David McCampbell

Captain David McCampbell (January 16, 1910 – June 30, 1996) was a United States Navy captain, naval aviator, and a Medal of Honor recipient.

He attended the Staunton Military Academy, in Virginia, and one year at the Georgia School of Technology, in Atlanta, before his appointment to the United States Naval Academy in 1929, where he graduated with the class of 1933 with a degree in marine engineering.

McCampbell's naval career actually began with a dismissal.

Graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in depression-era 1933, he was rewarded with an honorable discharge from a Navy without funds.

But on June 1, 1934, McCampbell was called back and commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

He went on active duty on June 14, 1934, and served aboard the heavy cruiser USS Portland from June 1934 to June 1937 before he started flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.

He received his "wings of gold" as a Naval Aviator on April 21, 1938 and was assigned to Fighter Squadron Four (VF-4) on the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) in May 1940.

McCampbell served as a landing signal officer (LSO) from May 1940, surviving the sinking of the carrier USS Wasp (CV-7) by a Japanese submarine near Guadalcanal on September 15, 1942.

He returned to the United States, was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and was stationed at Naval Air Station Melbourne, Florida as LSO Instructor until August 1943.

McCampbell formed Fighter Squadron 15 (VF-15) on September 1, 1943 and led the squadron before being reassigned as Commander of Air Group 15 (CAG-15) in February 1944 to September 1944.

As Commander, Carrier Air Group (CAG) 15, he was Commander of the Air Group (fighters, bombers, and torpedo bombers) when the group was embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9).

He also set a United States single mission aerial combat record of shooting down nine enemy planes in one mission, on October 24, 1944, at the beginning of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in the Philippines.

McCampbell was born in Bessemer, Alabama, and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida.

From April to November 1944, his group saw six months of combat and participated in two major air-sea battles, the First and Second Battles of the Philippine Sea.

During the more than 20,000 hours of air combat operations before it returned to the United States for a rest period, Air Group 15 destroyed more enemy planes (315 airborne and 348 on the ground) and sank more enemy shipping than any other Air Group in the Pacific War.

Air Group 15's attacks on the Japanese in the Marianas and at Iwo Jima, Taiwan, and Okinawa were key to the success of the "island hopping" campaign.

In addition to his duties as commander of the "Fabled Fifteen", then Commander McCampbell became the Navy's "ace of aces" during the missions he flew in 1944.

McCampbell entered combat on May 14 and flew at least four Grumman F6F Hellcats while aboard the Essex: an F6F-3 named Monsoon Maiden (damaged by AA, removed from service on 20 May 1944), an F6F-3 named The Minsi (10 1⁄2 kills), an F6F-5 named Minsi II, and an F6F-5 named Minsi III (Bureau Number 70143), in which he scored the last 23 1⁄2 of his 34 kills.

On June 19, 1944, during the "Marianas Turkey Shoot," Commander McCampbell shot down five Japanese Yokosuka D4Y 'Judy' dive-bombers, to become an "ace in a day".

Later that afternoon, during a second sortie, McCampbell downed two Mitsubishi A6M 'Zekes' over Guam.

On October 24, 1944, in the initial phase of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in the Philippines, he became the only American airman to achieve "ace in a day" status twice.

McCampbell and his wingman attacked a Japanese force of 60 aircraft.

McCampbell shot down nine—seven Zeros and two Oscars—setting a U.S. single-mission aerial combat record.

During this same action, his wingman downed another six Japanese warplanes.

When he landed his Grumman F6F Hellcat aboard USS Langley (the flight deck of Essex wasn't clear), his six machine guns had just two rounds remaining, and his airplane had to be manually released from the arrestor wire due to complete fuel exhaustion.

Commander McCampbell received the Medal of Honor for both actions, becoming the only Fast Carrier Task Force aviator to be so honored.

Following World War II, McCampbell had several postings.

He returned to the United States in March 1945 and served as Chief of Staff to the Commander Fleet Air at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, until January 1947.

He then attended Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, and remained as an instructor after graduating.

He served as the Senior Naval Aviation Advisor to the Argentine Navy, stationed at Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 1948 to January 1951, and then served as executive officer aboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) during the Korean War (although the ship did not participate in combat) from February 1951 to March 1952.

He was promoted to captain in July 1952; he was assigned as the Planning Officer on the Staff of Commander Aircraft Atlantic from March 1952 to July 1953.

He served as the Commanding Officer, Naval Air Technical Training Center Jacksonville at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, from July 1953 to July 1954.

He then commanded the fleet oiler USS Severn (AO-61), followed by the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31).

McCampbell was then assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon from 1960 to September 1962.

He retired from the navy in 1964 with 31 years of service.

McCampbell is the United States Navy's all-time leading flying ace (called Ace of the Aces in the Navy) and top F6F Hellcat ace with 34 aerial victories.

He was the third-highest American scoring ace of World War II and the highest-scoring American ace to survive the war.

His final assignment was as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations to the Commander in Chief, Continental Air Defense Command, where he served from September 1962 until his retirement from the navy on July 1, 1964.

McCampbell retired from active duty in 1964.

He died in Florida in 1996 and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.