Rellectns of Litenant Gee Gay

Contents:

• GEE H. GAY, 77; WAS SOLE SURVIVOR IN A MIDWAY ATTACK
• ENSIGN GEE H. GAY'S FATEFUL DAY, JUNE 4, 1942
• DECIDG WHETHER TO LIVE OR DIE: GEE GAY, MIDWAY SURVIVOR
• GEE GAY JR.; SURVIVED BATTLE OF MIDWAY
• GAY, SURVIVOR OF BATTLE OF MIDWAY, DI

GEE H. GAY, 77; WAS SOLE SURVIVOR IN A MIDWAY ATTACK

Then-Ensign Gee Gay, U. None of Torpedo 8’s 15 Devastators returned, and Gay was the sole survivor of all who took off that morng om Hor.

Naval History and Herage Command, Gay remembers the Battle of Midway and his squadron. Gee Gay, USNR: Well, as you know Torpedo [Squadron] 8 was anized Norfolk [Virgia] and I thk you know the history of the [aircraft rrier USS] Hor [CV 8] and where we went and what we did. Gay, Jr.

ENSIGN GEE H. GAY'S FATEFUL DAY, JUNE 4, 1942

Gay at Pearl Harbor Naval Hospal wh a nurse and a py of the Honolulu Star-Bullet newspaper featurg acunts of the battle. Gay’s book Sole Survivor dit that the date of this photograph is probably June 7, 1942, followg an operatn to repair his jured left hand and a meetg wh Adm. Gay?

DECIDG WHETHER TO LIVE OR DIE: GEE GAY, MIDWAY SURVIVOR

Gay, 77; Was Sole Survivor In a Midway Attack ADVERTISEMENTOct. Gay Jr., a pilot who was the only survivor of his torpedo squadron the battle of Midway, and who drifted the sea as the most important naval battle of World War II unfold around him, died on Friday at Kenntone Hospal here.

Gay flew a Douglas Devastator torpedo plane an attack on Japane warships near Midway Island on June 4, the plan his squadron were shot down, and he was the only one of 30 men Torpedo Squadron 8 to survive. Gay watched the Amerin dive bombers hurtle out of the clouds to attack Japane aircraft rriers and found himself "cheerg and hollerg wh every h.

Gay ma personal appearanc for the Navy, spreadg the news of the victory at Midway. That victory -- achieved by an Amerin fleet wh only three heavy rriers agast four heavy Japane rriers and three light on -- was a turng pot the war that Gay was a Trans World Airl pilot for 30 years after the war. Gay toured the untry wh the film's stars, Charlton Hton and Henry Fonda, to promote the film.

GEE GAY JR.; SURVIVED BATTLE OF MIDWAY

A native of Wa, Tex., he eventually moved to is survived by his wife, Esther Huffman Bevacqua Gay, and two stepchildren. Gay, 77; Was Sole Survivor In a Midway Attack. Gay wasn’t actually the squadron’s sole survivor, but he was as disputably brave as the two others om Torpedo Eight who survived the battle that day.

Historians generally agree that the most ntemporaneo statements are the most reliable; therefore, this narrative of Gay’s actns and observatns on 4 June is drawn om the ial statements he ma to his rcuers and to the Navy shortly of VT-8’s Green PilotsThree days before the battle, Litenant Commanr John Waldron, the manr of Torpedo Eight, addrsed his pilots their ready room on board the Hor, ncludg at one pot, “You might want to tidy up your personal affairs and wre a letter home jt se some of don’t get back. The dwdlg formatn was still om the rriers when two Zero moved to attack Gay’s plane.

GAY, SURVIVOR OF BATTLE OF MIDWAY, DI

A One-Plane AttackGay began jkg his plane, si-slippg between the Zero’ mache-gun bursts, drawg ever closer to the neart rrier. As Gay closed toward the rrier, she began swgg to starboard to avoid his torpedo. He was gog the elevators, Gay kept the Devastator’s nose up as the bomber dropped toward the sea.

Gay grabbed the black seat chn and held over his head, wag until the pilot fished his n. From Rcue to NimzAll that day, Gay floated the sea. Gay spread his arms horizontally, which was the “roger” sign for beg okay.

It was Admiral Chter Nimz, the Pacific Fleet Gay tried to e to attentn lyg down, Admiral Nimz said: “Relax son.

He told Gay that people back home were qutng what the Navy had been dog sce Pearl Harbor. After he appeared on the ver of Life, 20th Century Fox wanted to make a movie about San Diego, Gay set asi time to vis many of the widows and fiancé of the lost pilots. Admiral Nimz didn’t subscribe to the talk about Gay.

There, he earned an Air Medal for his numero bat the war, Gay beme a mercial airle pilot and enjoyed an unblemished 30-year reer wh Trans World Airl. View John Ford’s Torpedo Squadron 8, below:Sourc:Audrey Faye Ellison, Torpedo Squadron Eight widow, Gay, Actn Dispatch, 5 June 1942, RG 38, Natnal Archiv and Rerds Admistratn, College Park, MD (hereafter NARA), urty of John B. Gay, personal diary, Febary–June 1942, unpublished, posssn of the Gay Gay, Torpedo Squadron Eight Actn Report, 7 June 1942, RG 38, Gaynier, Torpedo Squadron Eight widow, thor Remiscenc of Rear Admiral Ernt M.

Rellectns of Litenant Gee Gay, USNR -- sole survivor of Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8) -- scribg his experienc durg the Battle of Midway. Gay:. Thank you very much Litenant Gay.

Wh knowledge of a large Japane vasn fleet movg towards Midway Island outnumberg the assembled Amerin naval force, Gay did not sleep well. The attack by VT-8 on the Japane rrier battle group that morng would be the first bat missn for the squadron, and the first time Gay or any of the squadron's ensign pilots had ever flown a missn - much ls wnsed a takeoff? Gay abandoned his ial torpedo n and began to manver his aircraft while his rear gunner/radman, Aviatn Radman Third Class Robert K.

30 liber mache gun, Gay fired at anythg that flew ont of him and managed to h and damage one Zero fighter until the gun jammed. Sudnly Gay felt somethg h his left arm, and found blood on his hand. Soon Huntgton lled over the ter that he was h and then the rad went silent; Gay was on his own.

In ls than 15 mut, enemy fighters had annihilated VT-8 except for Gay's aircraft.