THE ROUNDTABLE FORUM
Official newsletter of the Battle of Midway
Roundtable
http://www.midway42.org/
"To promote awareness and understanding of the
great battle,
and to honor the men who fought and won it."
20 June 2008..........ISSUE NO.
2008-23..........OUR 11th YEAR
=============== AROUND THE TABLE ===============
Members' topics in this issue:
1. 66th BOM Anniversary in San Diego
2. 66th BOM Anniversary in Washington,
DC (Naval Memorial)
3. 66th BOM Anniversary Aboard a USN Destroyer
4. Submarines in the BOM
5. Seeking Info on a Vet
<>
<> <> <>
<>
1. 66th BOM ANNIVERSARY IN SAN DIEGO
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 June 2008
CDR Clayton E. Fisher, USN-Ret
Southern California
BOM vet, SBD pilot, VB-8, USS Hornet (CV-8)
Annie and I attended the BOM celebration last
Saturday night aboard the USS Midway. It was well organized.
Admiral Robert Willard, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, was the main
speaker. I was impressed. He is an accomplished speaker and
gave the best BOM speech I have heard in all the celebrations I have
attended.
Somebody
donated about ten thousand dollars to the Midway organization to
purchase two large screens, about 8 x 8 ft., such that photo images could
be projected from the rear. The screens
were placed on each side of the stage, and they positioned about a 3 x 3 ft. picture
of each Midway vet, 1942 vintage, down in the lower right corner. Then they put a live cameras on each vet and
a narrator gave a brief bio about the vet. This gave recognition to each
vet. They did take a group picture,
[but] I don't know if the vets will be sent a copy. Ted Kraver was there and shot some pictures.
I think
there were only three [BOM vet] aviators aboard. They assign a petty officer to each vet. I'm always impressed with the active duty
Navy personnel.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 June 2008
Ronald Graetz
Southern California
BOM vet, TBD radioman-gunner, VT-6, USS Enterprise
(CV-6)
We had a very impressive program on Saturday, 7 June. They had two flyovers, both with an F4F and a jet fighter. I was curious as to the reason the F4F had
his wheels down on the first flyover.
We had a very interesting talk by a
Marine pilot who was stationed on Midway during the battle. This was
Colonel Leon M. Williamson, USMC (Ret).
He was a scout bomber pilot with VMSB 241. He spoke of memories of
that fateful event.
One of my guests for the evening was my
son, Woody. I was impressed that they
had reserved a chair, with his name on it, beside my chair. Woody was an
ASW sonarman on a destroyer and did two tours in Vietnam.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
<> <> <>
<> <>
2. 66th BOM ANNIVERSARY WASHINGTON, DC
(NAVAL MEMORIAL)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 June 2008
FTC Bernard C. Cotton, USN-Ret
Florida
BOM vet, gunfire controlman, Mk 37 director, USS Hornet
(CV-8)
The following was taken from the handout at the 66th dedication of the Battle
of Midway:
"‘They had no right to win.
Yet they did, and in doing so they changed the course of a war. More than
that, they added a new name—Midway—to that small list that inspires men by
example...like Marathon, the Armada, the Marne. Even against the greatest
of odds, there is something in the human spirit—a magic blend of skill, faith
and valor—that can lift men from certain defeat to incredible victory.
—Walter Lord’
“The Naval District of Washington
proudly commemorates the 66th anniversary of the Battle of Midway, fought on
June 4, 1942. The first Japanese naval defeat since 1592, the Battle of
Midway has been heralded as the turning point of World War II, allowing the
United States to shift focus toward Europe and the invasion of Normandy.
Had it not been for the dedication of each of the thousands of sailors, from a
young yeoman named Bill Tremblay all the way up to Fleet Admiral Chester W.
Nimitz, this ‘Incredible Victory’ would not have been possible.
“In 1999, Chief of Naval Operations
Admiral Jay Johnson announced that beginning with the 2000 observance,
June 4 would become as significant as October 13, the Navy's birthday.
‘Twice a year, we will pause as a Navy to reflect upon our proud heritage
and to build in all hands a renewed awareness of our tradition and history,’
Johnson said. According to the CNO, the
continuing lesson of Midway is that people make the difference. ‘Midway
was won, not by superior numbers or American technology but by the courage and
tenacity of sailors who fought an intense air and sea battle against
overwhelming odds," said Johnson.
“It is with these thoughts in mind
that today we welcome our honored guests to the nations capital. We are
proud to welcome the following Battle of Midway Veterans:
“FTC Bernard Cotton,
USN/Ret--------------USS Hornet (CV-8)
CAPT Jack Crawford,
USN/Ret---------------USS Yorktown (CV-5)
CWO Frank Boo,
USN/Ret---------------------USS Yorktown (CV-5)
STC Howard Snell,
USN/Ret------------------USS Enterprise (CV-6)”
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- -
Ed. note: Bernie sent a few
photos with the above message, and here’s the best of the lot. That’s Bernie, second from left, apparently
giving instructions, CPO-style, to the photographer:
http://www.midway42.org/temp/66th-wdc.jpg
<> <>
<> <> <>
3. 66th BOM ANNIVERSARY ABOARD A USN
DESTROYER
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 June 2008
CDR Brian Fort, USN
CO, USS Gonzalez (DDG-66)
Hello from the commanding officer of USS Gonzalez (DDG
66). Back in 2006 I wrote a piece for the U.S. Naval Institute
“Proceedings” magazine entitled “Midway Is Our Trafalgar.” You mentioned
it in your BOM Roundtable Forum and I joined up. Sorry it has
taken me so long to catch up, but I thought you might be interested in how my
ship makes recognizing our naval heritage part of our daily routine, and in
particular, how we remembered the 66th anniversary of Midway.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ed. note: Brian’s USNI article
presented a compelling argument that the BOM should rate the same level of
honor and attention in the U.S. as does the Battle of Trafalgar in the
U.K. If you have past issues of
“Proceedings” on hand, see June 2006, p. 62.
For the 66th BOM anniversary (aboard DDG-66, no less) Brian promoted recognition of the
battle by encouraging his officers and crew to don 1942-looking uniforms to the
extent possible. BZ to all hands on the
Gonzalez for getting into the spirit of the occasion! Here are a couple of photos from the ship:
http://www.midway42.org/temp/ddg66-3.jpg
http://www.midway42.org/temp/ddg66-5.jpg
<> <> <>
<> <>
4. SUBMARINES IN THE BOM
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
16 June 2008
John Gresham
Virginia
Another great issue [last week], though I
would like to point out that there was a third submarine which made a
significant, albeit indirect contribution to the outcome of the Battle of
Midway. USS Tambor (SS-190)
contributed to the sinking of the cruiser Mikuma and damaging of her
sister ship Mogami. They collided after [sighting Tambor],
which slowed them down enough to be attacked later by aircraft from Midway, Enterprise,
and Hornet.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ed.
note: John’s point is well taken. While the involvement of Nautilus and I-168 in the BOM had what I would consider
vital consequences for the battle’s outcome, Tambor should be included
in the very short list (3) of BOM submarines that accomplished anything at all
during the battle, intentional or otherwise.
<> <>
<> <> <>
5. SEEKING INFO ON A VET
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
30 May 2008
CAPT Charles deGruy, USN-Ret
Virginia
I have a friend whose dad participated in
the Battle of Midway. He flew in the
back seat of some USS Enterprise aircraft squadron. His dad's name
was Oscar Sherrill Nobles. He
served on the Enterprise throughout the war from 1941 to 1945. Is
there a way we can find out more details of his dad's service via the BOMRT?
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- -
Ed.
note: I could not find the above name
on Chris Hawkinson’s BOM aircrew lists nor on the www.cv6.org veteran
list. Does anyone have a better
resource? If you can come up with
anything regarding this vet, please contact Charlie deGruy (e-mail address
above).
=============== NOW HEAR THIS! ===============
News & info in this issue:
- WWII Photo Collection
- Forum Notes
<> <> <>
<> <>
WWII PHOTO
COLLECTION
Jeff McMeans sends the URL for an interesting web site with a very large
collection of WWII photos from both the Pacific and European theaters. Here’s the home page URL:
http://wwiiarchives.net/servlet/gallery/20
There are hundreds of photos displayed
including several from the BOM, and a number of them are entirely new (at
least, to me). You can browse through
the site if you have an hour or so to spend, but for a shortcut, here are some
of the Midway pictures that caught my attention:
VB-3 pilots aboard Yorktown before
the battle: http://wwiiarchives.net/servlet/photo/1187/180
Bert Earnest and Harry Ferrier’s TBF,
just before shipping to the mainland for battle damage assessment, 24 June
1942: http://wwiiarchives.net/servlet/photo/661/180
Same TBF, closeup of rear cockpit: http://wwiiarchives.net/servlet/photo/662/180
The view from Sand Island: http://wwiiarchives.net/servlet/photo/549/360
Lt. Muri’s B-26 crew on Midway: http://wwiiarchives.net/servlet/photo/664/1600
You’ll find many more BOM photos there,
mostly the familiar ones that have been published numerous times. That’s not surprising since these pictures
appear to all be from the Naval Historical Center archives.
The site has two problems. One, the photo pages as well as the photos
on each page are not sensibly sorted, so that (for example) you get a page of
mixed Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima pictures, followed by a page of German fighters,
then two pages of Pearl Harbor attack photos followed by Battle of the Bulge
images, and so on. Your only choice
seems to be pot luck—whatever happens to be on any page is what you get, and
don’t try to figure it out. Then, (2)
the captions on many of the photos are very poor—many entries are incorrect,
misspelled, or woefully inadequate, such as the numerous Japanese aircraft
pictures labeled “Japanese plane.” But
it’s still a great collection of wartime photos. The previously unseen BOM photos are especially interesting.
<>
<> <> <>
<>
FORUM NOTES
~ The mention of Yeoman Bill Tremblay
in the Washington, DC 66th anniversary program (above) should spark some
interest on the Roundtable. Bill, one
of our former members (now an honored memory) figures prominently in the
Roundtable’s archives. For his full
story, see No Right to Win, pp. 30-33, then be sure to skip to pp.
256-257.
~ Here’s a veterans’ group
photo from the 66th anniversary event in San Francisco on June 7th. Left to right is Edward Anderson, who was
Lew Hopkins’ gunner in VB-6; USS New Orleans SOC pilot Phil Horne; VB-8
gunner Oral “Slim” Moore; Yorktown helmsman Francis Rouse; and VP-44
navigator/pilot Bob Swan. Yes, I’m in
the background also, at the photographer’s insistence:
http://www.midway42.org/temp/66th-sf-5vetss.jpg
<>
<> <> <>
<>
Get the Roundtable's Book: “NO RIGHT TO WIN: A Continuing
Dialogue With Veterans Of The Battle Of Midway”
Now available with a companion CD—click for full
information: http://www.russbook.com/
If you cannot access the above web site, send a
message to the editor for full details on No Right to Win or the CD. (Roundtable members can just click
"reply" on this message.)
<> <> <>
<> <>
For a glossary of abbreviations, acronyms, and terms used in The Roundtable
Forum, go to our home page and click the "Roundtable Glossary"
link, or here is the direct URL:
http://www.midway42.org/glossary.htm
<> <> <>
<> <>
The Roundtable Forum, the Official Newsletter of the Battle of Midway
Roundtable ("the Forum") is distributed by e-mail to
registered members at approximately one-week intervals. An abridged edition is also posted on our
web site. For information on joining
the Roundtable and subscribing to the Forum, click this URL: http://www.midway42.org/how_join.html.
All original content in the Forum is copyright 2008 by Ronald W.
Russell, Lodi, California USA.. Except
for personal information as explained below, permission to copy or quote from
the Forum for non-commercial purposes is granted if the following
citation is included: "The
Roundtable Forum, official newsletter of the Battle of Midway Roundtable,
www.midway42.org." Permission for
commercial use of material found in the Forum may be requested by
contacting the editor.
Important notice: any member's
personal information appearing in the Forum, including but not limited
to his/her e-mail address, should be considered confidential and
private. Permission to forward, copy,
or quote from the Forum does not apply to such personal information
unless authorized by the affected member.
Webmasters: we'll appreciate a link on
related web sites. Please link to our
domain name: http://www.midway42.org. A banner for the purpose can be downloaded
from http://www.midway42.org/logo-bomrt.jpg
Our contact info:
midway.rt@gmail.com
The Battle of Midway Roundtable
Ronald W. Russell, editor
2839 Bristol Lane
Lodi, CA 95242 USA
Phone 209-367-5819
(Fax available upon request)
