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Steven Loomis (SaigonShipyard), IC3
to remember
PRESTON, Benjamin (NAVY CROSS x3), CAPT USN(Ret).
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Captain BEN PRESTON, USNR, joined the U.S. Navy in September of 1939, Ben flew SBDs with BS-5 off the Yorktown during the Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway. Preston was a carrier pilot on the USS Yorktown, the USS Enterprise and USS Intrepid during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. He served in all the major Pacific campaigns making a total of 740 deck landings.
Awards and Citations
Navy Cross Awarded for actions during World War Two
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant [then Ensign] Benjamin Gifford Preston (NSN: 0-84203), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Torpedo Plane in Torpedo Squadron FIVE (VT-5), attached to the U.S.S. YORKTOWN (CV-5), in dive bombing against enemy Japanese forces at Tulagi Harbor on 4 May 1942, and in an attack on an enemy aircraft carrier in the Coral Sea on 8 May 1942. Pressing home these attacks in the face of tremendous anti-aircraft fire and, on 8 May, also harassed by heavy aircraft opposition, Ensign Preston assisted greatly in the sinking or damaging of the carrier and eight other enemy vessels. His conscientious devotion to duty and gallant self-command against formidable odds contributed materially to the success of our forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
General Orders: Commander in Chief Pacific: Serial 14 (June 28, 1942) Action Date: May 4, 7 & 8, 1942 Service: Naval Reserve Rank: Lieutenant Company: Torpedo Squadron 5 (VT-5) Division: U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5)
Navy Cross Awarded for actions during World War Two
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Benjamin Gifford Preston (NSN: 0-84203), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Scouting Plane of Scouting Squadron FIVE (VS-5), attached to the U.S.S. YORKTOWN (CV-5), during the "Air Battle of Midway," against enemy Japanese forces on 4 - 6 June 1942. Defying extreme danger from concentrated anti-aircraft fire and fierce fighter opposition, Lieutenant Preston, with utter disregard for his own personal safety, participated in persistent and vigorous attacks against the Japanese invasion fleet. His gallant intrepidity and loyal devotion to the accomplishment of a vastly important objective contributed in large measure to the success achieved by our forces and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
General Orders: Commander in Chief Pacific: Serial 18a (July 18, 1942) Action Date: June 4 - 6, 1942 Service: Naval Reserve Rank: Lieutenant Company: Scouting Squadron 5 (VS-5) Division: U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5)
Navy Cross Awarded for actions during World War Two
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Second Gold Star in lieu of a Third Award of the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Benjamin Gifford Preston (NSN: 0-84203), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Dive Bomber of Bombing Squadron EIGHTEEN (VB-18), attached to the U.S.S. INTREPID (CV-11), during the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, on 26 October 1944. As leader of a division of 16 carrier-based dive bombers, Lieutenant Preston participated in an attack which obtained five confirmed hits on an enemy carrier Task Force. He dropped his bomb load squarely on an enemy battleship in the face of anti-aircraft fire that seriously damaged his engine. He made a successful water landing, saving his own life and that of his crewman. The action in which he took part removed a serious threat to our ground forces in the Philippine Islands. His outstanding courage and determined skill were at all times inspiring and in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
General Orders: Commander 1st Carrier Task Force Pacific: Serial 0533 (September 11, 1945) Action Date: 26-Oct-44 Service: Naval Reserve
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Battle of Midway
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Description The Battle of Midway in the Pacific Theater of Operations was one of the most important naval battles of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States Navy (USN), under Admirals Chester W. Nimitz, Frank Jack Fletcher, and Raymond A. Spruance decisively defeated an attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), under Admirals Isoroku Yamamoto, Chuichi Nagumo, and Nobutake Kondo on Midway Atoll, inflicting irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet. Military historian John Keegan called it "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare." It was Japan's first naval defeat since the Battle of Shimonoseki Straits in 1863.
The Japanese operation, like the earlier attack on Pearl Harbor, sought to eliminate the United States as a strategic power in the Pacific, thereby giving Japan a free hand in establishing its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Japanese hoped that another demoralizing defeat would force the U.S. to capitulate in the Pacific War and thus ensure Japanese dominance in the Pacific.
The Japanese plan was to lure the United States' aircraft carriers into a trap. The Japanese also intended to occupy Midway as part of an overall plan to extend their defensive perimeter in response to the Doolittle air raid on Tokyo. This operation was also considered preparatory for further attacks against Fiji, Samoa, and Hawaii itself.
The plan was handicapped by faulty Japanese assumptions of the American reaction and poor initial dispositions.Most significantly, American codebreakers were able to determine the date and location of the attack, enabling the forewarned U.S. Navy to set up an ambush of its own. Four Japanese aircraft carriers—Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, all part of the six-carrier force that had attacked Pearl Harbor six months earlier—and a heavy cruiser were sunk at a cost of one American aircraft carrier and a destroyer. After Midway and the exhausting attrition of the Solomon Islands campaign, Japan's shipbuilding and pilot training programs were unable to keep pace in replacing their losses, while the U.S. steadily increased its output in both areas.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
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Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
People You Remember USS Yorktown CV-5 Commander Yorktown Air Group LCDR Oscar Pedersen
VB-5 (Bombing 5) LT Wallace Clark Short Jr - CO LT Keith E Taylor LT Samuel Adams LT John J Powers LT William Selman Guest LT Harlan R Dickson LT John Ludwig Nielsen LTJG Floyd E Moran LTJG William Francis Christie LTJG Nels Luther A Berger LTJG Charles Neal Conatser LTJG Henry Martin McDowell ENS Lavell Meldrum Bigelow ENS David Render Berry ENS Benjamin Gifford Preston ENS James Taylor Crawford ENS John Windsor Rowley ENS Leif Walther Larsen ENS Thomas E Brown ENS John N Ammen Jr ENS Robert F Edmondson ENS Richard K Batten ENS Harry A Fredrickson ENS Davis Elliott Chaffee
Memories Navy Cross
Awarded for actions during World War Two
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Benjamin Gifford Preston (NSN: 0-84203), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Scouting Plane of Scouting Squadron FIVE (VS-5), attached to the U.S.S. YORKTOWN (CV-5), during the "Air Battle of Midway," against enemy Japanese forces on 4 - 6 June 1942. Defying extreme danger from concentrated anti-aircraft fire and fierce fighter opposition, Lieutenant Preston, with utter disregard for his own personal safety, participated in persistent and vigorous attacks against the Japanese invasion fleet. His gallant intrepidity and loyal devotion to the accomplishment of a vastly important objective contributed in large measure to the success achieved by our forces and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
General Orders: Commander in Chief Pacific: Serial 18a (July 18, 1942) Action Date: June 4 - 6, 1942 Service: Naval Reserve Rank: Lieutenant Company: Scouting Squadron 5 (VS-5) Division: U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5)