On March 10, 1942, pilot Mark Whittier and radioman second-class Forest G. Stanley joined 103 other planes from the Lexington and Yorktown on an attack on Japanese ships at Lae and Salamaua, New Guinea for some payback.
On its return to pearl Harbor, the SBD-2 Dauntless 2106 (wonder what its name was) was again put ashore until it was transferred to Marine Scout Bombing Squadron (VMSB) at Midway Atoll and arrived there with 18 other SBD-2s on May 26, 1942 on the aircraft transport Kitty Hawk (APV-1).
On the morning of June 4, 1942, 1st Lt. Daniel Iverson and Pvt. First Class Wallace Reid manning the 30 caliber machine gun in the aft-cockpit were one of 16 SBD-2s to launch an attack on Japanese carriers west of Midway at the beginning of that turning point battle.
They dropped a bomb on the Hiryu aircraft carrier at 800 feet and weer chased by four Japanese fighters. When they returned, Reid was wounded and 219 bullet holes were counted in the plane. They were one of just eight to make it back.
More to Come. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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