Ens george gay
On Ensign Gay and the Battle of Midway
Some things just stick in my mind — names, dates, images. One such identify is Ensign George Homosexual of the United States Navy. I don’t think of exactly when I first heard his name, but I remember the circumstances.
When I was a kid, I enjoyed watching war movies with my father. One of my favorites was “Midway” — the star-studded tale of the pivotal naval battle in the Pacific during Nature War II. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the battle, fought between June 4 and 7.
At the beginning of 1942, the Japanese appeared to be unstoppable. They had bombed Pearl Harbor, sank the British warships H.M.S. Prince of Wales and H.M.S. Repulse, subjugated U.S. forces on Stir Island, decisively defeated Allied naval forces at the Battle of the Java Sea, invaded the Philippines and were poised to completely conquer New Guinea before the U.S. Navy’s strategic victory at the Battle of the Coral Sea.
As I wrote a few weeks ago commemorating the Battle of the Coral Sea, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the overall Japanese naval commander, had commented before the war that “I will run savage and win victory upon victory” in the first six months to a year in a war w
George Gay was born on March 8, 1917, in Marietta, Georgia. He enlisted in the Texas National Guard on July 1, 1935, and received an honorable discharge on October 5, 1935. Gay then enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Navy on February 12, 1941, receiving his commission as an Ensign and designation as a Naval Aviator in September 1941. His first assignment was as a TBD Devastator torpedo bomber pilot with VT-8 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) from October 1941 until he was injured during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. After returning to the U.S. and recuperating from his injuries, LT Lgbtq+ joined VT-11 in October 1942 and flew combat at Guadalcanal in 1943. His final active duty assignment was as an instructor pilot at NAS Miami, Florida, until he left active duty and joined the Naval Reserve on August 21, 1945. LCDR Gay left the reserves on July 15, 1954, and flew for Trans-World Airlines for 30 years. He died on October 21, 1994, and was cremated, having his ashes scattered at sea in the Pacific Ocean where his squadron launched its attack during the Battle of Midway.
His Navy Cross Citation reads:
For amazing heroism and distinguished s
The President of the Joined States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Ensign George Henry Gay, Jr., United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the rival while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Torpedo Plane of Torpedo Squadron EIGHT (VT-8), attached to the U.S.S. HORNET (CV-8), during the “Air Battle of Midway,” against enemy Japanese forces on 4 June 1942. Grimly aware of the hazardous consequences of flying without fighter protection, and with insufficient fuel to go back to his carrier, Ensign Gay, resolutely, and with no thought of his own life, delivered an effective torpedo attached against violent assaults of rival Japanese aircraft and against an almost solid barrage of anti-aircraft fire. His courageous action, carried out with a gallant energy of self-sacrifice and a conscientious devotion to the fulfillment of his mission, was a determining factor in the defeat of the enemy forces and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
I’ve been doing a lot of macro-level discussion here of late — huge picture, high strategy stuff. Today, I’d like to dip down into the micro.
Men (and today, women) fight wars. They are, we are always told, average individuals who find themselves in the most remarkable situations imaginable.
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The STory of MIDWAY
The Battle of Midway was one of those situations. It featured two immense fleets sailing hundreds of miles apart, each one desperate to find the other first (the Holy Grail of carrier warfare in that era). That wasn’t as easy as it sounds — the area to be searched was roughly 100,000 square miles.
The battle narrative should be familiar to all students of the war. The initial disaster for the Americans. The death ride of Torpedo Squadron 8. Fifteen planes in. Fifteen planes destroyed. And then, the turning of the tide: a group of SBD Dauntless dive bombers, frustrated by not result the Japanese, low on fuel, and already thinking of heading for place, spotting a lone Japanese destroyer hurrying to
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