Remembering David McCampbell - Ace of Aces

Wings of Gold, Spring 2004

David McCampbell was an intercol legiate diving champion on the swim team at the U.S. Naval Academy from which he graduated in 1933. He was destined to distinguish himself in another form of diving (and twisting and turning) - this time in his fighter plane - 11 years later when, as a Navy pilot, he achieved an unprecedented record in aerial combat.

But he had non-flying duty first. He served aboard the cruiser USS Portland and then as Aircraft Gunnery Observer with Scouting Squadron 11. He began flight training in 1937, earned his wings a year later and joined VF-4 aboard USS Ranger. In 1940 he was reassigned to the air group aboard USS Wasp as landing signal fficer (LSO) until the carrier was sunk in September 1942 by a Japanese submarine while on patrol south of Guadalcanal.

The need for experienced men to command fighter squadrons was severe so in August 1943, McCampbell became CO of VF-15 at the age of 33. In early 1944 he moved aboard USS Essex. At the age of 34 he was given command of the entire air group.

Flying Hellcats, David McCampbell shot down his first Japanese aircraft on June 11th, 1944 during air strikes against enemy positions on Saipan. In the first Battle of the Philippine Sea eight days later, McCampbell led his fighters against a force of 80 Japanese aircraft bearing down on the U.S. fleet. McCampbell personally destroyed seven hostile planes during this single engagement in which the larger enemy attack force was virtually annihilated. This was the famous "Marianas Turkey Shoot."

By June 1944, McCampbell had shot down 19 Japanese planes. A month later, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, McCampbell, assisted by only one other fighter, intercepted and daringly attacked a formation of 60 hostile enemy aircraft approaching American forces. Together they accounted for 15 downed enemy aircraft with McCampbell personally shooting down nine, an achievement unequaled in the annals of combat aviation. He disrupted the enemy group, forcing the remainder to quit the attack before a single enemy plane could reach the U.S. Fleet.

After seven months of duty in the Pacific, McCampbell downed 34 aircraft in the air, the greatest number ever shot down by an American pilot during a single tour of combat duty. he became the Navy's top fighter ace.

For his achievements McCampbell received many awards including the Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, Silver Star, Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross. The Medal of Honor was presented to him at the White House by President Roosevelt in 1945.

David McCampbell's post war career included assignments as Chief of Staff to commander Fleet Air and as commander of carrier air groups. He served a tour of duty in Buenos Aires, Argentina as the Senior Naval Aviation Advisor to the Argentine Navy from 1948 to 1951. He was XO of USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, headed the Naval Air Technical Training Center at Jacksonville, Florida and was a Flight Test Coordinator at NATC Patxuent River in Maryland. He commanded the USS Severn and USS Bon Homme Richard. Subsequently, in 1960, he was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Two years later he became the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations to the Commander in Chief of the continental Air Defense Command. He remained there until his retirement in 1964. CAPT McCampbell died in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1996.

The West Palm Beach Airport Terminal was named in his honor in 1988. ANA's West Palm Beach Squadron is titled "McCambell's Aces." Some efforts have been extended toward having the Navy's TOPGUN School named in his honor.

One of the intriguing stories in his very storied career featured McCampbell out of the cockpit. Charles F. Stark, former Navy corpsman and member of the McCampbell's Aces, visited the CAPT when he was in a nursing home. Stark had been reading "A Hell of a War" by CAPT Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., USNR (Ret.), the famous actor, who served aboard Wasp at the same time as McCampbell. In one chapter Fairbanks describes the carrier ferrying RAF Spitfires from Scotland to the besieged island of Malta in the Mediterranean.

"One of the Spitfires had trouble after takeoff and signaled he had to land back on Wasp" said Stark. "Spitfires don't have tail hooks. So the LSO had to guide a 19 year old British aviator in for a landing without the hook. It took several passes at the deck, one of which forced the LSO into the safety net. Finally, the Spitfire managed to touch down and come to a halt, stopping within inches of going over the side."

In McCampbell's biography Stark knew McCampbell had been the LSO on Wasp at the time. So, in the nursing home, he asked McCampbell, if he was the LSO who got the Spitfire aboard.

"Yep, that's me," answered McCampbell smartly.

Stark continued his visits to the WWII ace. After he died Stark made a last call at the funeral home Stark took away a vivid picture of this legendary Naval Aviator, the Medal of Honor around his neck.

Editor's note: Wings of Gold thanks Jim Gregory and Charles Stark for their assistance on this story.