The Battle of Midway Roundtable Opening Remarks
Welcome. October 2023 marks the 26th year of the Battle of Midway RoundTable. Started as a conversation with a couple veterans of the battle by Bill Price via email, it was soon joined by many other veterans of the battle. Over the years a lot of topics were discussed, some false information that found its way into publications corrected, other controversial topics analyzed in detail and even a book published. Truely an amazing journey.
This issue is quite a bit late and my apologies. Holiday season is upon us, and my business is very busy this time of year. But most of my work is now done and I have more time for personal projects like this one.
This month we have a letter George Gay wrote, a couple reactions to the quest for a Medal of Honor for the Torpedo Squadron commanders, and a very good video of the exploration of the Japanese carrier wrecks.
Enjoy and I will have the next newsletter out in a couple weeks.
"The Man Who Won World War II"
25 October 2023 From Clark Whelton
Many thanks for this month’s Roundtable. Great job!
Can’t recall if I’ve mentioned it before, but I published an article on Wade McCluskey and Midway in the March, 1974, issue of Argosy magazine. The editors called it “The Man Who Won World War II” because a main theme was McCluskey finding the Japanese fleet at that well-known crucial moment in the battle. If he had failed, and the Enterprise squadrons had ended up like the Hornet’s, the entire course of the war might have been altered. After Midway, Japan was effectively finished, and could only delay the inevitable.
Researching the article, I visited Adm. McCluskey at his home outside Baltimore. Over the mantle was a portrait of a CVE that McCluskey commanded later in the war, along with its escort, which I believe was a DE. At that time, McCluskey had four stripes, and he commented that, since both ships were under his command, he really should have had a star.
Other research included a phone conversation and an exchange of letters with Max Leslie of the Yorktown. I wanted to know the answer to something that had been puzzling me… “How did you find the Japanese fleet with no apparent difficulty, when the Hornet and Enterprise planes had so much trouble?” Adm. Leslie did not know the answer. He said, “They gave me a heading and I flew straight to it, and there was the Jap fleet.” The change of course of that had taken the Kido Butai away from where Ring and McCluskey expected to find it also took it straight into the arms of Bombing 3 from Yorktown.
Adm. Leslie was miffed about one thing. Somewhere he had read that the carrier Soryu sunk by Bombing 3 was a CVE. “That was not an escort carrier,” he said with great emphasis. “That damn thing was as big as Yorktown.” When I told him the Soryu was in fact a CV, he felt better.
best regards,
Clark Whelton NYC, NY
While I don't recall the article it is likely I read it way back then. My father or grandfather always had a subscription to Argosy magazine since I could remember. By 1974 I had been away from home for 4 years but when I came home mother always saved some magazines for me to take back with me or read while at home and Argosy was one of them along with a few others. We always had a number of magazine subscriptions.
Midway Medals of Honor
25 October 2023 From Barrett Tillman
The prospect of multiple Midway Medals of Honor comes hard on the tail of my unfinished survey of Guadalcanal/Solomons aviation MoHs (I knew 5 of them). I've written two MoH books including the 2001 Smithsonian (pa-TOO-ie!) volume Above & Beyond: the Aviation Medals of Honor. Foreword by Joe Foss, who naturally figures prominently in the current project.
A prime question: Since a fighter pilot's job description stresses shooting down enemy airplanes, what is Above & Beyond? Like absolutely every other aspect of the MoH, aviation/VF standards varied enormously (especially politically). George Kenney & Doug MacArthur were determined that a 5th AF man would finish at the top, and IMO they expended three fine leaders in that pursuit: Kearby, Lynch and McGuire, though with full consent thereof. The 5th AF got 17 MoHs v. 9 for the 8th.
Apparently Mitscher spent the rest of the war trying to get MoHs for all VT-8/CV-8 pilots. Of course Spruance rightly disapproved. Some speculate that Mitscher partly took up the slack with Van Voorhees, whose PB4Y action was never properly vetted.
We've seen the long-long campaign to award McClusky the MoH but what did he do A&B? He was an air group commander who expertly commanded his air group. Same could be said of almost every BOM squadron CO, though one or two went well below A&B as we know all too well.
(Sidebar: what did Teddy Roosevelt and TR Jr do A&B? Nothing. They led their units in combat. See previous mention of Politics.)
FWIW: Waldron arguably did exceed his job description by breaking formation from CHAG and finding the enemy. But imagine how that would play in Ernie King's Navy. An O-5 blatantly ignored his CAG's failed leadership and we're going to give the (correct & astute) subordinate The Big One? A bureaucratic impossibility.
(Sidebar 2: There was a 1970s TV movie: The Court Martial of George A. Custer. Hmmm...wonder what Herman Wouk coulda done with The Court Martial of John Waldron. In In Harm's Way Kimmel (Franchot Tone) tells John Wayne "You can get yourself a sea lawyer and make a fight of it." Duke replies, "I'm second generation navy.")
Barrett
George Gay letter
28 October 2023 From Mike Rogers
Good evening Thom,
Another item from the Bill Evans archive; George Gay to Wm Evans (Bill's father)
The reference to Bill's brother is John H Evans, known as Jack. Two year younger than Bill and in flight training at this time.
As always, hope you are well. Will undoubtedly be more later as I run across items which I think may be of interest to the BOMRT.
Mike Rogers
Letter
Thank you so much. Anything else you find I will be glad to pass on for other members to read.
--TW
Medal of Honor for the torpedo squadron commanders
2 November 2023 From Ron Russell
I have the highest admiration for Roundtable member Tom Rychlik, for his Marine Corps service and for his zeal in honoring the heroes of the BOM. But with regard to his campaign to get the MOH for the torpedo squadron commanders at Midway, that might be a case of too much, too late.
Obviously, all of those VT airmen were brave beyond the comprehension of most of us, but a question arises from the MOH requirement that their action be "above and beyond the call of duty."
What was the "call of duty" for a VT pilot? It was:
1. Fly a torpedo bomber in combat.
2. Fly against an armed enemy force.
3. Attack in concert with other air group squadrons.
So in the case of VT-3 and VT-6, that's exactly what they did, even to the point of intending a coordinated attack with the entire air group (which didn't work too well, but that was still their expectation). All of that, including the obvious hazards, was entirely within the "call of duty" of a torpedo bomber squadron.
VT-8 could be the one exception. Waldron knew at the outset that he had no VF/VSB support, yet he pressed on and, as it turned out, initiated a chain of events that probably assured the U.S. victory. He alone among the three VT skippers knew that the odds of anyone, including himself, surviving his attack were close to nil. By proceeding despite those odds, the "call of duty" threshold was surpassed, making the MOH reasonable for Waldron and perhaps the rest of his pilots.
I write this with mixed feelings; all VT airmen who launched and died at Midway deserve every accolade that comes their way. But we have seen so much abuse in MOH and even Navy Cross awards during the war that any time someone is recommended for one who perhaps was only trying to do what his job description required, it's reasonable to look deeply into the details of their action plus the standards for the award and to question if the two are really a match. For me, it's "maybe" for VT-8 at Midway, but "probably not" for VT-3 and VT-6.
Of course, any discussion like this reminds us of Medal of Honor and Navy Cross awards that are ludicrous on their face--Douglas MacArthur and Stanhope Ring come to mind, respectively. But that's all the more reason to ensure that any future award is truly consistent with its own standards.
All that said, I will be among those who cheer Major Rychlik if his campaign is ultimately successful. His intention is highly laudable, and his exceptional effort deserves to be recognized and applauded, no matter the outcome.
Ron Russell
Diving on Midway wrecks
13 November 2023 From Barrett Tillman
Just saw this on an av history forum.
Japanese Ships sunk at Midway
This is well worth watching. Narrative by Jon Parshall.
Two Silver Waterfalls
25 October 2023
From Barrett Tillman
Gotta ask: what's the gouge on two BOM novels with the same title?
Simms & McGregor: Public Affairs, 2022.
Silver-Waterfall
When I endorsed it I did not know about Kevin Miller's offering (no hard copy?) two years prior
The-Silver-Waterfall
Not exactly sure why both authors chose the same title for books on the same subject. But what I have learned over the course of the past few years, being involved with publishing some Sci-Fi books, is that book titles apparently cannot be copyrighted. Likely both authors for reasons we don't know were attracted to the title or the publisher suggested it.
Preston Richardson Saw Attack Upon Yorktown
28 October 2023
From Martin Bunch
Thanks for posting my FB Hammann page post.. It’s a small page but people are coming out of nowhere and many family members with some cool pics.. Feel free to post any relevant Hammann pics or posts on my page.
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