Captain David McCampbell (January 16, 1910 – June 30, 1996) was a United States Navy captain, naval aviator, and Medal of Honor recipient. He retired from the Navy in 1964 with 31 years of service.
McCampbell is the United States Navy's all-time leading flying ace (called Ace of the Aces in the Navy) and top F6F Hellcat ace with 34 aerial victories. He was the third-highest American scoring ace of World War II and the highest-scoring American ace to survive the war. He also set a United States single mission aerial combat record of shooting down nine enemy planes in one mission, on October 24, 1944, at the beginning of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in the Philippines.
Early life
McCampbell was born in Bessemer, Alabama. When aged around 12, his family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida. He attended the Staunton Military Academy in Virginia, and studied one year at the Georgia School of Technology in Atlanta. There, he joined the US Navy ROTC, played football, was on the swim team, and was a member of the Alpha Sigma chapter of Kappa Alpha Order.
In 1929, McCampbell was appointed to United States Naval Academy, where he again played football and was on the swim team. He received his "wings of gold" as a Naval Aviator on April 21, 1938 and was assigned to Fighter Squadron Four (VF-4) on the aircraft carrier in May 1940.
World War II
thumb|right|McCampbell while serving as a [[landing signal officer on board USS Wasp during Operation Bowery. He is signalling to a pilot about to take off, May 1942]]
McCampbell served as a landing signal officer (LSO) from May 1940, surviving the sinking of the carrier by a Japanese submarine near Guadalcanal on September 15, 1942. He returned to the United States, was promoted to lieutenant commander, and was stationed at Naval Air Station Melbourne, Florida, as an LSO Instructor until August 1943.
thumb|[[Vice admiral (United States)|Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher speaks with Air Group Commander McCampbell, the task force's leading pilot.]]
McCampbell formed Fighter Squadron 15 (VF-15) on September 1, 1943, and led the squadron before being reassigned as Commander of Air Group 15 (CAG-15) from February to September 1944. As Commander, Carrier Air Group (CAG) 15, he was Commander of the Air Group (fighters, bombers, and torpedo bombers) when the group was embarked on the aircraft carrier . In six months of combat from April to November 1944, his group participated in two major air-sea battles, the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. In more than 20,000 hours of air combat operations before it returned to the United States for a rest period, Air Group 15 destroyed more enemy planes (315 airborne and 348 on the ground) and sank more enemy shipping than any other air group in the Pacific War. Air Group 15's attacks on the Japanese in the Marianas and at Iwo Jima, Taiwan, and Okinawa were key to the success of the "island hopping" campaign.
In addition to his duties as commander of the "Fabled Fifteen", then-Commander McCampbell became the Navy's "ace of aces" in 1944. McCampbell entered combat on May 14 Commander McCampbell received the Medal of Honor for both actions, becoming the only Fast Carrier Task Force aviator to be so honored.
Aerial victories
{| class="wikitable"
! Date !! Total !! Aircraft claimed (location)
|-
| June 11, 1944 || 1 || Zero (Saipan, Mariana Islands)
|-
| June 13, 1944 || 1 || Nakajima Ki-49 "Helen" heavy bomber (Saipan, Mariana Islands)
|-
| June 19, 1944 || 5 || Judys (1st sortie, Marianas Turkey Shoot, Philippine Sea)
|-
| June 19, 1944 || 2 || Zeros (2nd sortie, Guam, Mariana Islands)
|-
| June 23, 1944 || 1|| Zeros destroyed (1 shared credit with Ensign Claude Plant) (Orote Airfield, Guam, Mariana Islands)
|-
| September 12, 1944 || 4 || 2 Zeros, a Mitsubishi J2M "Jack" fighter and a Mitsubishi Ki-46 "Dinah" reconnaissance aircraft (Cebu Airfield, Philippines)
|-
| September 13, 1944 || 3 || A Yokosuka K5Y "Willow" biplane trainer, a Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar" fighter and a B5N "Kate" torpedo bomber (Negros Island, Philippines)
|-
| September 22, 1944 || 1 || Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" bomber/transport (Manila Bay, Philippines)
|-
| September 23, 1944 || || Mitsubishi F1M2 "Pete" reconnaissance floatplane (credit shared with Ensign R. Nall) (Cebu Island, Philippines)
|-
| October 21, 1944 || 2 || A Dinah and a Willow (Tablas Island, Philippines)
|-
| October 24, 1944 || 9 || 5 Zeros, 2 Mitsubishi A6M3 Hamps and 2 Oscars (Leyte Gulf, Philippines)
|-
| November 5, 1944 || 2 || A Aichi D3A "Val" dive bomber and a Zero (Nichols Field, Philippines)
|-
| November 11, 1944 || 1 || Oscar (Ormoc Bay, Philippines)
|-
| November 14, 1944 || 1 || Oscar (Manila Bay, Philippines)
|-|-
| Total: || 34 ||
|}
Post-war
McCampbell returned to the United States in March 1945 and served as Chief of Staff to the Commander Fleet Air at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, until January 1947. He then attended the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, and remained as an instructor after graduating.
He served as the Senior Naval Aviation Advisor to the Argentine Navy, stationed at Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 1948 to January 1951, and then as executive officer aboard the during the Korean War (although the ship did not participate in combat) from February 1951 to March 1952. He was promoted to captain in July 1952. He served as the Planning Officer on the Staff of Commander Aircraft Atlantic from March 1952 to July 1953. He served as the Commanding Officer, Naval Air Technical Training Center Jacksonville, at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, from July 1953 to July 1954. He then commanded the fleet oiler , followed by the aircraft carrier .
The well know film actor Wayne Morris had been a guest of his World War II commander, Captain David McCampbell, and was watching aerial maneuvers aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard in San Francisco Bay when he died on 24 September 1959 having suffered a massive heart attack and was later pronounced dead after being transported to Oakland Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. He was 45.
McCampbell was then assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon from 1960 to September 1962. His final assignment was as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations to the Commander in Chief, Continental Air Defense Command, serving from September 1962 until his retirement from the Navy on July 1, 1964.
Retirement and death
McCampbell retired from active duty in 1964. He died in Riviera Beach, Florida, in 1996 and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
Medal of Honor citation
thumb|McCampbell's F6F-5 Hellcat fighter on board the aircraft carrier USS Essex 30 July 1944
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and Organization: Commander, United States Navy, Air Group 15<br>
Place and Date: First and second battles of the Philippine Sea, 19 June 1944<br>
Entered Service at: Florida<br>
Born: January 16, 1910, Bessemer, Alabama
Awards and decorations
McCampbell's decorations and awards include:
{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
| colspan="3" |
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
!Badge
| colspan="4" |Naval Aviator Badge
|-
!1st row
| colspan="2" |Medal of Honor
| colspan="2" |Navy Cross
|-
!2nd row
|Silver Star
| colspan="2" |Legion of Merit
|Distinguished Flying Cross
|-
!3rd row
|Air Medal
| colspan="2" |Joint Service Commendation Medal
|Navy Presidential Unit Citation
|-
!4th row
|American Defense Service Medal
| colspan="2" |American Campaign Medal
|Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
|-
!5th row
|European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
| colspan="2" |World War II Victory Medal
|Navy Occupation Service Medal
|-
!6th row
|National Defense Service Medal
| colspan="2" |Philippine Liberation Medal
|United States Navy Rifle Marksmanship Medal
|}
Civilian Award
{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
|
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
|Navy Distinguished Public Service Award
|}
Other honors
- In October 1988 the new passenger terminal at the Palm Beach International Airport was named in his honor.
- In 1996, McCampbell was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.
- In 1999 he was inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame.
- An AEGIS guided-missile destroyer was christened in 2000.
See also
- List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II
References
External links
- Dave McCampbell, Top U.S. Navy Ace, at acesofww2.com
- Remembering David McCampbell – Ace of Aces
- Arlington National Cemetery