GAIL DRAKE: Lt. Cdr. John Charles Waldron: Fighter of the sky

“They were mighty men of valor, experts in weapons, whose faces were like the faces of lions.”

— I Chronicles 12:8

My college roommate mentioned that her kindly uncle, a radio station manager and opera singer, was a WW II fighter pilot. It wasn’t until years later that I learned that “Uncle Jim” fought in the Battle of Midway. He never talked about it.

When we visited the USS Yorktown in Charleston a few years ago, I began to understand. The prominent display of the battle featured photographs of 69 young vibrant airman who launched off the flight decks that day, knowing that they would most likely not return. These were Uncle Jim’s comrades and brothers-in-arms. I don’t know if Uncle Jim knew them all personally, but they all fought with valor.

In January 1942, they had cracked the code. The U.S. Navy Intelligence Unit, housed deep in a logistics base in Pearl Harbor, had worked tirelessly since the devastating attack on Dec. 7, 1941, to decipher Japan’s numerical code dubbed “JN-25.” They learned that Japan’s Admiral Yamamoto had planned a diversionary raid to lure the U.S. Navy into an ambush at Midway Island and destroy the rest of the damaged U.S. fleet.

U.S. Commander Nimitz decided to initiate an American attack at the same island against the four Japanese aircraft carriers, deploying aircraft carriers USS Yorktown, Enterprise and Hornet to shore up the military base at Midway. WW II naval aircraft included different types of planes: fighter planes, which engaged in air “dog fights”; torpedo bombers, that flew slower and closer to the water; and dive bombers that flew at high altitudes then dived down to strategically drop their payload as they circled back into the sky.

The torpedo squadron for the Hornet was led by 42-year-old decorated aviator Lt. Cdr. John C. Waldron. Born in Fort Pierre, S.D., Waldron was the son of an Oglala Lakota Native American mother and a New England family of jurists on his father’s side. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, then was sent to the Naval Air Station Pensacola, where he received his wings in 1927. Waldron flew torpedo squadrons, then was appointed to teach aviation at the Naval Academy and NAS Pensacola. He studied law and was admitted to the bar but never practiced. Instead he was deployed with flying squadrons on the Lexington, Colorado, and Saratoga before being appointed to shore duty as a naval inspector.

In 1941 Waldron took command of the newly formed “Torpedo 8” squadron on the Hornet.

On June 3, 1942, as the ships steamed toward their Pacific destination, Waldron called together his 30 men and briefed them on the plan of attack. If the worst came to be, he wanted each aviator to do his utmost to destroy the enemy. “If there is only one plane left to make a final run-in, I want that man to go in and get a hit,” said Waldron. “May God be with us all.” It would be a brutal baptism by fire.

The next morning several hundred planes launched toward several suspected sites. In the air, Waldron soon split his squadron off and led his unit straight to the last reported location of the carriers, flying just above the ocean waves. He was grimly aware that they lacked fighter escort with few defensive weapons. They carried torpedoes that were notoriously defective. Nevertheless “Torpedo 8” had committed to battle. The low-flying torpedo squad received the full attention of the famed Zero fighters and the ships’ gunners.

With deathly screaming engines and fierce gunfire, one by one the bombers were ripped apart. The Japanese shot down 35 of the 41 bombers. In Waldron’s unit, only one airman survived, Ensign George Gay.

But the sacrifice of Waldron and the 69 airmen was not the end. The surprise attack forced the Japanese carriers to maneuver radically and delay launching their strike to reload supplies. Flying low to attack the torpedo squadron left the Japanese fighters exposed to the Dauntless dive bombers that zoomed in above them an hour later. Within 10 minutes, dive bombers fatally bombed three of the four Japanese carriers that had led the attack on Pearl Harbor. In all, the Japanese lost four carriers, 292 planes and had 2,500 casualties. The U.S. lost a carrier and destroyer, 145 aircraft and had 307 casualties. The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the Pacific Theater.

For his valor and leadership, Waldron received the Navy Cross posthumously as well as the Purple Heart, Presidential Unit award and Citation. The destroyer USS Waldron was named in his honor.

Lt. Cdr. John Charles Waldron, U.S. Navy: An American hero. Lest we forget.