NOW
HEAR THIS!
NEWS & INFO IN THIS
ISSUE
-- CDR Tom Cheek,
USN-Ret: final sortie
-- VT painting on our home
page
-- TV this week
===========================================
CDR TOM CHEEK, USN-RET:
FINAL SORTIE
By now
you're aware that a key member of our veterans' roster has become
a cherished memory. This very limited format cannot do a
credible tribute to the likes of Tom Cheek, but I know that his
many professional and personal friends will do that in abundance.
For now, please read his formal obituary below, and perhaps you might also like
to once again review his story of the Battle of Midway on our web site (on the
home page, click "BOMRT Veterans' Stories"). In addition to his
many other qualities, Tom was a fine writer, as even his obituary attests.
In the
event that anyone receives this in time to attend Tom's services, please be
sure to send us a report.
Farewell
and following seas, Tom. For what it may be worth, you'll always have an
honored presence on the quarterdeck of this command.
Obituary for CDR Tom
Cheek, USN-Ret:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“In Passing” by Tom Cheek
When the heavy sound of silence
Settles, hovering, over the arena
Marking the battle’s end,
Then to the fore the questions!
Who shall wear the wreath of laurel?
Who shall bear the crown of thorns?
Commander Tom F. Cheek, USN Retired,
87, of Salinas, CA died Thursday, June 3, 2004 at his home. He was born in Harrison, AR, April 15, 1917
to Jay and Margaret (Traux) Cheek. He
lived in Salinas for 42 years.
Membership: Eagle Scout and charter member of the Silver Eagles Association.
Military service: He was a highly decorated Naval war hero and Navy Cross
recipient, served in the United States Navy from 1935 - 1956. He was commissioned through the Naval
Aviation Pilot Program, received his Navy Aviator Wings in Pensacola, FL
,1938. A fighter pilot in the Pacific
theater during the Battle of Midway and throughout WW II, Commander Cheek
served on the USS Lexington, Enterprise, Yorktown and retired from Air
Transport Sqd. 21, NAS Barbers Point, HI in 1956. In addition to the Navy Cross, Tom’s distinguished service awards
include the Presidential Unit Citation, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense,
Asiatic-Pacific, American Area, WW II Victory, National Defense and Letter of
Commendation.
Survivors: His wife of 53 years, Marie
McLaughlin Cheek. Son, Thomas Fred
Cheek (Shirley) of Toronto, Canada, twin daughters, Elizabeth Cheek Jones
(David) of Burke, VA, Linda Cheek Hall (John) of Pensacola, FL. Grandchildren: Tom Fred Cheek, Lisa Cheek
Olsen, Jeffery Cheek, Ray Jones, Patrick Hall, Cameron Hall, six great
grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
Services: Whitehurst
Muller Funeral Service, 41 East Alisal St., Salinas, CA on Tuesday, June 8,
2004 at 11:00 a.m. Visitation on
Monday, June 7, 2004 at Whitehurst Muller Funeral Home 10:00 a.m. until 9:00
p.m. for friends and family.
Burial: Castroville
Cemetery at Moss Landing with full military honors.
Memorials:
Naval
Aviation Museum Foundation
Honor
of: Silver Eagles Association
P.O.
Box 33104
1750
Radford Blvd
Naval
Air Station
Pensacola,
FL 32508-3104
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
* *
VT PAINTING ON OUR HOME
PAGE
I've
received a couple of inquiries concerning the VT squadron painting at the top
of our home page. The painting first came to our attention on the
Roundtable a couple years ago when one of our members, Pete Shumbo, found it on
a web site containing a lot of combat art. Pete said there was no
info about the artist or anything else that would identify the source of the
painting.
So, I'm
wondering if a member who has joined the Roundtable since then (or
anyone else, for that matter) might recognize the painting as the work of some
known artist. If you have a clue where this image originated or who
created it, please let us know. It would be nice to know if the artist
had VT-8 in mind when he painted the picture, or perhaps VT-6 or VT-3. It
actually could represent any of them, or all of them.
The URL
for our home page is at the top of this (and every) issue of the Forum.
*
* *
TV THIS WEEK
TV listings of possible interest for
the week of 7-13 June. Times shown are Pacific Daylight Time--check
your local guide for the time in your area.
Channels:
AMC = American Movie
Classics
FNC = Fox News
Channel
HC
= History Channel
PBS =
Public Broadcasting System
TCM = Turner Classic
Movies
Wednesday, 9 June
9:00 AM (HC) "The True Story of the
Black Sheep Squadron" (Repeated at 3:00 PM)
10:00 AM (HC) "FDR's Secret
War" The HC web site says this is based on a book that purports to
reveal FDR's desire to bomb Japan before Pearl Harbor, among other
things. I'll watch this one with a "prove it to me" attitude,
but it may be interesting in any case. (Repeated at 4:00 PM)
Saturday, 12 June
7:00 PM (TCM) "The Men of the
Fighting Lady" (1954). This is another "Toko-Ri" style
film of naval air during the Korean War. Good reviews on
Amazon.com. Has a particularly gripping sequence involving a blinded
pilot being guided back to the carrier by his wingman, and someone correct me
if I'm wrong, but I believe that was based on a true event.
Note: these
weekly TV listings are the result of a cursory review of my
local Sunday morning TV guide, which means that there are probably a
lot of suitable listings that I miss. Members can aid this effort by
letting me know about any upcoming programs of interest that you're aware
of. Ordinarily, I'll need to hear from you by the Saturday before
the broadcast date. Thanks for your help. --RR
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