WWII Naval Aviator Cadet Training Yearbook THE FLIGHT JACKET 1940 Pensacola NAS for Sale

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WWII Naval Aviator Cadet Training Yearbook THE FLIGHT JACKET 1940 Pensacola NAS For Sale

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WWII Naval Aviator Cadet Training Yearbook THE FLIGHT JACKET 1940 Pensacola NAS:
$99.99

WWII Naval Aviator Cadet Training Yearbook THE FLIGHT JACKET 1940 Pensacola NAS. Hard cover. Unpaginated.
Aviation Cadet Richard Fleming - Congressional Medal of Honor (posthumously) see last photo.Aviation Cadet Richard Fleming arrived at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola in 1940. Despite having gone to military school before graduating from the University of Minnesota in June 1939, he ran afoul of station officers during his time in the “Cradle of Naval Aviation,” accumulating demerits for unauthorized absence from formation and not having articles in proper order. Having failed to submit a fuel diagram of the TBD Devastator prior to soloing in the airplane, he once had to report to a classroom every morning for a week to sketch the diagram and study it. Yet, what he did not display in military bearing, he more than made up for in character and initiative. Receiving his wings in November 1940, he accepted a commission in the Marine Corps and eventually found himself on Midway Atoll as a member of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron (VMSB) 241. “He was a laughing, slightly sardonic character,” recalled a fellow officer on Midway, his intellectual curiosity fueled by a collection of books he maintained in his dugout and his spirit demonstrated by his leadership in singing ribald songs with squadron mates. On the morning of June 4, 1942, Fleming participated in the squadron’s strike against the Japanese fleet, he and his gunner, Corporal Eugene T. Card, pressing home a bombing attack against the carrier Hiryu in the face of intense antiaircraft fire. Returning to Midway, Fleming climbed out of the cockpit of his SBD-2 Dauntless and purportedly exclaimed, “Boys, there is one ride I am glad is over.” The following day, flying an SB2U Vindicator with VMSB-241, Fleming and his gunner, Private First Class George A. Toms, were shot down during a bombing run against the Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma with Fleming maintaining his attack run despite his aircraft being aflame. For his actions, Captain Richard Fleming received the Medal of Honor posthumously.