This Fallen Navy Profile is not currently maintained by any Member.
If you would like to take responsibility for researching and maintaining this Fallen profile please click
HERE
Casualty Info
Home Town Ridgeway, MO
Last Address Grant, MO
Casualty Date Nov 14, 1942
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Unknown, Not Reported
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Ridgeway Cemetery - Ridgeway, Missouri
Wall/Plot Coordinates (memorial)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
The only information available about ARM1c Stanley is that he was a member of VB-10 aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-3) and flew on many missions, one of which led to him being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. No details are given about how he lost his life. Forty-one planes from three different aircraft carriers were involved in missions and only 6 of the 41 returned. The Yorktown was under heavy attack and received a lot of damage, later sinking. It is not known whether ARM1c Stanley was aboard one of the planes that never returned or was killed abourd the ship.
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 3422148
Distinguished Flying Cross
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Aviation Radioman Second Class Forest G. Stanley (NSN: 3422148), United States Navy, for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight while serving as rear seat gunner in an airplane of a Scouting Squadron in action against Japanese forces in the Coral Sea on 8 May 1942. While his squadron was engaged in a dive-bombing attack upon an enemy aircraft carrier he calmly and accurately aimed his machine gun and fired at an attacking enemy Japanese fighter, causing it to crash into the sea. By his alertness and courage in a critical situation, Aviation Radioman Second Class Stanley, in addition to saving the life of his pilot and preventing the destruction of his plane, contributed materially to the success of our naval forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea. General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 309 (December 1942) & 320 (November 1943) Action Date: May 8, 1942 Service: Navy Rank: Aviation Radioman Second Class Company: Scouting Squadron Division: U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5)
The information contained in this profile was compiled from various internet sources.
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Battle of the Coral Sea
From Month/Year
May / 1942
To Month/Year
May / 1942
Description The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought during 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other.
In an attempt to strengthen their defensive positioning for their empire in the South Pacific, Japanese forces decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the southeastern Solomon Islands. The plan to accomplish this, called Operation MO, involved several major units of Japan's Combined Fleet, including two fleet carriers and a light carrier to provide air cover for the invasion fleets, under the overall command of Japanese Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue. The US learned of the Japanese plan through signals intelligence and sent two United States Navy carrier task forces and a joint Australian-American cruiser force, under the overall command of American Admiral Frank J. Fletcher, to oppose the Japanese offensive.
On 3–4 May, Japanese forces successfully invaded and occupied Tulagi, although several of their supporting warships were surprised and sunk or damaged by aircraft from the US fleet carrier Yorktown. Now aware of the presence of US carriers in the area, the Japanese fleet carriers entered the Coral Sea with the intention of finding and destroying the Allied naval forces.
Beginning on 7 May, the carrier forces from the two sides exchanged airstrikes over two consecutive days. The first day, the US sank the Japanese light carrier Shoho, while the Japanese sank a US destroyer and heavily damaged a fleet oiler (which was later scuttled). The next day, the Japanese fleet carrier Shokaku was heavily damaged, the US fleet carrier Lexington was critically damaged (and was scuttled as a result), and the Yorktown was damaged. With both sides having suffered heavy losses in aircraft and carriers damaged or sunk, the two fleets disengaged and retired from the battle area. Because of the loss of carrier air cover, Inoue recalled the Port Moresby invasion fleet, intending to try again later.
Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory for the Allies for several reasons. The battle marked the first time since the start of the war that a major Japanese advance had been checked by the Allies. More importantly, the Japanese fleet carriers Sokaku and Zuikaku – one damaged and the other with a depleted aircraft complement – were unable to participate in the Battle of Midway, which took place the following month, ensuring a rough parity in aircraft between the two adversaries and contributing significantly to the US victory in that battle. The severe losses in carriers at Midway prevented the Japanese from reattempting to invade Port Moresby from the ocean. Two months later, the Allies took advantage of Japan's resulting strategic vulnerability in the South Pacific and launched the Guadalcanal Campaign that, along with the New Guinea Campaign, eventually broke Japanese defenses in the South Pacific and was a significant contributing factor to Japan's ultimate defeat in World War II.