g.asher
CAPT Philip R. White, USMC
F2A-3 BuNo 01568 assigned to VMF-221 in April 1942.
"At 0600, June 4th, I took off in a F2A-3, bureau number 01568, with Captain Daniel Joseph Hennessy leading the division.
"He climbed to twelve thousand feet and circled for two or three minutes and contacted the enemy formations.
"Captain Hennessy led us in a attack on the horizontal bombers. There were three formations of nine planes to the formation. After the first pass I lost my wing man and rest of the division. I made a long low fast climb and made a second above side pass, and started for a third, when I saw a Zero Fighter climbing up on my tail very rapidly. I rushed my stick forward as hard as I could and went into a violent dive. When I recovered and looked around, I had lost the Zero Fighter.
"I regained my altitude and received a transmission saying that an enemy plane was leaving the area on a heading of 310o. I made a long fast above side pass on this plane which I had spotted. After the pass I saw him waver and make an easy left turn into the water. He was at approximately one thousand feet when I initiated the pass. I believe I shot the pilot. The plane was Aichi 99 Dive Bomber.
"I again regained my altitude and saw another Aichi 99 weaving in and out of the clouds, returning to his carrier. I had six thousand feet and gave my Buffalo all the power I could get and just stayed in the same relative position. I finally gained enough to make a pass by nosing over and losing three thousand feet. After my fist pass I slowed down a great deal, and I was able to make another pass quite easily. I believe that in my first pass, I had damaged his engine. After the second pass I got behind him and was going to bore in and found out that I was out of ammunition. I am sure that I shot the rear seat gunner in this plane because he did not fire on me on the third pass, and he could have easily.
"I returned to the base and rearmed and took off and later received instructions to land.
"The F2A-3 is not a combat airplane. It is inferior to the planes we were fighting in every respect. The F2A-3 has about the same speed as an Aichi 99 Dive Bomber. The Japanese Zero Fighter can run circles around the F2A-3. I estimated the top speed of a Zero Fighter, form what I saw, at better than 450 mile per hour.
"It is my belief that any commander that orders pilots out for combat in a F2A-3 should consider the pilot as lost before leaving the ground."
The citation for his award of the Navy Cross reds as follows:
"The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Philip R. White (0-6377), Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession while serving as Section Leader and a Pilot in Marine Fighting Squadron TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE (VMF-221), Marine Air Group TWENTY-TWO (MAG-22), Naval Air Station, Midway, during operations of the U.S. Naval and Marine Forces against the invading Japanese Fleet during the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942. Leading his section in a dauntless and aggressive attack against a vastly superior number of Japanese bomber and fighter planes, Captain White aided in the disruption of enemy plans and lessened the effectiveness of their attack. As a result of his daring tactics, he succeeded in destroying one Navy Aichi Type Dive Bomber, thereby contributing materially to the success of our forces. The courageous leadership and utter disregard for personal safety displayed by Captain White in this attack were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."
Promoted to the rank of Major, White later commanded VMF-113, flying F4Us, between 19 December 1944 and 20 October 1945.
CAPT Philip R. White, USMC
F2A-3 BuNo 01568 assigned to VMF-221 in April 1942.
"At 0600, June 4th, I took off in a F2A-3, bureau number 01568, with Captain Daniel Joseph Hennessy leading the division.
"He climbed to twelve thousand feet and circled for two or three minutes and contacted the enemy formations.
"Captain Hennessy led us in a attack on the horizontal bombers. There were three formations of nine planes to the formation. After the first pass I lost my wing man and rest of the division. I made a long low fast climb and made a second above side pass, and started for a third, when I saw a Zero Fighter climbing up on my tail very rapidly. I rushed my stick forward as hard as I could and went into a violent dive. When I recovered and looked around, I had lost the Zero Fighter.
"I regained my altitude and received a transmission saying that an enemy plane was leaving the area on a heading of 310o. I made a long fast above side pass on this plane which I had spotted. After the pass I saw him waver and make an easy left turn into the water. He was at approximately one thousand feet when I initiated the pass. I believe I shot the pilot. The plane was Aichi 99 Dive Bomber.
"I again regained my altitude and saw another Aichi 99 weaving in and out of the clouds, returning to his carrier. I had six thousand feet and gave my Buffalo all the power I could get and just stayed in the same relative position. I finally gained enough to make a pass by nosing over and losing three thousand feet. After my fist pass I slowed down a great deal, and I was able to make another pass quite easily. I believe that in my first pass, I had damaged his engine. After the second pass I got behind him and was going to bore in and found out that I was out of ammunition. I am sure that I shot the rear seat gunner in this plane because he did not fire on me on the third pass, and he could have easily.
"I returned to the base and rearmed and took off and later received instructions to land.
"The F2A-3 is not a combat airplane. It is inferior to the planes we were fighting in every respect. The F2A-3 has about the same speed as an Aichi 99 Dive Bomber. The Japanese Zero Fighter can run circles around the F2A-3. I estimated the top speed of a Zero Fighter, form what I saw, at better than 450 mile per hour.
"It is my belief that any commander that orders pilots out for combat in a F2A-3 should consider the pilot as lost before leaving the ground."
The citation for his award of the Navy Cross reds as follows:
"The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Philip R. White (0-6377), Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession while serving as Section Leader and a Pilot in Marine Fighting Squadron TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE (VMF-221), Marine Air Group TWENTY-TWO (MAG-22), Naval Air Station, Midway, during operations of the U.S. Naval and Marine Forces against the invading Japanese Fleet during the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942. Leading his section in a dauntless and aggressive attack against a vastly superior number of Japanese bomber and fighter planes, Captain White aided in the disruption of enemy plans and lessened the effectiveness of their attack. As a result of his daring tactics, he succeeded in destroying one Navy Aichi Type Dive Bomber, thereby contributing materially to the success of our forces. The courageous leadership and utter disregard for personal safety displayed by Captain White in this attack were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."
Promoted to the rank of Major, White later commanded VMF-113, flying F4Us, between 19 December 1944 and 20 October 1945.