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Donald Losey (Fallhiker), MM1
to remember
Galt, Dwight, LT.
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Contact Info
Date of Passing Mar 21, 1996
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Lieutenant (jg) Dwight Beebe Galt:
Navy Ace with 5 Aerial Victories to his credit.
Born in Hyattsville, Maryland on March 31, 1920
He took his flight training at NAS Pensecola and NAS Opa Locka Florida. After graduation on January 5, 1943 he received his commission as an Ensign.
On May 1, 1943 Ens. Galt was attached to the newly formed Fighter Squadron 31 (VF-31) under the command of Lt. Cmd. Robert Winston at NAS Atlantic City New Jersey. He served with VF-31 on board the USS Cabot from January 1944 through October 1944. During his tour of duty aboard USS Cabot he became a Naval Ace downing 5 enemy aircraft.
Engagements flown in which Lieutenant (jg) Galt shot down enemy aircraft:
Medals Awarded to Lieutenant (jg) Galt while serving with VF-31
Distinguished Flying Cross
Gold Star in lieu of 2nd Distinguished Flying Cross
Air Medal
Other Comments:
Galt, Dwight Beebe (Jr.)
b. 31 Mar 1920 - d. 21 Mar 1996 75 yrs. R67/217
Washington Post, April 3, 1996
Dwight B. Galt Jr.
Senate Official
Dwight B. Galt Jr., 75, a Placida, Fla., resident who had worked for the Daily Digest of the Senate for 29 years before retiring in 1978 as its editor, died March 21 at a hospital in Venice, Fla. He had lymphoma.
Mr. Galt, who moved to Florida in 1978, was born in Hyattsville and attended the University of Maryland.
He served in the Pacific during World War II, flying F6F Hellcat fighters from the carrier Cabot.
His wife, Bettie, died in 1986. Survivors include a son, Dwight III, of Silver Spring; two daughters, Deborah H.G. Vahle of White Plains, Md., and Kathryn Galt of Alexandria; and eight grandchildren.
Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign (1944)/Battle of Tinian
From Month/Year
July / 1944
To Month/Year
August / 1944
Description The Battle of Tinian was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands from 24 July until 1 August 1944. The 9,000-man Japanese garrison was eliminated, and the island joined Saipan and Guam as a base for the Twentieth Air Force.
The 4th Marine Division landed on 24 July 1944, supported by naval bombardment and marine artillery firing across the strait from Saipan. With the help of Seabee ingenuity the Marines were able to land where the Japanese did not expect, along the Northwest coast with its water's edge small coral cliffs. A successful feint for the major settlement of Tinian Town diverted defenders from the actual landing site on the north of the island. They withstood a series of night counterattacks supported by tanks, and the 2nd Marine Division landed the next day.
The weather worsened on 28 July, damaging the pontoon causeways, and interrupting the unloading of supplies. By 29 July, the Americans had captured half the island, and on 30 July the 4th Marine Division occupied Tinian Town and Airfield No. 4.
Japanese remnants made a final stand in the caves and ravines of a limestone ridge on the south portion of the island, making probes and counterattacks into the Marine line. Resistance continued through 3 August, with some civilians murdered by the Japanese.
Aftermath
By 10 August 1944, 13,000 Japanese civilians were interned, but up to 4,000 were dead through suicide, murdered by Japanese troops or killed in combat. The garrison on Aguijan Island off the southwest cape of Tinian, commanded by Lieutenant Kinichi Yamada, held out until the end of the war, surrendering on 4 September 1945. The last holdout on Tinian, Murata Susumu, was captured in 1953.
After the battle, Tinian became an important base for further Allied operations in the Pacific campaign. Camps were built for 50,000 troops. Fifteen thousand Seabees turned the island into the busiest airfield of the war, with six 7,900-foot (2,400 m) runways for attacks by United States Army Air Forces B-29 Superfortress bombers on enemy targets in the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands, and mainland Japan, including the March 9/10 1945 Operation Meetinghouse firebombing of Tokyo and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. North Field was built over Airfields No. 1 and 3, and became operational in February 1945, while West Field was built over Airfield No. 2, and became operational in March 1945.
