William Henry Stambaugh
Aviation Radioman First Class, United States Navy
Distinguished Flying Cross & Purple Heart
Link
https://militaryhallofhonor.com/honoree-record.php?id=102486
Excerpt and photo from bio compiled by Gerry Lawton
Biography:
William was the eldest child of Hubert Cromwell and Delora Ethel (Brown) Stambaugh from Johnson county, KY who married about 1916. Not long after they were married Hubert Stambaugh enlisted in the US Army. He served in France during WWI with the 315th Field Artillery Medical Detachment, 80th Div., William’s younger siblings were James Edward, Kenneth Brown, Peggy Jo, Irma Irene, Robert Gordon “Bobby “, and Patricia Ann Stambaugh. William attended Paintsville, KY high school until 1937. William married Lois Patricia (Kelly) Huntley on 18 Feb 1941 in Yuma County, AZ.
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The next document that named Petty Officer Stambaugh was the Tactical Organization for Attack (TOA) from Scouting Squadron Six dated June 2, 1942. It contains the names of the pilots and gunners in each of the three divisions and the Photographic Section. It was submitted by Lt C.R. Ware and approved by the Commanding Officer, Lt. W.E. Gallagher.Early on the morning of 4 Jun 1942, Lt Ware and his radioman/gunner, ARM1 William Henry Stambaugh, flying in a Douglas Dauntless SBD-2 dive bomber (6-S-4), with other attack aircraft of Air Group Six, as well as planes from Air Groups from Hornet and Yorktown, launched to intercept and attack a large Japanese Carrier force approaching Midway. After VS-6 made a successful attack on the Japanese carrier Kaga, Lt Ware and five other planes from his squadron joined up to return to Enterprise. Enroute home Lt Ware’s group was attacked by six Japanese “Zero” fighters that broke away from Japanese carrier Hiryu’s dive-bomber counter-strike that was heading toward the carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5). Ware had earlier improvised a tactic of turning into the attacking Japanese Zeros, and did so again, creating an arc with the trailing SBD’s that enabled all rear seat gunners to concentrate their fire on the leading Zeros.
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Notes
Lieutenant Charles R. Ware leads his division of six SBD-3 Dauntless dive-bombers back to USS Enterprise after a successful attack on Japan’s largest aircraft carrier Kaga at the Battle of Midway. The SBDs are now preparing to repel an attack by Japanese Zero fighters from the surviving Japanese carrier Hiryu. The SBD with nose down in the background has run out of fuel and will ditch in the ocean. Its aircrew were plucked from the sea by the Japanese destroyer Makigumo. After interrogation by the enraged Japanese, they were brutally executed. Only one aircraft from Ware’s division reached the US Fleet. Without sufficient fuel to reach their carrier, Ware and the rest of his men perished in the vastness of the Pacific.*
* This superb painting of gallant American pilots and their SBD dive-bombers of Enterprise’s VS-6 at Midway was reproduced with the kind permission of the artist John Greaves.
https://www.pacificwar.org.au/Midway/TheyservedatMidway.html
Kaga
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Missing In Action - Navy - WWII 