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Home Town Monticello, FL
Last Address Captain Burt Bassett Hometown: Monticello, FL Last address: Tallahassee, FL Interment: Roseland Cemetery Monticello, Jefferson County, FL
Date of Passing Jul 13, 2007
Location of Interment Roseland Cemetery - Monticello, Florida
Captain (Henry) "Burt" Bassett, born 30 November 1916, died 7 July 2007. He attended Davidson College and the University of Florida where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree. Captain Bassett entered Flight Class 158, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida on 15 October 1940 as an aviation cadet. After successful completion of training, he was commissioned an Ensign on 1 July 1941. His first duty station was NAS, Corpus Christi, Texas as a flight instructor and ground school instructor.
During World War II he served as executive officer of Composite Squadron 10 on the aircraft carrier Gambier Bay, which was sunk from enemy ship fire during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. His experience as a bomber pilot during the battle is one of the stories recently recounted in The Last Epic Naval Battle: Voices from Leyte Gulf, by David Sears. For his service, Burt was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, three air medals and the Presidential Unit Citation. After the war, he continued as a career naval officer, achieving the rank of captain before retiring in 1969. Highlights of his career included command of Anti-Submarine Squadron Thirty Two at NAS, Quonset Point, R.I., command of Fleet Airborne Electronics Unit, Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk, Va., and command of Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto Rico.
Captain Burt Bassett was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross; three air medals and the Presidential Unit Citation. He also received the American Defense, Asiatic Pacific Campaign with four stars, Philippine Liberation, Philippine Unit citation, National Defense, American Theater, World War II Victory and Navy Occupation Medals. See biography.
Other Comments:
(H.B.) Burt Bassett
USS Gambier Bay XO, VC-10
Lieutenant, USNR, TBM Pilot
Already, in the days before and just after Pearl Harbor, a trickle of early, sometimes eager, sometimes wary recruits had shown up at the military’s door. More than a year earlier, Burt Bassett, a lean, courtly Floridian with solemn eyes, newly graduated from the University of Florida and selling industrial insurance in Southern Georgia, had run across his future while strolling in Monticello, FL. “It was 1940. The war was brewing, of course, and I knew I’d be in it one way or another. Then I saw a big advertisement in front of the post office. It said ‘Be a Naval Aviator’, $235 a month or something like that. Seemed like a lot of money. Flying appealed to me, though I’d never been on more than a few local jitney flights, and the training was in Pensacola, not too far away. From then on it was a matter of waiting: taking the physical exam, of course, and then waiting for orders to report.”
Awarded:
Distinguished Flying Cross Awarded for actions during World War II
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Henry B. Bassett (NSN: 0-98468), United States Navy, for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as pilot of a Torpedo Plane in Composite Squadron TEN (VC-10), aboard the U.S.S.GAMBIER BAY (CVE-73) during the invasion of Leyte. Between 20 and 25 October 1944, he led two attacks on enemy installations on Leyte. As a result of those attacks our troops were able to effect a steady advance against strong enemy ground forces. On 25 October he was launched from his ship while it was under gunfire and he participated in repeated attacks on the enemy fleet during the opening phase of the engagement. In the face of intense anti-aircraft fire Lieutenant Bassett made a low altitude bombing attack on a Japanese cruiser of the MOGAMI Class. As a result if the attacks in which he participated, the enemy surface ships were thrown into confusion and seriously delayed in pressing home their attack on our own carriers. His courageous conduct and skillful airmanship achieved results which were a contributing factor in the success of the Leyte invasion and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Action Date: October 20 - 25, 1944 Service: Navy Rank: Lieutenant Company: Composite Squadron 10 (VC-10) Division: U.S.S. Gambier Bay (CVE-73)
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Chain of Command A tour of duty beginning in June 1951 as Executive Officer of Naval Reserve Officers Training Unit, Vanderbilt University, was followed by an assignment as Commanding Officer, Air Anti Submarine Squadron THIRTY TWO at NAS, Quonset Point, Rhode Island in October 1953. In February 1955, he was assigned as navigator of USS Siboney, as anti-submarine aircraft carrier operating with the Atlantic Fleet.
