Photo #: NH 106328 (complete caption).
U.S. Navy Fighting Squadron Fifteen (VF-15).
Squadron's top pilots pose On board USS Essex (CV-9) at the end of a six-month tour of duty in the Pacific, that included the Battles of the Philippine Sea (June 1944), Leyte Gulf (October 1944) and many other actions.Photo is dated 1 December 1944 and was released on 4 December 1944.
The original caption states, in part: "Each pilot is credited with five or more enemy planes ... their tally reads: 310 enemy planes shot down in combat, with half a million tons of Japanese shipping sunk or damaged. ... The squadron's victorious score card is shown in the foreground."
Commander David McCampbell, Commanding Officer of VF-15's parent unit, Air Group 15, is standing just to right of the score card. His Grumman F6F "Hellcat" fighter (nicknamed "Minsi III") is in the background, with Japanese flags painted below its cockpit representing thirty-four "kills".
Those present, as identified in the original caption, are:
Front row, left to right:
Lieutenant Junior Grade Roy L. Nall, USNR;
Lieutenant John C.C. Symmes, USNR;
Lieutenant Commander George C. Duncan, USN;
Lieutenant Bert DeWayne Morris, USNR;
Lieutenant Commander James F. Rigg, USN,
VF-15 Commanding Officer;
Lieutenant John R. Strane, USNR;
Lieutenant Edward W. Overton, USNR;
Lieutenant Junior Grade Richard E. Fowler, Jr., USNR;
Lieutenant Junior Grade George R. Carr, USNR;
Lieutenant Junior Grade Walter A. Lundin, USNR;
Lieutenant Junior Grade Norman R. Berree, USNR;
Commander David McCampbell, USN,
Air Group 15 Commanding Officer;
Lieutenant Junior Grade Roy W. Rushing, USNR;
Lieutenant Junior Grade George W. Pigman, Jr., USNR.
(One officer to the right of McCampbell is not identified in the original caption.)
Back row, left to right:
Lieutenant Junior Grade Robert P. Pash, USNR;
Lieutenant Junior Grade Arthur Singer, Jr., USNR;
Lieutenant Junior Grade Wendell Van Twelves, USNR;
Ensign Larry R. Self, USNR;
Lieutenant Junior Grade Ralph E. Foltz, USNR;
Lieutenant Junior Grade James E. Duffy, USNR;
Lieutenant Junior Grade Wallace R. Johnson, USNR:
Lieutenant Junior Grade Albert C. Slack, USNR; and
Lieutenant Junior Grade James Dare, USNR.
Collection of Rear Admiral Samuel E. Morison, USN, (Retired).
