Edward O'Hare
Even though he had a limited amount of ammunition, he was credited with shooting down five enemy bombers and became the first naval aviator recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War II.[1] O'Hare's final action took place on the night of November 26, 1943, while he was leading the U.S. Navy's first-ever nighttime fighter attack launched from an aircraft carrier.Lieutenant John Thach, then executive officer of VF-3, discovered O'Hare's exceptional flying abilities and closely mentored the promising young pilot.For their honeymoon, they sailed to Hawaii on separate ships, Butch on Saratoga, which had completed modifications at Bremerton, and Rita on the Matson liner Lurline.On Sunday evening, January 11, 1942, as Butch and other VF-3 officers ate dinner in the wardroom, the carrier Saratoga was damaged by a Japanese torpedo hit while patrolling southwest of Hawaii.O'Hare, flying F4F Wildcat BuNo 4031 "White F-15", was one of several pilots launched to intercept nine Japanese Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers from the 4th Kōkūtai's 2nd Chutai.[8] O'Hare's squadmates shot down eight bombers (with the ninth falling to an SBD later), but he and his wingman, Marion "Duff" Dufilho, were held back in the event of a second attack.At 16:49, the Lexington's radar picked up a second formation of "Bettys" from the 4th Kōkūtai's 1st Chutai,[9] only 12 miles (19 km) out, on the disengaged side of the task force.Ito's command pilot, Warrant Officer Chuzo Watanabe,[n 1] regained enough control to level his damaged plane and attempted to crash it into Lexington.According to Thach, O'Hare then approached the gun platform to calmly say to the embarrassed anti-aircraft gunner who had fired at him, "Son, if you don't stop shooting at me when I've got my wheels down, I'm going to have to report you to the gunnery officer."[21] In the opinion of Admiral Brown and of Captain Frederick C. Sherman, commanding the Lexington, Lieutenant O'Hare's actions may have saved the carrier from serious damage or even loss.By 19:00 all Lexington planes had been recovered except for two F4F-3 Wildcats shot down while attacking enemy bombers; both were lost while making steady, no-deflection runs from astern of their targets.[23] On April 8, he thanked the Grumman Aircraft Corporation plant at Bethpage (where the F4F Wildcat was made) for 1,150 cartons of Lucky Strike cigarettes, a grand total of 230,000 smokes.[23] Credited with shooting down five bombers, O'Hare became a flying ace, was selected for promotion to lieutenant commander, and became the first naval aviator to receive the Medal of Honor.At the starting point, O'Hare, wearing the blue-ribboned Medal of Honor around his neck, was guided to the back seat of a black open Packard Phaeton, where he sat between his wife Rita and his mother Selma.The parade began at noon, led by a police motorcycle escort, then came the band from Jefferson Barracks, marching veterans, a truck packed with photographers, O'Hare's Phaeton (with a six-man Marine honor guard alongside) and other open cars.The United States in 1942 badly needed a live hero, and Butch O'Hare was a young, handsome naval aviator, so he participated in several war bond tours the following months.Equipped with the highly successful follow-on to the Wildcat, the new Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, two-thirds of VF-6 (twenty-four F6F-3s) under O'Hare's command embarked on August 22, 1943, on the light carrier USS Independence.[31] For his actions in subsequent missions near Wake Island on October 5, 1943, O'Hare was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a second Distinguished Flying Cross.Faced with U.S. daylight air superiority, the Japanese quickly developed tactics to send[36] torpedo-armed "Betty" bombers on night missions from their bases in the Marianas against the U.S. aircraft carriers.O'Hare volunteered to lead this mission to conduct the first-ever Navy nighttime fighter attack from an aircraft carrier to intercept a large force of enemy torpedo bombers.The pilots for this flight were Butch O'Hare and Ensign Warren Andrew "Andy" Skon of VF-2 in F6Fs and the Squadron Commander of VT-6, LCDR John C. Phillips[37] in a TBF-1C.Butch O'Hare had been well aware of the deadly danger of friendly fire in this situation – he radioed to the Avenger pilot of his section, "Hey, Phil, turn those running lights on.Ewing and Lundstrom write, "Through Stafford and other accounts based largely on the action reports, Butch has wrongly become known as one of America's most famous 'friendly fire' casualties.For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in aerial combat, at grave risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, as section leader and pilot of Fighting Squadron 3 on February 20, 1942.Having lost the assistance of his teammates, Lieutenant O'Hare interposed his fighter between his ship and an advancing enemy formation of 9 attacking twin-engine heavy bombers.Without hesitation, alone and unaided, he repeatedly attacked this enemy formation, at close range in the face of intense combined machine gun and cannon fire.When warnings were received of the approach of a large force of Japanese torpedo bombers, Lieutenant Commander O'Hare volunteered to lead a fighter section of aircraft from his carrier, the first time such a mission had been attempted at night, in order to intercept the attackers.He fearlessly led his three-plane group into combat against a large formation of hostile aircraft and assisted in shooting down two Japanese aeroplanes and dispersed the remainder.Lieutenant Commander O'Hare's outstanding courage, daring airmanship and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Edward J. O'HareGrumman F4F-3Felix the CatSt. Louis, MissouriGilbert IslandsUnited States NavyLieutenant commanderWorld War IIPacific WarAction off BougainvilleMedal of HonorNavy CrossDistinguished Flying CrossPurple Heartnaval aviatorfighter acetorpedo bombersGrumman F6F HellcatUSS O'Hare (DD-889)O'Hare International AirportmidshipmanEnsignEdward Joseph O'HareAl Caponetax evasionWestern Military AcademyUnited States Naval AcademyAnnapolis, MarylandUSS New MexicoNAS PensacolaFloridaStearmanBoeing F4B-4ASBU CorsairTBD Devastatornaval aviationFighter Squadron Three (VF-3)USS SaratogaGrumman F3FBrewster F2AJohn Thachexecutive officerThach WeaveUSS Enterprise (CV-6)Bremerton Navy YardGrumman F4F WildcatSt. LouisRoman CatholicismconvertPhoenixMatsonLurlineattacked Pearl HarborUSS LexingtonwingmanNew IrelandRabaulKawanishi H6KMitsubishi G4MKōkūtaiMarion "Duff" Dufilho20mm cannondeflection shootingnacelle250 kg bombsFrederick C. ShermanRoyal Hawaiian HotelGrummanBethpageLucky Strikeflying aceFranklin D. RooseveltMarcus IslandWake IslandPackardWilliam Dee Beckerwar bondMaui, HawaiiEdward L. "Whitey" FeightneranecdotespearfishermanCoronadoNorth Island NASAlexander VraciuGrumman F6F-3 HellcatUSS IndependencePratt & Whitney R-2800radial enginesEssex-classIndependence-classMitsubishi ZerostrafedCommander Air Group (CAG)Douglas SBD DauntlessGrumman TBF Avengerlight aircraft carriersRear Admiral Arthur W. RadfordGilbertsTarawaair superiorityMarianasCommanderTom Hamiltonvacuum tubeRoy Marlin Vorisfriendly firePBY CatalinaSolemn Pontifical MassRequiemSt. Louis CathedralposthumousNaval Aviator BadgeCombat Action RibbonNavy Presidential Unit CitationAmerican Defense Service MedalAmerican Campaign MedalAsiatic-Pacific Campaign MedalWorld War II Victory MedalFrank KnoxSecretary of the NavyAdmiral Ernest KingGearing-classdestroyerUSS O'HarelaunchedSpanish Navy