Ernie P.

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Hydro Junkie; I'll accept that answer. You now have the conch shell and we're all waiting for your next question. Thanks; Ernie P.


We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.

What warbird aircrew member do I describe?

1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.

2. His first combat mission was very nearly his last.

3. He was the only member of his flight to avoid being shot down on that memorable day.

4. Three pilots survived; and three died.

5. And in coming years he was haunted by the three that died; often talking about how they died.

6. He flew through the entire war.

7. From the very first day to the very last day.

8. Ironically enough, both battleships and aircraft carriers feature prominently in his wartime career.

9. On the first day and the last day of his war.

10. He was not an ace pilot.

11. Although he did fly fighters.

12. For the entire war.

13. In fact, after a bit of study, I can’t find any indication he ever shot down an enemy plane.

14. He is remembered simply because of the first and last days; and because he was there.

15. He flew in more than one war.

16. In fact, he fought in three different wars.

17. He started his first war as a fighter pilot; and ended it the same way.

18. He finished his career as Commander of an aircraft carrier.

19. In between the two, he flew combat missions in another war.

20. Yankee Station

21. Gulf of Tonkin

22. He was born in Missouri.

23. In 1915.

24. He died at the age of 88; having served his country long and well.

25. He attended anniversary commemorative events; speaking about the three friends he lost on December 7th, 1941.

26. And when the Japanese surrendered on September 2nd, 1945, he was again flying above the ceremony.

27. He was the only man who was both in the air above Pearl Harbor on December 7th; and in the air above the surrender ceremony which concluded WWII.

28. On December 7th, 1941, he was flying off the carrier Enterprise.

29. And flew off the XXX on September 2nd, 1945.

30. He flew combat missions in Korea.

31. And he commanded the Ticonderoga off the coast of Viet Nam.











Answer: U.S. Navy Captain James G. Daniels III The night of Dec. 7, 1941, was cold and rainy. Personnel on Ford Island still huddled in ditches, makeshift shelters or hangars, waiting for the Japanese Navy to come back and finish the job. But there was more death to come that night. A hundred miles from Hawaii, an Enterprise air-search force was returning near dusk after failing to find the Japanese fleet. With light fading and aircraft short of fuel, Enterprise sent six F4F Wildcat fighters to instead land on Ford Island’s runway. All were members of carrier fighter squadron VF-6. In minutes, five aircraft were shot down, with three of the pilots killed — all by friendly fire.

With LT(jg) Francis F. “Fritz” Hebel in the lead, the flight approached a blacked-out Oahu, the only light coming from fires of the morning attack. Wingman ENS Herbert H. Menges flew alongside Hebel. Following were ENS Gayle L. Hermann and ENS David R. Flynn and a final pair consisting of ENS James G. Daniels III and LT(jg) Eric Allen, Jr. On Ford Island, Enterprise CAG LCDR Howard L. “Brigham” Young had flown in on an SBD scout bomber earlier in the day, into the middle of the attack. He was able to land on Ford Island’s runway and sprint to the control tower. There, he tried to contact Enterprise, but the tower’s weak radio signal could not reach the carrier. Young climbed back into his SBD’s back seat to use the aircraft’s radio, communicating with Enterprise to apprise Admiral Halsey of the situation. That evening, Enterprise notified Ford Island six aircraft from VF-6 would be landing. Young and other personnel sent out the word to hold fire, and then Young waited in the control tower for the Wildcats. Around 2100 hours, the flight finally arrived. They had flown nearly to the east end of Oahu’s southern shore before determining where they were. They turned around and approached Ford Island from the south, passing over Hickam Field. Hebel radioed that they would make a circuit around the island, landing from the north. Young in the control tower told them to come straight in, but Hebel either could not hear Young or decided to ignore him. Hebel repeated he was making a pass, and Young, once again, tried to get him to fly straight in. As the flight passed by Ford Island, a few scattered shots were fired and then the floodgates opened. Although the word had gone out that the Wildcats were coming, every gun on the island seemed to open up. The museum’s own Dick Girocco, who was in Hangar 56, said the “sky was lit up like daytime” and the sound was deafening. Everyone in the flight realized they were in trouble. Flight leader Hebel was able to break away from the carnage and make for Wheeler Field, but when he arrived, he was greeted with another barrage. His aircraft crashed; Hebel died of head injuries the next morning. Hebel’s wingman Menges crashed into the Palms Hotel near the Pearl City Tavern. No one in the hotel was injured, but Menges died instantly in the crash. He became the first Navy fighter pilot to die in the war. Hermann was hit 18 times as he tried to escape. His flight came to an abrupt end when a 5-inch naval shell hit his engine. The shell failed to explode, but it knocked the engine out of the plane. The Wildcat fluttered down tail-first to crash on the Ford Island golf course, near where the ADM Clarey Bridge today touches the island. Incredibly, he was uninjured. He picked up his parachute and began walking down the runway to the seaplane base at the other end of the island. The excitement, however, was not over for Herrmann. Flying next to Hermann was Flynn, who was able to break away from Ford Island’s crossfire. He headed toward Barbers Point, but had to bail out, landing in a cane field. Army security personnel tried to shoot him, imagining he was a Japanese paratrooper. Flynn’s cursing convinced them otherwise. Allen was hit immediately. He bailed out, but was hit by a .50-caliber shell on the way down, his parachute only partially opened. Allen swam through oily water to minesweeper Vireo (AM-52), but died of severe wounds the next day. Daniels was the only pilot left in the air. He turned off his external lights, dove to the water past the end of the seaplane base and continued down the channel. Although Daniels had survived, he still needed to land safely. At that point, Young was able to reach him from the control tower. However, Young was not convinced that the flyer was an American, and Daniels was becoming concerned that the Japanese had seized the island. Young demanded to know who was there. Daniels answered with his aircraft identification, Six Fox Five (VF-6 squadron, aircraft 5). Daniels then said that he recognized Young’s voice. Young asked Daniels to give Young’s nickname. Daniels replied, “Brigham,” so Young ordered the Wildcat pilot to put his wheels down and come in low and fast. The approach was filled with hazards. Coming up the channel, he almost hit battleship Nevada, and the Wildcat was going so fast that he only got his flaps halfway down before landing. Daniels reached the end of the runway and was about to shoot into the weeds but was able to ground loop the aircraft. He taxied down the runway to the control tower — and into more danger. As Daniels neared the tower, a seaman manning a .50 caliber machine gun let loose at the Wildcat. Fortunately, Hermann had reached the area; he grabbed a rifle and hit the machine gunner in the head with the butt. In a few, endless minutes of terror, three pilots had died and five aircraft had been destroyed. Only Daniels had safely reached the Ford Island runway. VF-6’s losses that night would not be exceeded until the Battle of Midway. Ironically, Hermann would die a few days before that historic battle in a take-off accident.

Capt. Daniels, Pearl Harbor

Daniels became the only pilot in the air at both the Pearl Harbor attack and the Japanese surrender. He flew 110 combat missions in World War II and Korea, and commanded the carrier Ticonderoga off the coast of Vietnam during the early days of that war. Pilot
Aircraft
Outcome
LT(jg) Francis F. Hebel6-F-1
Died of injuries
ENS Herbert H. Menges6-F-15
Killed
ENS James G. Daniels III6-F-5
Landed safely, uninjuredLT(jg) Eric Allen Jr.6-F-12
Died of injuries
ENS Gayle L. Hermann
3-F-15
Shot out of air, survived without serious injuryENS David R. Flynn
6-F-4
Shot down, survived without serious injury Pearl Harbor pilot James G. Daniels III dies at 88By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff WriterHe was the last surviving pilot who could tell the tale, the only one who had landed safely when the sky above Pearl Harbor erupted the night of Dec. 7, 1941, with friendly fire. At anniversary ceremonies, he would honor the memory of the pilots killed in the fusillade — all of them good friends — by telling their story. But time caught up with retired Navy Capt. James G. Daniels III. He died Monday. He was 88.Daniels was born in Missouri in 1915. He was a veteran of three wars and flew 120 combat missions. He commanded the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga off the coast of Vietnam. A Captain in the United States Navy at the outbreak America's particiaption of World War II. he was the only pilot in the air when war was delcared on Japan and in the air near Tokyo Bay when Japan surrended to General Douglas MacArthur aboard the USS Missouri. On December 7, 1941 Captain Daniels was launched from the first USS Enterprise in his F4F-3A Wildcat Fighter along with others to search for the retreating Japanese attack fleet; after terminating the search they were returning to the aircraft carrier and six, including Daniels, were directed to land at the Ford Island airstrip. Panicky sailors on the ground, although advised that friendly United States planes would be incoming, released a barrage of rounds at the six approaching planes. Daniels survived the deluge of friendly fire and landed his aircraft at Ford Island as directed. Almost four years later he was also in the air above Tokyo Harbor in the war's final days in September 1945 when Japan surrendered. A graduate of George Washington University and, later in his career, the Naval War College, he had been assigned to Hawaii upon graduating from the Navy's flight school in 1939. He rose to the rank of Captain and retired in 1970 after 33 years of service during which he had logged 4,500 hours in the air, mostly flying off aircraft carriers. He flew 110 combat missions during World War II and Korea and earned numerous decorations including the Legion of Merit with Gold Star and Combat V, Distinguished Flying Cross and six Air Medals. Died of natural causes.