My father is 97 years old and served aboard the USS Enterprise CV6 working on the fighter planes as a metalsmith. He was on board from April 1943 until she was sent back to Bremerton for repairs to damage sustained during a kamikaze strike on an aircraft elevator. He still has a piece of that plane.
He was standing next to Butch O'Hare and his flight commander and heard their conversation just before he took off on his last mission and was shot down. Butch was and Ace and was awarded the Medal of Honor.
I contacted the WW2 museum in New Orleans and they sent someone who video interviewed him. He is still sharp usually doesn't talk about the things he saw and experienced unless you ask him about it directly.
He just quit driving this year.

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Posted by 777Tiger

Member since Mar 2011

73856 posts

Posted on 4/2/18 at 6:16 pm to tonydtigr

quote:
Butch O'Hare

quote:
just before he took off on his last mission

the first night mission off of a carrier, there is no current description in any language to describe the grit, dedication, and balls of this man and others like him

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Posted by Jim Rockford

Member since May 2011

98710 posts

Posted on 4/2/18 at 6:30 pm to tonydtigr

quote:
He was standing next to Butch O'Hare and his flight commander and heard their conversation just before he took off on his last mission and was shot down. Butch was and Ace and was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Butch O'Hare was the son of Al Capone's personal attorney. He got his son an appointment to the Naval Academy in exchange for turning state's evidence (and later getting whacked.) Butch singlehandedly broke up an attack on the Lexington, for which he was ordered the MoH. He later went on to pioneer night fighting tactics, and lost his life on once such flight, possibly in a case of mistaken identity/friendly fire.

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