SBD Lone Star Express

[Tnarg]

I looked at the LIFE magazine photos of SBDs "somewhere in the Pacific" and see that they provide some fascinating references for a set of seriously weathered aircraft. One guy looks just too cool to ignore with his red goatee beard and pointed mustache. Someone on Pinterest says it was Midway 20 Sept 1942. They took quite a few photos of him and his plane, titled "Lone Star Express", but none show the whole plane or its number.

 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/719661215434936106/

 

Question: Does anyone know anything about this guy or his plane? Name and his gunner in the rear cockpit? Did they make it through the war? Which of the planes was his? It looks like number 7 might have a longer name below the RH side of the cockpit, nearly the same size as the name on his close up photo, but there isn't enough resolution to be sure.

 

Anyway, as they said in the 70's in that interesting rag of something that called itself a newspaper, "Enquiring Minds want to Know".

 

Just for fun, but maybe for a fun SBD build.

 

Tnarg

[ivanmoe]

Can't really tell you anything that you likely don't already know. However, I do have a couple of pics from the same tranche of photos from Life/Midway:

 

 

 

Life's color images from WW2 are a real treasure, as color photography was still somewhat rare. In fact, they provide us with perhaps the best record available of what planes and pilots actually looked like, certainly in terms of livery/color. On the other end of the spectrum, there are the "colorized" photos that we sometimes trip over. Might be fun for Photoshop practitioners to toy with, but not much use to the rest of us.

[ivanmoe]

Found a link that includes your pic above, the one from the image hosting site:

 

https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2019/05/15/douglass-sbd-dauntless-color-photographs/comment-page-1/

 

The page includes numerous other pics of Midway SBD, including the ones that I posted directly above.

[Uncarina]

This is gold!

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Tnarg]

Thanks for posting the photos here. They are truly amazing references for what a truly worn out finish looks like... very faded and patched.

 

I guess I could get away with just assuming something and saying like we often do that it's been nearly 80 years and no one knows for sure, but it would be nice to know how things worked out for the very young men in those photos.

 

My Dad was not that far from there at about the same time, but a lot less in harms way while in American Samoa. He was lucky enough to build latrines and shipping boxes for most of the war.

 

My Dad showed me a photo of his friend (Berthold Oscar Herbert Schneider) who was in the US Marines with him in Samoa... "Best Marine I ever knew", was what he said about him. His headstone says 17 May 1945 in Williamson, Texas. Who remembers him now? I guess that is all of our story, but I don't have to like it. Here is what Dad told me about his Christmas Dinner in training, in 1940... yes about a year before Pearl Harbor.

 

"I joined on Dec. 10th about two and a half weeks before Christmas; on the eventful day I remember the best Christmas dinner. (My weight before enlisting was 150 or thereabouts; on going out it was 180 or 185. Anyhow I was lots huskier and fatter.) I and my good friend Berthold Oscar Herbert Snyder who was seated across the table from me were among the last to leave. Our training schedule was such that we seldom had the time to just sit and talk and we were alone which was rare. We sat there and talked. I remember I enjoyed it very much although I don’t now remember what we talked about. I do remember being surprised when Bert called my attention to the fact that we had eaten a whole serving bowl full of olives since the rest of the fellows had cleared out. The serving bowls were rather large -- maybe two quarts. I don’t think there is anything phenomenal about this; it’s just that I remember it after all these years."

 

Have fun with this history stuff,

 

Tnarg

[ivanmoe]

On 1/27/2023 at 2:38 PM, Tnarg said:

They took quite a few photos of him and his plane, titled "Lone Star Express", but none show the whole plane or its number.

 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/719661215434936106/

 

Question: Does anyone know anything about this guy or his plane? Name and his gunner in the rear cockpit? Did they make it through the war? Which of the planes was his? It looks like number 7 might have a longer name below the RH side of the cockpit, nearly the same size as the name on his close up photo, but there isn't enough resolution to be sure.

 

In the way of "educated conjecture," let me offer a perhaps useless insight into the way that pilots and planes got selected to be in a photo-shoot. To that end, I'll note that the pics FREQUENTLY involved either the squadron commander or its XO. From there, we can look at the pics and plausibly assume that the photographer was gonna go for a ride in the back-seat of "Lone Star Express." Looking at the pic below, we see "Black 2" flying in in the wingman position for what should be the first section, the flight led by the Squadron Commander:

 

 

Leaning heavily on my comments in the paragraph above, the absolutely best guess I can offer is that "Lone Start Express" is the Squadrons Commander's plane, "Black 1."

 

Well, who the heck was the dashing figure in the pic that you posted...and what squadron do all those Dauntless belong to?

 

For that, we need a fairly serious historical record...or simply some luck. In regard to the former, let me offer this:

 

https://archive.org/details/historyofmarinec00sher/page/n1/mode/2up

 

As to the latter, let me extend you my best wishes, as my credentials in that regard can be fairly characterized as de minimis!

 

Edit: It would appear that VMSB-241, which was lamentably decimated in the June battle, remained on Midway after the fighting.  A surviving pilot from the squadron, Capt Marshall A. Tyler, took command of the squadron at the time. However, it's unclear as to whether or not he remained in command in September, 1942.

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by ivanmoe
More Info

[Tnarg]

So I went looking on the internet and found a great model builder's site (1/72, but his references are amazing) where he displayed a lot of the LIFE photos, including the great shot of Lone Star Express. In the comments to the photos, S. Kermes gave some fascinating information, including the name for the pilot in the photo I was interested in: at that time, Tech. Sgt. (NAP) Clyde H. Stamps, USMC

 

https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2019/05/15/douglass-sbd-dauntless-color-photographs/

 

It turns out, he survived Midway and passed away in 1999. He received the Navy Cross as indicated by a comment at Find a Grave:

 

NAVY CROSS - The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Clyde H. Stamps (255096), Technical Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession while serving as a Pilot in Marine Scout-Bombing Squadron TWO HUNDRED FORTY-ONE (VMSB-241), Marine Air Group TWENTY-TWO (MAG-22), Naval Air Station, Midway, during operations of the U.S. Naval and Marine Forces against the invading Japanese Fleet during the Battle of Midway on 4 and 5 June 1942. During the initial attack upon an enemy aircraft carrier, Technical Sergeant Stamps, in the face of tremendous fire from Japanese fighter guns and anti-aircraft batteries, dived his plane to the perilously low altitude of four hundred feet before releasing his bomb. On 4 June, he participated in an assault which resulted in the severe damaging of an enemy battleship. His cool courage and utter disregard of personal safety were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.Approved by the Secretary of the Navy on November 10, 1942  Born: at Cana, Texas  Home Town: Dallas, Texas
- provided by chuck cummins -

 

The gravestone says he not only served in WWII, but was active in Korea and Viet Nam, but calls out Lt.Col and Purple Heart.

 

Now I really am curious about which plane was he flying those days.

 

Tnarg