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Today in History: Midway, 1942
Captain N.J. "Dusty" Kleiss was a Dauntless pilot with VS-6 on Enterprise during the battle....McClusky found an empty ocean where the enemy carriers were supposed to be. He figured that the Japanese must have reversed course. Soon he saw a destroyer going at high speed. This had to be a picket ship going to catch up with his fleet. Suddenly we saw the KAGA, the AKAGI and the SORYU almost below us, in an open stretch of clouds. "Earl and I will take the one on the right. Dick, you take the one on the left." We went into echelon formation. McClusky and his two wing men dived first, then Gallaher and two wingmen, then me and then the rest of Scouting Six, all heading for the KAGA. Dick Best and Bombing Six dived for the AKAGI. The YORKTOWN dive bombers dived for the SORYU. The situation was a carrier pilot's dream. No anti-aircraft, all three carriers heading straight into the wind. Two fighters were above us, but they were not making an attack. MClusky and his two wingmen missed. Earl Gallaher's 500 pound bomb hit squarely on a plane starting its take-off. His two 100 pound incendaries hit just beside it. Immediately the whole pack of planes at the stern were in flames 50 feet high. I couldn't see the bombs landing from the next two planes, but flames had spread. to the middle of the ship. My bombs landed exactly on the big red circle forward of the bridge. Seconds later the flames were 100 feet high. Walter Lord later learned from the Japanese that my bomb splashed a gasoline cart, throwing its flaming contents into the KAGA's bridge. A fighter attacked us as I pulled out of my dive. John Snowden, my gunner, disposed of him in five seconds. A second fighter came at us. John disposed of him. Then it was a survival to escape anti-aircraft fire while passing near a dozen ships until I'd reached ten miles toward Midway. Ten minutes after the attack I saw a large explosion amidship on the KAGA. Rockets of flame, pieces of steel bolted upward to about three or four thousand feet high. Dick Best's squadron had bombed the The KAGA and the YORKTOWN bombers hit the SORYU. Both were burning fiercely The KAGA then sent up a huge brown cloud of smoke. I could no longer see the ship and presumed it was sunk. The other two fires were visible 30 miles away. As directed, I headed 40 miles toward Midway before heading to our carrier. As I climbed slowly up to cloud level I saw a Jap fighter heading at me. I headed directly at him and he ducked away into a cloud. Then I saw a Bombing Six plane land in the sea and the crew getting their rubber raft. I marked their position Then on my left a few miles away I saw several dozen planes from the HIRYU flying at high speed toward our carriers. I'd glimpsed this 4th carrier, about 20 miles away, during my dive. I had used every trick I knew to get every mile out of each drop of gas. The ENTERPRISE saw me coming, headed into the wind. I landed on the carrier without circling. I landed with five gallons of gas. We had launched 16 SBD's. Eight made it back.... Posted by: Mike 2010-06-04 |
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