A Galesburger at the
Battle of Midway
In September of last year the SBD Dauntless
Dive-Bomber Midway Memorial was dedicated at Midway International Airport in
Chicago. A former Galesburg resident's name figured prominently in the ceremony
as the aircraft on display served to represent the plane of ENS Frederick
Weber, who was killed in action at the World War II Battle of Midway in the
Pacific Ocean.
Frederick Weber was born
in Des Moines, Iowa in 1916. He was a student at Knox College in 1933-34, and
his mother, Opal Walsh, lived at 1089 Bateman Street in Galesburg. (Frederick
used the name Walsh while a student at Knox but was using the name Weber at the
time of his death in 1942.)
In the Battle of Midway,
Weber was part of a Dive-Bomber group called Bombing 6 which was sent to search
for a Japanese fleet on a mission to attack the U.S. station on Midway Island.
In spite of dwindling fuel supplies, the Americans finally located the fleet
and were successful in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers and turning
the tide of the war in the Pacific. One of the bombs that struck the carrier
Kaga was determined to be from Weber's dive-bomber. After returning to refuel,
Bombing 6 again set out to strike at the Japanese, this time without their
fighter escorts, who were needed to protect the American fleet.
The attack was an overall
success, but the American flyers paid a price as they were attacked by Japanese
Zeros. According to Walter Lord in his book Incredible Victory, the Zeros Òstruck with that breath-taking rush the
American pilots were getting to know so well? One pounced on Ensign F. T.
Weber, lagging behind the rest of Bombing 6. Straggling was always fatal when
Zeros were around, and this time was no exception.Ó The group of American
flyers, however, were overwhelmingly successful, with four Japanese carriers
eventually destroyed in what came to be considered a decisive battle in the
Pacific theater of World War II.
Weber received the Navy
Cross, presented posthumously with the following citation: ÒFor extraordinary
heroism and distinguished service as pilot of an airplane of a bombing squadron
in action against enemy Japanese forces in the Battle of Midway, June 4-6,
1942. Flying at a distance from his own forces which rendered return unlikely
because of probable fuel exhaustion, Ensign Weber participated in two
dive-bombing attacks against Japanese naval units. In the first, launched in
the face of concentrated anti-aircraft fire and overwhelming fighter
opposition, he scored a direct hit on an enemy aircraft carrier. In the second,
while pressing home a desperate and vigorous counterattack against Japanese
fighters, he was shot down. His unflinching devotion to duty, maintained at
great personal risk against tremendous odds, aided greatly in the success of
our forces and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States
Naval Service. He gallantly gave up his life in the defense of his country.Ó
The Glenview Naval Air
Station was an important training facility for naval aviators during World War
Two, and the training plane on display, recovered from Lake Michigan, in Midway
International Airport in the new Memorial is dedicated to the memory of Frederick
Weber as one of the heroes of the Battle of Midway.