Eagle Biography
George Gay
During the Battle of Midway, 15 torpedo bombers from Torpedo Squadron 8 were launched from
the aircraft carrier Hornet and none of them returned. The only survivor was George Gay, a
25-year-old native of Waco, Texas. He had been shot down less than 1 year after
completing the Navy Aviation Cadet Program and then had struggled to escape from his
sinking plane. After freeing a jammed canopy, he had risen to the surface in the middle of
the Japanese fleet and, to avoid capture and probable death, had hidden under a cushion
that floated free of his aircraft.
The wounded "sole survivor" spent 30 hours in
the water before he was rescued by a PBY Catalina flying boat. After recovering
from his wounds in 1943, he was assigned to land-based Torpedo Squadron 11 on
Guadalcanal where he flew TBD Avengers. Following the Guadalcanal campaign, he
returned to the United States as an instructor pilot.
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| More About The Eagle: |
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| Honored as an Eagle In: |
| 1982 |
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The TBD-1 Devastator flown by Ensign Gay is shown during its wave top
attack on the Japanese aircraft carrier "Akagi" on 4 June 1942. Flying at 80
knots, Ensign Gay has just released his one-ton Mark 13 torpedo at a range of
approximately 850 yards. Moments later, Zero fighters shot down this remaining
TBD-1 from Torpedo Squadron 8.
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