Fifteen planes of Torpedo Squadron 8 took off from the U.S.S. Hornet on June 4, carrying 30 officers and enlisted gunners. All were shot down and Ensign George Gay was the only survivor, watching the battle unfold from beneath a floatation device until rescued. All fifteen pilots received the Navy Cross (14 of them posthumously), and their enlisted gunners all received posthumous awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross. Following the battle, Gay took part in the Guadalcanal campaign with another squadron, and he later became a navy flight instructor. After the war, Gay spent over 30 years as a pilot for TWA. He often lectured on his Midway experiences, and authored the book Sole Survivor about his wartime experiences. In 1975, he served as a consultant on the set for the movie Midway , in which Kevin Dobson played Gay. He attended the decommissioning ceremony of the USS Midway on April 11, 1992.
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Awards Received
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Navy Cross
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Navy Cross
Service:
United States NavyRank:
EnsignBatallion:
Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8)Division:
U.S.S. Hornet (CV-8)Action Date:
June 4, 1942
The President of the United 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 enemy 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 return to his carrier, Ensign Gay, resolutely, and with no thought of his own life, delivered an effective torpedo attached against violent assaults of enemy Japanese aircraft and against an almost solid barrage of anti-aircraft fire. His courageous action, carried out with a gallant spirit 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.