John C. Waldron, Richard Best and The Miracle of Midway

Midway is one of the most, if not THE MOST, important sea battles in the history of mankind for a number of reasons---chiefly because of its improbability and the sheer damned luck and intelligence that showed American mastery over a number of contingent variables. Call it karma.

LCDR John C. Waldron's leadership of the 8th Torpedo Squadron was key to the finding of the Japanese carriers after Nimitz and Spruance and other higher-ups had brilliantly ascertained that the main Japanese carrier group was aiming an attack at the lonely island outpost manned by an undersized detachment of American naval and other units serving as a mid-Pacific monitoring airfield and fueling station.

Waldron's immediate superiors ordered his squadron in a direction off-course from the latest signal heard from the Jap fleet, but according to the squadron's sole survivor, George Gay, Waldron's Indian intuition made him change the squadron's course straight to the Japanese carrier group "like a plumb line."

Of all the heroics on both sides that day, including those of Richard Best, who personally dropped bombs on two different carriers that sank them, Waldron's was the most effective and the most suicidal. His brilliant instincts and brave singlemindedness slowed the carriers while the murderous Zeros shot down his entire contingent of planes without one torpedo hit.

The final aftermath of the Battle of Midway was revenge within SIX MONTHS on the carrier group that had carried out the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7th, 1941. All the Japanese airmen, brave and highly-trained, who had participated in the deadlyand unwarranted attack, found their home carriers aflame and sinking, with the result that Midway avenged Pearl Harbor completely as the fighter and bomber pilots had to ditch at sea. Japan's air and sea power was virtually castrated on June 4th, 1942 and Yamamoto, the chief Japanese naval genius [who had studied in the USA and opposed Pearl Harbor, knew that effectively, from then on, the Pacific War was all over except the mopping up.

Ensign Gay lived and floated on his life preserver as the entire battle took place around him. He had been in terrible pain, but his cheering and laughter at the japanese slaughter made the pain disappear and he served as a living memorial to the heroism of Waldron and the other members of Torpedo Squadron 8.

All fifteen planes in the squadron that flew from the Hornet were shot down. Of the thirty pilots and crewmen, only Ensign Gay survived. Although none of his torpedo planes scored a hit, Waldron and his squadron helped to buy the precious battle time that allowed dive bombers from the Enterprise and Yorktown to attack unhindered by Japanese fighters and sink four Japanese carriers in what became known as the “Miracle at Midway.” None of the other forty-four other planes flying in the Hornet Air Group found the Japanese fleet.

LCDR Richard Halsey Best was the miracle man on the two separate attacks from the Enterprise that sank all four carriers.
Enterprise and Hornet left Pearl Harbor on May 28, the hastily repaired Yorktown two days later to take part in what became known as Battle of Midway, from 4 to June 6, 1942.[6]

After contact reports of Midway-based PBY Catalina patrol aircraft on the morning of June 4, 1942, Enterprise started to launch her air group starting on 07:06h. Under the overall command of the air group commander (CEAG) Lt.Cdr. Wade McClusky were 14 TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bombers of Torpedo Squadron 6 (VT-6), 34 SBDs of VB-6, the CEAG section, and VS-6, and ten F4F-4 Wildcat fighters of Fighting Squadron 6 (VF-6). However, the squadrons became separated and reached the Japanese independently. Only the dive bombers stayed together and reached the enemy by 09:55h. At about 10:22h the Enterprise dive bombers started to attack two Japanese carriers, which proved to be the Kaga, and the Akagi.
Then again, the attack became confused, as all 34 Dauntlesses started to attack Kaga, and none the Akagi. Obviously, Best expected to attack according to the U.S. dive bomber doctrine. This was that VB-6 would attack the nearer carrier (in that case Kaga) and VS-6 the one further away (here Akagi). The three-plane CEAG section was expected to attack last, as their planes were equipped with cameras to later assess the damage. However, evidently McClusky was not aware of this, having until becoming CEAG been a fighter pilot. Therefore McClusky began his dive on Kaga, being followed by VS-6, and Best's VB-6 was also attacking Kaga according to doctrine. Lieutenant Best noticed the error and broke off with his two wingmen to attack the Akagi.[7]

The flight deck of USS Enterprise on May 15, 1942: The first SBD is either Best's ("B-1") or that of the CO of VS-6 ("S-1").
On 10:26h Best's three SBDs attacked the Akagi. The first bomb, dropped by Lt.(jg) Edwin John Kroeger, missed. The second bomb, aimed by Ens. Frederic Thomas Weber, landed in the water, near the stern. The force wave of that hit jammed the Akagi's rudder.[8] The last bomb, dropped by Richard Best, punched though the flight deck and exploded in the upper hangar, in the middle of 18 Nakajima B5N2 planes, parked there. That hit doomed the Akagi.[9] Later that day, Lieutenant Best participated in the attack on the last remaining Japanese carrier - the Hiryu, maybe scoring one of the four hits.[10] After the battle, Best was awarded the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Here is Best's first-person narrative account of his heroics on that fateful day of June 4, 1942.