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Contact Info
Home Town Los Angeles, CA
Last Address William "Bud" Waldon Cloud Murrieta, California. Interment at Riverside, CA
Date of Passing Jun 13, 2013
Location of Interment Riverside National Cemetery (VA) - Riverside, California
Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign (1944)/Battle of Philippine Sea
From Month/Year
June / 1944
To Month/Year
June / 1944
Description The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War. The battle was the last of five major "carrier-versus-carrier" engagements between American and Japanese naval forces, and pitted elements of the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet against ships and aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Mobile Fleet and nearby island garrisons.
The aerial part of the battle was nicknamed the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot by American aviators for the severely disproportional loss ratio inflicted upon Japanese aircraft by American pilots and anti-aircraft gunners. During a debriefing after the first two air battles a pilot from USS Lexington remarked "Why, hell, it was just like an old-time turkey shoot down home!" The outcome is generally attributed to American improvements in pilot and crew training and tactics, technology (including the top-secret anti-aircraft proximity fuze), and ship and aircraft design. Although at the time the battle appeared to be a missed opportunity to destroy the Japanese fleet, the Imperial Japanese Navy had lost the bulk of its carrier air strength and would never recover. During the course of the battle, American submarines torpedoed and sank two of the largest Japanese fleet carriers taking part in the battle.
This was the largest carrier-to-carrier battle in history.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
June / 1944
To Month/Year
June / 1944
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories The USS Dewey was at Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal landings, Eastern Solomons, Attu and Kiska, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Tinian, Saipan, Philippine Sea, Guam, Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, plus dozens of smaller engagements and missions. Through all of that, the only damage she received was from Typhoon Cobra on December 18, 1944, when she was heeled over 75-degrees and had her forward stack ripped off. USS Dewey received 13 battle stars for World War II service.
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