Never feel badly about harvesting newbs

[Simaril]

....it won David McCampbell a medal of honor!



October 24th, 1944, Leyte Gulf

With the Hellcat only partially fueled, the Flight Officer ordered it off the flight deck - either into the air or below to the hangar deck. McCampbell went up, leading Essex's last seven fighters toward the Japanese strike force.

He and Ens. Roy Rushing got out in front of the other Hellcats, putting on all speed to intercept the Japanese, then only 22 miles away. He directed the other F6F's to get the bombers, while he and Rushing tackled the fighters. Surprisingly, the enemy fighters turned, allowing McCampbell and Rushing to gain altitude and a position behind them.

Seeing over 40 Japanese fighters, McCampbell radioed back to the carrier for help. "Sorry, none available." The enemy planes spread out in a typical formation of three V's. McCampbell picked out a Zero on the extreme right and flamed it. Rushing also got one on this first pass. Incredibly, there was no reaction from the Japanese as they climbed back up to regain altitude. The two Hellcat pilots dived back down on their quarry for another pass; McCampbell blew up a second Zero. Now the gaggle of Zeros, Tonys, Hamps, and Oscars reacted - by going into a Lufbery! McCampbell made a couple of head-on passes against the formation, but without results.

A strange interlude ensued as McCampbell and Rushing climbed back up and circled, while the Japanese fighters continued to circle below. McCampbell radioed again for help; one of the Hellcats that had been going after the bombers headed his way. The Lufbery broke up and the planes headed toward Luzon in a wide Vee. The two American fliers closed in again on the formation. McCampbell opened up at 900 feet, and exploded his third plane of the morning. Rushing shot down his second one.

Apparently low on fuel, the Japanese planes doggedly flew on, maintaining formation. On his next firing pass, gunfire coming from behind forced McCampbell to break off his attack and pull up. It was another Hellcat shooting too close to him. A few choice words straightened things out. Still the enemy planes didn't turn and mix it up.

McCampbell realized he could relax and take his time. This was practically gunnery exercise. He could focus on identifying his targets carefully. The next one was an Oscar. Again his six fifties roared anad blasted the Oscar's wing root. It flamed for number four. Rushing had scored his third by this time. This continued for several more passes until McCampbell had downed 7 and Rushing 6. Rushing radioed that he was out of ammo, but he would stay on McCampbell's wing while the CAG used up his remaining bullets.

Two more passes and two more kills. As the Jap planes approached the security of their bases on Luzon, the two Americans' low fuel finally ended the slaughter. The Hellcats broke off and headed for Essex. In one morning sortie, McCampbell had shot down nine enemy planes and Rushing six, an unparalleled achievement in American fighter aviation.

The story's doubly impressive when one considers the gunnery skill it would take to kill 9 without rearming; it also speaks volumes about the sad state of training those Japanese pilots must have been given.

[Shane]

hah!  where's a moderator when you need one!!

"On his next firing pass, gunfire coming from behind forced McCampbell to break off his attack and pull up. It was another Hellcat shooting too close to him. A few choice words straightened things out."

[Toad]

What's even worse is this:

McCampbell made a couple of head-on passes against the formation

McCampbell, with obvious superiority in position opted for dweeby HO's.

He should be stripped of all medals for that.

[Edbert]

Cherrypicking, HO'ing, shoulder-shooting, noob-killing, cursing...

Guess the AH-MA is more of a "sim" than I thought!

[parin]

Looks like my current tactics are right on target:aok

[storch]

the only thing missing from the equation is gang banging but then again three rooks vs fourty bish is ganging by the rooks so I guess it was really there after all.  

[Geary420]

Great read, just read the same thing last night.  If you haven't been there but enjoyed that story check out AcePilots.com (i think thats what it was).  Many good accounts there, was shocked to learn that Bong was estimated to have a hit percentage of 91%, and McGuries quote. "Damn I love this, you gotta shoot down japs just to land at your own field"

[Alpo]

Originally posted by Simaril
On his next firing pass, gunfire coming from behind forced McCampbell to break off his attack and pull up. It was another Hellcat shooting too close to him. A few choice wooooooowoooooo's straightened things out.

[Furball]

i once got like 16 kills without rearming in an f6f, i am betterer pilot...

and why didnt he just killshoot the dweeb shooting from behind him?

amateurs.

[Alpo]

Originally posted by Furball
i am betterer pilot...

McCampbell MIGHT have got as many kills as you IF the Japanese had a "Tower" button too