Early 1941:
Three Pearl Harbor code-breakers entered Japan as "tourists" to learn Japanese and to gather information. They knew war was inevitable. They stayed too late to acquire safe passage home and they were likely to be interned for the entire length of the war.

One code-breaker became "cozy" with the wife of the head German spy. She hated her husband and all of his Nazi friends. She arranged safe passage to Pearl Harbor on a neutral ship for all of our three code-breakers.

January 1942:
Earl Gallaher became our third Squadron Commander when our second Squadron Commander was also killed. There really was no change. Earl had always been the leader who led us by example. He demanded perfection and he got it. He taught us how to hit targets on a black empty ocean on a dark night, using wing lights only to join a formation or while diving on a target. All other maneuvers were done without lights or radio. We never lost a single pilot or airplane while practicing these numerous sessions.

May 1942:
Admiral Nimitz ordered the ENTERPRISE and the HORNET to assist the YORKTOWN and the LEXINGTON during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Because we had to unload Marines at Efate Island, we arrived too late and the battle was over. Both the YORKTOWN and the LEXINGTON had been caught on fire, and the Japanese had reported to Tokyo that they were definitely sunk, and left the area.

A few hours after the Japanese departed, each of these carriers put out their fires. The YORKTOWN limped back to Pearl Harbor. Fire re-emerged on the LEXINGTON, setting off a magazine and sinking her. Unexpectedly we pilots were then ordered to fly close enough to several islands to be seen. As soon as reports reached Tokyo that the ENTERPRISE and HORNET were patrolling that area, we dashed at full speed back to Pearl Harbor, filled up fuel and provisions (all in secrecy) and headed to Midway Island. The YORKTOWN joined us a couple of days later after some of its battle damages had been repaired during 48 hours in dry dock.

June 1st 1942:
We aviators were told that our code-breakers had learned all about the coming attack against Midway, and that we were going to ambush them. Absolute radio silence was required.

June 3rd 1942
From dawn to dusk all of us aviators were in the ready rooms, requiring only a few seconds of notice to hop into our planes.

In mid-day we received an Army Air Corps pilot reporting, "Enemy sighted." Then later, "Main body." A couple of hours later Admiral Nimitz radioed to us, "This is not your target!"

June 4th 1942:
All ENTERPRISE planes were ready to fly into battle at dawn. A Japanese plane flew high above us over scattered clouds. "Had he seen us?"

Hours later a PBY pilot sighted the Japanese carriers and gave a perfect contact report with location, course, speed and type of ships. H. P. Ady, the PBY pilot, had served with me on the heavy cruiser VINCENNES.

LCDR McClusky immediately launched our ENTERPRISE dive bombers. Scouting Six planes carried a 500-pound bomb and two 100-pound incendiary bombs.

Bombing Six planes carried a single 1,000-pound bomb. They could carry a heavier load because they had an extra hundred feet of deck available for take off.

Our ENTERPRISE dive bombers circled the YORKTOWN for half an hour, expecting her dive-bombers to join us. A YORKTOWN searchlight finally signaled us in Morse code to depart without them.

All of us knew that the Japanese carriers were beyond the range of our fighter planes and torpedo planes. They would be launched when the ENTERPRISE and YORKTOWN steamed closer to the enemy.

Wade McClusky figured that the Japanese probably had seen us and that the winner of the battle would be the one who attacked first. Our 31 dive bombers traveled at high speed, using up gasoline quickly.

When we reached the predicted enemy location, the sea was empty, with a clear 50 miles view in all directions. We traveled further, thinking that the enemy had increased speed. Still a clear view. Nothing in sight.

Then McClusky figured that the enemy must have slowed up, and we headed in that direction. Then we saw a destroyer going at full speed ahead of us. It pointed us directly to other giant KAGA and AKAGI aircraft carriers and the smaller SORYU, about the size of the ENTERPRISE.

All three carriers were headed directly toward us, headed into the wind, ready to launch aircraft. This was the perfect situation for dive-bombing.

McClusky and our Scouting Six dive-bombers attacked the KAGA. Bombing Six bombers attacked the AKAGI.

Earl Gallaher scored the first hit on the KAGA. I watched his 500-pound bomb explode on the first plane starting its take of his incendiary bombs hit the planes and gas tanks beside it. Immediately the after part of the ship was a huge mass of flames.

I can't say what bombs landed from the next two planes. I was too busy dropping mine. Walter Lord says they hit the big red circle on the bow, set a 700-pound gasoline tanker on fire in the hangar deck, and threw it directly under the KAGA bridge.

After dodging anti-aircraft fire and fighter planes, I looked back. The KAGA, AKAGI and SORYU were all balls of flames in four minutes time.

From a couple of thousand feet high, I had to look up to see parts of the KAGA being blasted skyward. I also noticed the HIRYU, 20 miles away, still headed into the wind.

Later I saw a large group of HIRYU planes, on parallel course, ten miles away, heading at a high speed towards our aircraft carriers.

The ENTERPRISE saw me arriving and headed directly into the wind so I could land aboard without circling. Of the half of us dive bombers who made it back, each landed aboard with less than 10 gallons of fuel. We all started out with 310 gallons. Many of our planes had to ditch after running out of gas.

Wade McClusky had the least fuel, only five gallons. He let other pilots land ahead of him, lest he foul the deck with a poor landing. He had been shot through his right shoulder and was bleeding. He didn't allow medics to treat him until he had reported our actions to Rear Admiral Spruance.

We dive bombers watched the second wave of attacks from the HIRYU while our planes were being refueled and loaded. We saw our fighters and anti-aircraft down most of them, but two torpedo planes scored hits on the YORKTOWN. One was Maruyama.

Maruyama was the one who scored the first torpedo hit at the Pearl Harbor Attack. He survived World War II, and told us his designated target was the ENTERPRISE, which was supposed to be in Pier 10-10. It wasn't there so he hit the battleship OKLAHOMA next door.

Only a horrible storm provided by God storm prevented us from arriving in Pearl Harbor on schedule, in Battle Condition 13, as ordered by Admiral Kimmel. Our ENTERPRISE would have been sunk. Instead we continued in Battle Conditions 2 and 3, and our planes were in combat with the Japanese planes, at so many places, that Admiral Nagumo cancelled his third scheduled attack, which would be a killer, taking down our fuel depots, our ammunition dumps and our repair facilities. He had six aircraft carriers and was afraid we might have many more. But back to the Battle of Midway.

Earl Gallaher led our 24 dive-bombers against the HIRYU. Some were from the YORKTOWN. This time we encountered fighters galore as we prepared to drop bombs, diving from the sun behind us. The HIRYU circled trying to avoid us. But the results were the same as in that morning's action. In a few minutes she was in a ball of flames. We lost only one of our dive bombers in that entire attack.

Peter Guido, the bravest man I ever met, who was promoted by Admiral Halsey from 3rd Class Machinist Mate to 1st Class for bravery, was captured that day by the Japanese. They also captured his new pilot in their aircraft that had been shot down. Each knew they would be tortured to give secrets. They also knew that the Japanese almost always believed their stories when each gave the same story when individually severely tortured.

Both were tortured, gave their secrets, were killed, and thrown back into the ocean.

When all of the planes of his four attack carriers were lost, Admiral Yamamoto issued an order, "Take MIDWAY at all costs," and he sent two large cruisers MOGAMI and MIKUMA to level Midway Island, destroying all aircraft and runways, to make it safe for his transport troops to land on Midway.

About that time Yamamoto's interrogator gave him the secrets that they had tortured from Peter Gaido and our new pilot. Both described the huge number of 5-inch guns ringing Midway Island, the thousands of Marines present, and the tremendous number of planes located there.

Meanwhile on the ENTERPRISE, RADM Spruance had to make a decision. Should he get closer to attack the "Main Body," or should he retreat? A night surface battle between our cruisers with their 8-inch guns was no match for the giant guns of the fast Japanese battleships.

June 5th through 7th 1942:
We found that almost all of the Japanese forces had headed toward Japan at high speed. Had Yamamoto believed Peter Gaido and our new pilot? We could only find The MIKUMA and the MOGAMI and their escorts. We ENTERPRISE planes disposed of the MIKUMA in a few minutes. Only one seaman survived. The HORNET did almost the same thing to the MOGAMI, although it managed to limp to a Japanese island, too beat up to ever sail again.

June 8th and later:
Although we had lost almost half of our planes and pilots, we were ready to take on the Japanese carriers at Alaska. A day or two later, we learned that all Japanese carriers had headed back to Japan, and that Alaska needed no help. We headed back to Pearl Harbor.

Who really were our heroes?

We, the dive bombers on the ENTERPRISE and the YORKTOWN, got lots of medals. (The HORNET dive bomber pilots didn't fair so well. Their Group Commander guessed wrong, and none of their dive bomber pilots even saw a Japanese carrier during the entire battle.)

I believe we dive bomber crews should be listed at the bottom of the totem pole. Hundreds (or thousands) of others gave us easy shots at the enemy, while they gave their lives willingly and devotedly.

Our Torpedo Plane crews should get the real honors. They were flying obsolete planes with the world's worst torpedoes, and knew they wouldn't even be provided with a smoke screen to give any chance of survival. They had to slow down to 90 knots, and fly lower than 100-foot altitude to have ANY chance of their torpedoes working. Only a handful of all three squadrons survived. Many of them were seriously wounded. These torpedo plane crews kept the Japanese ships in disarray and kept all their fighters at sea level.

The Marine Squadrons were at least equally helpful in preventing Japanese carriers to launch and land aircraft. That's why the HIRYU was 20 miles away from the "box square" used by the Japanese to protect carriers. The Marines were flying discarded planes, many from the ENTERPRISE, like one I flew back from the Marshalls. It had to be hoisted ashore because the starboard gas tanks were full of holes, and the number nine cylinder of its engine had a hole in it. Even worse, the Marines were stuck with new pilots who were never trained how to dive bomb vertically, so all of their attacks had to be 45-degree glide bombing. That is almost like committing suicide. And even worse than that, only one pilot in one squadron had a chart board. All the others had to do navigation in their heads. Chart boards are issued only to squadrons, and were not included in discarded planes. In one squadron, only the leader returned. His plane was shot up so bad that only one wheel could be dropped. Yet his landing was so good that the plane could later be repaired.

And of course honors should go to the PBY pilots searching for the Japanese. Their only really safe place was hiding in heavy clouds.

And the Army Air Corps get kudos for locating the Main Body. Their B-17s started doing bombing runs at very high altitudes, much higher than 20,000 feet. They didn't realize that the Japanese had special spotters who could watch the bombs fall, and con the ship to avoid them. Then the B-17 crews became smarter, bombing directly in line from the sun, and dropping bombs closer and closer with their Norden bombsights. Yamamoto knew that his transports could easily be sunk when even his fast attack ships would soon be endangered.

And don't forget the boiler crews who gave us our desperately needed 30 knots for take offs. Or the repair crews on the YORKTOWN, who so quickly repaired the damage done by the first HIRYU attack that their next group thought that they were hitting an undamaged carrier.

Yes, we dive-bombers should go down to the bottom of the honor line.