What 18 year-old men did in WW-2 181111

      The picture above is the plane that Loyce Dean was killed in and the picture below is Dean.

      Dean was rear gunner on a strike mission to Manila Bay. He was in a Grumman TBF torpedo plane, an outmoded, slow flying plane made in the late thirties and arrived in the fleet in 1941. The same type torpedo bombers that 43 of 45 were shot down during the battle of Midway. After Midway they were used as regular bombers instead of torpedo bombers because they were slow, easy targets during torpedo runs against Japanese ships. Our future president George H. Bush flew one that was also shot down over Chi Chi Jima.
      This 2 minute video shows what happened when Dean's plane landed on the USS Essex. It is something to watch. No other enlisted man was buried at sea in his own plane. The video was sent to me by an old navy buddy, Dave and I thank him for sending it.
      
      Copyright Bill Weber 2018 and beyond.