This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Shane Laemmel, MR3
to remember
Russell, Allard (Slim), CAPT USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Williston, ND
Last Address Sarasota, FL
Date of Passing May 17, 2009
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Probably the thing he is most proud of since retiring from the Navy is his election to the Golden Eagles. This is an exclusive organization of retired Navy and Marine aviators. All are at least 60 years old with impeccable aviation pedigrees. There are only 200 of these rare birds alive. Each has to be selected by his peers to be a member, and that only happens when one of the clan passes on.
Best Moment ?I became part of the ?Cactus Air Force? at Guadalcanal. We were attached to the 1st Marine Division at the Canal,? Russell said. ?I?m so proud of the 1st Marine Division I can hardly stand it. I have a plaque on the wall from the Secretary of Navy commending me for being part of the ?1st Marine Division Reinforced.??
Worst Moment ?At Guadalcanal, I was almost a war hero to the Japanese,? Allard Guy ?Slim? Russell of Sarasota, Fla. said with a smile. ?I dropped the first 500-pound bomb on the 75-mile long, 25-mile-wide enemy-held South Pacific island.
?I came down in my (Douglas Dauntless) SBD dive bomber in a screaming, 70-degree dive from 12,000 feet at 230 knots and let my bomb go. I missed the whole damn island, and that?s a true story.
?My radio man told me as we were flying away, ?Sir, your bomb was 200 yards off the beach in the water.? I couldn?t have cared less. They were shooting at us, and I was just glad to have survived the attack.?
Other Memories Before all that transpired, Russell had more fighting to do. After his misadventure flying his SBD at Guadalcanal and missing the whole island on his initial bombing run, the Saratoga and her bomber squadrons sailed to Espiritu Santo, about 100 miles away. For the second time, his carrier was hit by an enemy torpedo.
As a result of the battle damage to the carrier, he and his unit were relocated to the former Japanese airfield on Guadalcanal that the Marines had just taken away from the enemy.
?I became part of the ?Cactus Air Force? at Guadalcanal. We were attached to the 1st Marine Division at the Canal,? Russell said. ?I?m so proud of the 1st Marine Division I can hardly stand it. I have a plaque on the wall from the Secretary of Navy commending me for being part of the ?1st Marine Division Reinforced.??
Unfortunately for Russell, his WWII adventures were about to come to an end after 90 days on Guadalcanal. During an attack by Japanese Zero fighters on the American base, he was hit in the left knee by a bullet from one of the enemy planes and put out of commission for several months.