Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8, June 4, 1942)

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Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8, June 4, 1942)

Uploaded by: n1014f
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Torpedo Squadron Eight's 15 Douglas Devastators (TBD-1's) attacked the Japanese carriers during the Battle of Midway after launching from the USS Hornet. Lt. Commander John Charles Waldron was their skipper. Before takeoff he appended his own final message to VT-8's attack plan. It read, "Just a word to let you know that I feel we are all ready. We have had a very short time to train and we have worked under the most severe difficulties. But we have done the best humanly possible. I actually believe that under these conditions we are the best in the world. My greatest hope is that we encounter a favorable tactical situation, but if we don't, and the worst comes to worst, I want each of us to do his utmost to destroy our enemies. If there is only one plane left to make a final run-in, I want that man to go in and get a hit. May God be with us all. Good Luck, happy landings, and give 'em hell." The attack by VT-8 paved the way for the USN's dive bombers by causing the Japanese to defend against an at
tack at sea level. Of the 15 pilots and 15 crew members only Ensign George Gay survived ... all 15 planes were shot down. George Gay's remains were dropped into the sea near the battle area a few years ago. Admiral Nimitz instructed John Ford to film the battle. Ford, then a Lt. Commander in the OSS, was severely injured during the attack while filming on the island. One of his crews, aboard the Hornet, was making a documentary film featuring VT-8. This was their film as it was edited and presented to the families. The film was never released to the public for obvious reasons. This was VT-8's first and only takeoff with a torpedo attached. For entire account see Life Magazine, August 31, 1942. Ford's 19-minute documentary film, Midway, was awarded an Oscar after its release. I've seen snippets from this material but never the entire video.
(National Archives 2002

Tags for this video: 8 Aviation Battle CV-8 Heroes Hornet Midway n1014f of Squadron TBD-1 Torpedo VT-8 WWII

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Wow! I have been ... ( 10 months ago by pavel41)

Wow! I have been looking for this video for 30 years. I finally got it.
Thank you so much!

If this doesn't put ... ( 10 months ago by jagerfaust)

If this doesn't put a lump in your throat? Thanks for the posting friend....

You are welcome ... ... ( 10 months ago by n1014f)

You are welcome ... we must not forget such men ... cheers

I am a living ... ( 10 months ago by pavel41)

I am a living historian and I put ensigns George Gays flight gear together. I stand net to a corsair at a WWII museum that volunteer in and I talk about midway and what happened. We don't have any dauntless dive bombers. We just bought a Catalina sea plane. They will land the plane and I will walk out. The soul survivor of torpedo 8. God bless these guys. Thanks!

If I had your snail ... ( 10 months ago by n1014f)

If I had your snail mail address would send
as a gift (if you will share with others interested) a pretty fair copy of the video ... full sized NTSC rather than YouTube quality. I'll also send a scanned version of the Life magazine article too. Cheers

Thanks for posting. ... ( 10 months ago by badmedcine)

Thanks for posting. Those were some great men who gave their lives for our country. I think everyone should view this.

Thanks for the ... ( 8 months ago by AndreNavarenho)

Thanks for the amazing generation who gave their lives for a better future for all.
Andre.
Brazil.

George Gay only ... ( 7 months ago by Goldgun990)

George Gay only Survivor...30 men...right down

So awesome, thanks ... ( 6 months ago by koolblue007)

So awesome, thanks for posting, heard about the video but never saw. Those brave men paved the way for victory in the pacific. I would like to see the article in the Life magazine. Thank you for sharing that historical moment. I'm a big wwII buff, especially the pacific theater. I have a game called Battle stations Midway for the xbox 360 and playing that brings a little chill.

There is a ... ( 6 months ago by smilodino)

There is a postscript to this.
Torpedo 8 was the first squadron to be assigned the TBF Avenger.
Hornet left Pearl Harbor before the planes arrived so they flew straight on to Midway.

I don't know how ... ( 6 months ago by smilodino)

I don't know how many TBFs went to Midway but 6 went out along with a number of Marine and Army bombers while marine fighters were being slaughtered.
5 TBFs went down while the 6th came back damaged with a wounded gunner and dead radioman/bombardier.

There are 2 intact ... ( 5 months ago by oldcremona)

There are 2 intact TBD Devastators in the semi-shallow waters of Jaluit Lagoon in the Marshall Islands. Their crews ditched on Feb.1 1942 after becoming disoriented after a raid and running low on fuel. They became prisoners and survived the war. Hopefully the planes can be recovered soon.

What if the TBDs ... ( 5 months ago by romanbrough)

What if the TBDs had arrived after the SBDs, would they have been equally as effective?

I guess it's hard ... ( 4 months ago by dokaw)

I guess it's hard to say. The TBD's did okay in a coordinated attack at Coral Sea, but this was with overwhelming firepower against only one carrier, and even then their torps wouldn't explode.

Wow, thank God for ... ( 4 months ago by DEP717)

Wow, thank God for the National Archives. That's a type of thing we don't see enough of in the history shows out there now. Simply amazing, such confident, brave men.

Great footage of ... ( 4 months ago by TBFnut)

Great footage of some very brave guys. I'm building a 1/32 model of a TBF-1C and would like to know if anyone has the crew names and Bu number and A/C number of any of Hornet's Midway TBFs. Am building a collection of Midway participants. Thanks

Too slow, no armor, ... ( 3 months ago by R686Mack)

Too slow, no armor, poor armament,and lacking self-sealing fuel tanks these planes were a death trap in 1942. These very brave men are true heros in every sense of the word. I'm sure they knew that they might not return, but they went out anyway. God bless them all.

Waldron told his ... ( 2 months ago by likepatsandGTOs)

Waldron told his squadron they didn't have a great chance at returning. These young guys went anyway...when there was so much at stake for our country. What true courage. I wish there was a much better recounting of their sacrfice than the barely adequate "Midway" movie from 1975.

Not to mention no ... ( 2 months ago by Hotshotter3000)

Not to mention no fighter escort. Those guys didn't stand a chance, and the only one who survived, George Gay, spent over 30 hours in the water before being picked up by a flying boat from Midway. He passed away in 1994 and was cremanted. His ashes were cast into the pacific near the spot where he and his squadron took off on their mission.

Outstanding video ... ( 1 month ago by tycobb9999)

Outstanding video documenting some very brave men; heroes all. Many don't realize how much these young men actually affected the battle. Thank you so much for sharing this.

Those Marines were ... ( 4 days ago by TheSanityInspector)

Those Marines were equipped with the Brewster Buffalo, which was no match for the Zero.

Search Youtube for ... ( 4 days ago by TheSanityInspector)

Search Youtube for the song "The War Was In Color" by the band Carbon Leaf. It's about a grandfather explaining WWII to his grandson, and the video uses real WWII battle footage.

This is weird. I ... ( 4 days ago by smilodino)

This is weird. I had no idea I had been here.
SanityInspector, you're mostly right. The Marines did have Buffaloes, about 15 or 16 of them, plus 8 Wildcats.
1 Buffalo and-I think-4 Wildcats returned, all badly shot up.

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