Warbird Information Exchange

"It's when a fellow is just gone and knows it, it is just crash into the ship or crash into the sea, and you have enough control to do a little bit more damage, why you crash into the ship."

— George H. Gay

A true hero and someone who was a real gentleman to me at Oshkosh when I was a boy. I'll never forget his kindness. Continue to rest in peace with your mates Lieutenant Commander Gay. You'll never be forgotten.

Following Midway, Gay took part in the Guadalcanal Campaign with VT-11, and he later became a Navy flight instructor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._Gay,_Jr.


George Gay and VT-8 USS Hornet. Sole survivor of VT-8 at Battle of Midway


George Gay with VT-11 at Guadalcanal. Notice the 'kill' on his Avenger.


George Gay with VT-11 at Guadalcanal.


George H. Gay, Jr., CDR Weldon L. Hamilton (Air Group 11 CO) and LCDR Frederick L. Ashworth (Torpedo Squadron 11 CO) on Guadalcanal


Ground crew on Guadalcanal fuel a Grumman TBF-1 Avenger before a strike on Munda


TBF-1 Avenger pictured parked on grass at Guadalcanal 1942


VT-11 Guadalcanal


VT-11 Guadalcanal


VT-11 Guadalcanal


TBF-1's on the ground at Guadalcanal 1942


Lieutenant George Gay, sole survivor of Torpedo Squadron (VT) 8 at the Battle of Midway, speaks on the occasion of the christening ceremony of the carrier Midway (CVB 41) at Newport News, Virginia, 20 March 1945


Torpedo Squadron 11 Logo

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[Thread title is ridiculous btw]

Another nice one Mark.

Thank you man

Andy

Some would argue that Gay was not the "sole survivor" from Torpedo 8, as the land-based Avengers flown from Midway were also Torpedo 8 planes, and both Bert Earnest and Harry Ferrier survived, or as they once said when asked who they were: "We're sole survivors, too". History refers to the Midway-based Avengers as the "Torpedo 8 Detachment", but they were every bit as much a part of the squadron as the pilots who flew off the Hornet in their TBDs. The intent was to get the Avengers to the Hornet, but unfortunately, the Japanese weren't going to wait. Had the Battle of Midway occurred one week later (or Grumman's production schedule one week faster), Torpedo 8 would have gone into battle with the Avenger instead of the TBD. The semantics of it doesn't diminish George Gay's heroism one bit. After Midway, Gay could have chosen to remain stateside, but he went back (as did Earnest and Ferrier) to the Pacific to do his duty. I think that speaks volumes for the kind of man he was.

What I wanna know is, how the heck did they find him ! Adrift for a couple days and a PBY happens to come along and go, "hey there's a pilot down there!" Whats the back story on that??

I met him at an airshow in San Diego in the late 70's. He was selling his book in a booth next to Boyington's. Boyington had a long line of customers waiting & there was nobody at Gay's so I was able to speak to him for quite a while. When I tried to buy his squadron photo from him, he wouldn't take my money. Like Mark said, "a real gentleman". I still have that photo & it means a lot more to me than the one I bought from Boyington.

In the 3rd & 4th photos it looks like he painted his Mae West a dark color. I guess he was more worried about being picked up by the Japanese than he was worried about being rescued if he went down again.

Mac

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WWII Naval Aviation Research - Pacific
https://www.ww2nar-pac.com/

It is possible that it looks that dark even if it was yellow. Some black & white film showed yellow as very dark. Ortho chromatic, i think it was called.
I don't know it for a fact in this case, just a possibility.

Andy

Jim that's the very same story for me at Oshkosh many years ago. Almost word for word. Gay was the real deal class act. Very modest and polite. Quite humble about his experiences and it was he and I only for several minutes. An experience I'll never forget for being so young when I met him.

M

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[Thread title is ridiculous btw]

I met him at an airshow when I was a kid, too. Very nice man.

Bought the book!

For the most part in society we don't have people like him for role models anymore. I would've liked to have meet him. In my model stash is a 1/72 TBM-1, I think I'll build it as his. Great photos.

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"According to the map, we've only gone 4 inches."

Orthochromatic film is insensitive to red, not yellow. For proof, just look at all the yellow prop tips visible in wartime photos. It's reds which appear black in ortho films of the day.

In both the photos I referred to there's a lighter color (yellow?) long narrow rectangle in the vest. It may be wishful seeing on my part, but in the 3rd photo where he's standing on the wing I see "Gay" stenciled in black on the right side of that rectangle & in the 4th photo where he's talking to the other pilots I can see a black stenciled "G" on that rectangle to the left of his binoculars. Wishful seeing?

It looks to me that he had a regular yellow MK1 Mae West that was stenciled in black "GEORGE GAY", name was masked over & the rest painted a dark color.

Mac

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WWII Naval Aviation Research - Pacific
https://www.ww2nar-pac.com/

Lt. Comdr. Frederick Ashworth VT-11 CO on Guadalcanal. He was later the Weaponeer on the Bockscar on the Nagasaki mission on 9 Aug 45.

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WWII Naval Aviation Research - Pacific
https://www.ww2nar-pac.com/

Go to NNAM in P'cola. The real vest is on display...............

I knew and worked with George back in the 80's when he made presentations at the National Congress on Aerospace Education put on by the CAP, NASA, FAA and several other groups. How lucky was I to be sitting at a breakfast table with Paul Garber, George Gay, Gabby Gabreski, Scott Crossfield, CY, and Adolph Galland. Of the group, George quickly became my favorite although Scott was a very close second. I noticed that George was driving a Honda so naturally I had to tease him a little bit by asking what would he have done when that PBY picked up him out of the Pacific at Midway if they told him he would be driving a Japanese car in the 1980's. I also asked him about returning to combat after his experiences at Midway and then serving as an instructor for a stint. He said he never dropped a torpedo but that one time in the TBD. The rest of the time was more of a glide bombing and strafing sort of affair in the Avenger, but the main difference is that he learned that "high, fast and once" was a better way to survive. He also avoided one other calamity later on. If you remember the Air Florida flight that went into the river in DC many years ago, George was supposed to be on it. He lived in Naples, FL at the time and had come to DC to participate in a Naval Cadets program. He went to the airport in the snow storm and then something told him to just bag it and find a hotel. After George passed on, his final wish was to have his ashes scattered over the Midway battle coordinates in the Pacific so that he could be with his squadron mates once again. His wishes were carried out. This just speaks to the class act that characterized George especially in his later years. I have the greatest respect for the man and his legacy. It was a privilege I won't soon forget. JR from Special Kay

Wonderful tribute. Thank you for sharing.

I never had heard about the Air Florida story. Being a Washingtonian, that day is forever etched into my memory.