This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Sellstrom, Edward Robert, Jr. (Doc), ENS.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Rockwell City. IA
Last Address Rockwell City, IA
Casualty Date Jun 21, 1942
Cause Non Hostile- Died Other Causes
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Sea
Location Pacific
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Gowrie Township Cemetery - Gowrie, Iowa
Description The plan of the Pacific subseries was determined by the geography, strategy, and the military organization of a theater largely oceanic. Two independent, coordinate commands, one in the Southwest Pacific under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the other in the Central, South, and North Pacific (Pacific Ocean Areas) under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, were created early in the war. Except in the South and Southwest Pacific, each conducted its own operations with its own ground, air, and naval forces in widely separated areas. These operations required at first only a relatively small number of troops whose efforts often yielded strategic gains which cannot be measured by the size of the forces involved. Indeed, the nature of the objectivesùsmall islands, coral atolls, and jungle-bound harbors and airstrips, made the employment of large ground forces impossible and highlighted the importance of air and naval operations. Thus, until 1945, the war in the Pacific progressed by a double series of amphibious operations each of which fitted into a strategic pattern developed in Washington.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1942
To Month/Year
December / 1942
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories [edit] Battle of the Coral Sea Main article: Battle of the Coral Sea
Lexington burning during the Battle of the Coral Sea Confirmed direct hits sustained by Lexington during the battleOn 7 May, search planes reported contact with an enemy carrier task force. Lexington's air group sank ShÅ?hÅ?. Later that day, 12 bombers and 15 torpedo planes from ShÅ?kaku and Zuikaku were intercepted by fighter groups from Lexington and Yorktown, which shot down nine enemy aircraft.
On the morning of the 8th, a Lexington plane located the ShÅ?kaku group; a strike was immediately launched from the American carriers, and the Japanese carrier was heavily damaged. However, Japanese planes penetrated the American defenses at 1100, and 20 minutes later Lexington was struck by a torpedo to port. Seconds later, a second torpedo hit her portside directly abeam the bridge. At the same time, she took three bomb hits from enemy dive bombers, producing a 7 degree list to port and several raging fires. By 1300, skilled damage control had brought the fires under control and restored her to an even keel; making 25 kn (29 mph, 46 km/h), she was ready to recover her air group. Lexington was suddenly shaken by a tremendous explosion, caused by the ignition of gasoline vapors below, and again fire raged out of control. At 1558, Captain Frederick Carl Sherman, fearing for the safety of men working below, halted salvage operations, and ordered all hands to the flight deck. At 1701, he ordered "abandon ship" and the orderly disembarkation began. Men going over the side into the warm water were almost immediately picked up by nearby cruisers and destroyers. Admiral Aubrey Wray Fitch and his staff transferred to Minneapolis; Captain Sherman and his executive officer, Commander Morton T. Seligman ensured all their men were safe, then were the last to leave.
