The Faces of Midway
Artist R.G. Smith’s depiction of SBD Dauntless dive-bombers attacking the Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu during the Battle of Midway.
Whether they strapped into cockpits of airplanes on the sandy shores of Midway Atoll or on the wooden planks of carrier decks, a select group of young men faced a daunting prospect in early June 1942. Bearing down on them was a mighty Japanese Fleet, some of the ships of which had last ventured this far east in the Pacific Ocean the previous December en route to launch air attacks against Pearl Harbor. This time, owing to code breaking by Naval Intelligence, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Chester W. Nimitz knew details of the enemy’s plans. Yet, as it always does in war, success or failure hinged on those closest to the action, which in a carrier battle included naval aviators who winged their way towards the enemy.
The National Naval Aviation Museum holds a collection of archival records in its collection consisting of the flight training records of individual aviators. They provide a unique glimpse into the months in which young men first learned to fly, taking the first steps towards active service in the fleet. Using these records, and other sources in the historical collection, we present the faces of Midway.
Aviation Cadet Langdon Fieberling
Aviation Cadet Langdon Fieberling arrived at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Florida, for flight training in December 1935, as a member of Class 86-C, the sixth class of aviation cadets formed following the passage of the Aviation Cadet Act earlier that year. A native Californian, he completed training in 1937 and reported to Patrol Squadron (VP) 1F in the Pacific, his time in the squadron including transitioning from P2Y to PBY flying boats. Following his fleet service, Fieberling returned to Pensacola as a flight instructor, serving in this capacity until August 1941, at which time he received orders to report to Norfolk, Virginia, “for duty involving flying in connection with the fitting out of Torpedo Squadron Eight (U.S.S. Hornet).” The signature authority for these orders was Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz of the Bureau Navigation. Less than a year later, Nimitz was wearing four stars and serving as Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, his attentions focused on a Japanese Fleet approaching Midway. Among those tasked with defending the atoll was now-Lieutenant Langdon Fieberling, commanding a land-based detachment of Torpedo Squadron (VT) 8 flying the Navy’s newest torpedo bomber, Grumman’s TBF-1 Avenger. On the morning of June 4, 1942, Fieberling led six planes in an attack against the enemy; an attack only one aircraft and two men, Ensign Bert Earnest and Radioman Third Class Harry H. Ferrier, would survive. Fieberling and the other members of VT-8’s land-based detachment were killed in action. Later, all but one of the pilots and aircrewmen of the squadron’s shipboard element flying from the carrier Hornet (CV 8) met the same fate.