David McCampbell


Captain David McCampbell was a United States Navy captain, naval aviator, and Medal of Honor recipient. He retired from the Navy in 1964 with 31 years of service.
McCampbell is the United States Navy's all-time leading flying ace and top F6F Hellcat ace with 34 aerial victories. He was the third-highest American scoring ace of World War II and the highest-scoring American ace to survive the war. He also set a United States single mission aerial combat record of shooting down nine enemy planes in one mission, on October 24, 1944, at the beginning of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in the Philippines.

Early life

McCampbell was born in Bessemer, Alabama. When aged around 12, his family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida. He attended the Staunton Military Academy in Virginia, and studied one year at the Georgia School of Technology in Atlanta. There, he joined the US Navy ROTC, played football, was on the swim team, and was a member of the Alpha Sigma chapter of Kappa Alpha Order.
In 1929, McCampbell was appointed to United States Naval Academy, where he again played football and was on the swim team. He graduated in the class of 1933 with a degree in marine engineering. However, the Great Depression meant there were not enough Navy commissions available for Academy graduates, so he was immediately placed in the United States Navy Reserve. He returned to Atlanta and spent a year working in construction and at an aircraft assembly plant.

United States Navy

On June 1, 1934, McCampbell was ordered to report for active duty and was commissioned as an ensign. He went on active duty on June 14, 1934, and served aboard the heavy cruiser from June 1934 to June 1937, before starting flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. He received his "wings of gold" as a Naval Aviator on April 21, 1938 and was assigned to Fighter Squadron Four on the aircraft carrier in May 1940.

World War II

McCampbell served as a landing signal officer from May 1940, surviving the sinking of the carrier by a Japanese submarine near Guadalcanal on September 15, 1942. He returned to the United States, was promoted to lieutenant commander, and was stationed at Naval Air Station Melbourne, Florida, as an LSO Instructor until August 1943.
McCampbell formed Fighter Squadron 15 on September 1, 1943, and led the squadron before being reassigned as Commander of Air Group 15 from February to September 1944. As Commander, Carrier Air Group 15, he was Commander of the Air Group when the group was embarked on the aircraft carrier. In six months of combat from April to November 1944, his group participated in two major air-sea battles, the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. In more than 20,000 hours of air combat operations before it returned to the United States for a rest period, Air Group 15 destroyed more enemy planes and sank more enemy shipping than any other air group in the Pacific War. Air Group 15's attacks on the Japanese in the Marianas and at Iwo Jima, Taiwan, and Okinawa were key to the success of the "island hopping" campaign.
In addition to his duties as commander of the "Fabled Fifteen", then-Commander McCampbell became the Navy's "ace of aces" in 1944. McCampbell entered combat on May 14 and flew at least four Grumman F6F Hellcats while aboard the Essex: an F6F-3 named Monsoon Maiden, an F6F-3 named The Minsi, an F6F-5 named Minsi II, and an F6F-5 named Minsi III, in which he scored the last of his 34 kills.
On June 19, 1944, during the "Marianas Turkey Shoot," Commander McCampbell shot down five Japanese Yokosuka D4Y "Judy" dive-bombers, to become an "ace in a day". Later that afternoon, during a second sortie, McCampbell downed two Mitsubishi A6M "Zeros" over Guam.
On October 24, 1944, in the initial phase of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in the Philippines, he became the only American airman to achieve "ace in a day" status twice. McCampbell and his wingman attacked a Japanese force of 60 aircraft. McCampbell shot down nine aircraft—seven Zeros and two Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar" fighters—setting an American single-mission aerial combat record. During this same action, his wingman downed six aircraft. When he landed his Hellcat aboard the USS Langley, his six machine guns had just two rounds remaining, and his airplane had to be manually released from the arrestor wire due to complete fuel exhaustion. Commander McCampbell received the Medal of Honor for both actions, becoming the only Fast Carrier Task Force aviator to be so honored.

Post-war

McCampbell returned to the United States in March 1945 and served as Chief of Staff to the Commander Fleet Air at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, until January 1947. He then attended the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, and remained as an instructor after graduating.
He served as the Senior Naval Aviation Advisor to the Argentine Navy, stationed at Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 1948 to January 1951, and then as executive officer aboard the during the Korean War from February 1951 to March 1952. He was promoted to captain in July 1952. He served as the Planning Officer on the Staff of Commander Aircraft Atlantic from March 1952 to July 1953. He served as the Commanding Officer, Naval Air Technical Training Center Jacksonville, at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, from July 1953 to July 1954. He then commanded the fleet oiler, followed by the aircraft carrier.
McCampbell was then assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon from 1960 to September 1962. His final assignment was as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations to the Commander in Chief, Continental Air Defense Command, serving from September 1962 until his retirement from the Navy on July 1, 1964.

Retirement and death

McCampbell retired from active duty in 1964. He died in Florida in 1996 and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Medal of Honor citation

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and Organization: Commander, United States Navy, Air Group 15
Place and Date: First and second battles of the Philippine Sea, 19 June 1944
Entered Service at: Florida
Born: January 16, 1910, Bessemer, Alabama

Awards and decorations

McCampbell's decorations and awards include:
Civilian Award
Navy Distinguished Public Service Award

Other honors