Whistling Death: FG-1D Corsair burning up the field [YouTube]

milleR said:
Before that he was stationed on the Salt Lake City. One night at Guadalcanal when he got shot off the cat a case of flares came loose and ignited in the plane. He ditched and spent three days in a raft during the battle. I found a good writeup a number of years ago on the Salt Lake City website.

http://ussslcca25.com/jaeke04.htm#top
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Wow, what a write up and story. Really a good read. It's a miracle that they survived! Even a fricking sniper tried to pick them off. Damn what endurance and will to live they had.

Oh and this is pretty interesting in that same site:

http://ussslcca25.com/quickref.htm#top

Going to be some interesting reading there.
 
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A Life Aloft said:
This is truly amazing and so terrific that you were able to learn of their histories. Coral Sea- holy hell- I posted an old photo of that battle in the Memorial Day thread. It was one of the largest sea battles fought and it was fought between the US and the Japanese carriers. Our Navy kicked some serious ass. It was also the first real defeat of the Japanese. They underestimated our Navy, our ships, our training, our fire suppression abilities and our nads.

Then he was at Midway? Good Lord. He didn't miss much did he? Midway was our most stunning victory in the Pacific. The Doolittle Raid had taught Japan a serious ass lesson. The Japanese sent almost it's entire Imperial Fleet up against us. He must have stayed on the Yorktown then because after some repairs at Pearl, she was sent right the hell back and fought at Midway. We lost a helluva lot of planes and pilots, a helluva lot, the first day because we fought at low altitudes to try and draw out their planes. But then we sent our heavy dive bombers in, heavily damaged their ships and sent them packing.

Your Great Uncle was at Guadalcanal ??? Bejebus. That was our real first offensive battle victory. IMO, it remains one of the greatest battles that the Marines fought and it showed the world just what tough bastards they really were. Guadalcanal began shortly after Midway. It was a major offensive move by the US and our allies. Over 3,000 Marines landed on the beaches the first day. They went for the seaplane bases and in one damn day, had the Japanese retreating. We fought for months, Navy, Marines, and Army. The book and movie The Thin Red Line portrays this battle and is pretty good.

Anytime you want to share the stories of your warrior relatives and their participation in the Military, feel free. I'd love to hear more.
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Yes, my uncle Norman was the assistant navigator and from what I've been told was also in charge of a damage control team. He had the questionable distinction of abandoning ship three times since he was sent back on board to get her under tow when the I-168 torpedoed her.

Somewhat more germane to this website, in 1944 he was sent to flight training and in the 1950's served as XO of VP-49 and flew Willy Victors out of NAS Argentina.

My moms side of the family was mostly Navy (three uncles attended USNA), my dads was mostly Army. My paternal grandfather was with Patton's 2nd Armored at the Ardenne and all through the Rhine campaign.
 
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