g.asher
CAPT John F. Carey, USMC
F4F-3 BuNo 4008 assigned to VMF-221 in May 1942.
“We had been on the alert before daylight. Then, the alarm came at about 6:30 a.m. We all got into the air and there was a little mix-up among the Grummans as the planes took to the air. From the Radar we were directed up to 310…. Many bandits at 12,000 feet altitude. We went out there and contacted them and there were about nineteen carrier dive-bombers escorted by approximately ten ‘Zero’ fighters. The dive bombers were in four and five plane “V”s and the ‘Zero’ fighters were about 2,000 feet above them. There were only three of us.
“I went ahead after the leader of the division of bombers and while making the first run, an overhead approach on the division leader of the dive bomber formation, I got a bullet through the wind shield but continued my attack and shot down the division leader. Then I made an above side approach on the center plane of the formation, hit the leader and think I got one of them. Just then I got shot through the right knee and left leg. I kept going right down, got out of my dive and returned to Midway. I returned with great difficulty and attempted to make a landing which ended in a ground loop as I had a flat tire and could not control the plane because of the wound in my leg.
“In talking it over with the other pilots who returned they invariably had tangled with two to five ‘Zero’ fighters and were unable to shake them. The only maneuver which would evade them would be a vertical dive and then a pull-out at high speed just above the water.
“The ‘Zero’ fighters out-maneuvered, out-performed and out-climbed the Brewsters and Grummans in every respect. The only advantage the Brewsters and Grummans had was in armor.
“While the fighters were attempting to stop the dive-bombers and intercept the oncoming fighters, the Scouts and B-17s had gone on out farther to attempt to intercept the surface craft.”
The citation accompanying his award of the Navy Cross reads as follows:
"The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to John F. Carey (0-5650), Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession while serving as Division Commander 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 division in a dauntless and aggressive assault against a vastly superior number of Japanese bomber and fighter planes, Captain Carey shot down one Navy Aichi Type dive bomber, thereby aiding in the disruption of enemy plans and lessening of the effectiveness of their attack. His courageous determination, maintained at great personal risk against tremendous odds, contributed to the success of our forces and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Untied States Naval Forces."
CAPT John F. Carey, USMC
F4F-3 BuNo 4008 assigned to VMF-221 in May 1942.
“We had been on the alert before daylight. Then, the alarm came at about 6:30 a.m. We all got into the air and there was a little mix-up among the Grummans as the planes took to the air. From the Radar we were directed up to 310…. Many bandits at 12,000 feet altitude. We went out there and contacted them and there were about nineteen carrier dive-bombers escorted by approximately ten ‘Zero’ fighters. The dive bombers were in four and five plane “V”s and the ‘Zero’ fighters were about 2,000 feet above them. There were only three of us.
“I went ahead after the leader of the division of bombers and while making the first run, an overhead approach on the division leader of the dive bomber formation, I got a bullet through the wind shield but continued my attack and shot down the division leader. Then I made an above side approach on the center plane of the formation, hit the leader and think I got one of them. Just then I got shot through the right knee and left leg. I kept going right down, got out of my dive and returned to Midway. I returned with great difficulty and attempted to make a landing which ended in a ground loop as I had a flat tire and could not control the plane because of the wound in my leg.
“In talking it over with the other pilots who returned they invariably had tangled with two to five ‘Zero’ fighters and were unable to shake them. The only maneuver which would evade them would be a vertical dive and then a pull-out at high speed just above the water.
“The ‘Zero’ fighters out-maneuvered, out-performed and out-climbed the Brewsters and Grummans in every respect. The only advantage the Brewsters and Grummans had was in armor.
“While the fighters were attempting to stop the dive-bombers and intercept the oncoming fighters, the Scouts and B-17s had gone on out farther to attempt to intercept the surface craft.”
The citation accompanying his award of the Navy Cross reads as follows:
"The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to John F. Carey (0-5650), Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession while serving as Division Commander 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 division in a dauntless and aggressive assault against a vastly superior number of Japanese bomber and fighter planes, Captain Carey shot down one Navy Aichi Type dive bomber, thereby aiding in the disruption of enemy plans and lessening of the effectiveness of their attack. His courageous determination, maintained at great personal risk against tremendous odds, contributed to the success of our forces and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Untied States Naval Forces."