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MARINE CORPS FORCES CENTRAL COMMAND, MacDill Air Force Base,
Tampa, Fla. (9/18/2012) – Major Josh Vance, a KC-130 Pilot currently
stationed at Combat Development Directorate, Combat Development and
Integration, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Quantico, Va.,
has just seen the reward of more than thirteen months of research
and efforts in the nearby town of Brooksville, Fla.
World War II veteran Aviation Radioman 2nd Class Harrison D. Miller received the Air
Medal from Marine Major Josh Vance on September 5, 2012 for his heroic actions on January
31, 1944 when U.S. forces invaded Kwajalein Atoll. Photo by Master Sgt. Chad McMeen |
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On 31 January 1944, OPERATION FLINTLOCK commenced when U.S.
forces invaded Kwajalein Atoll, 4th Marine Division in the North at
Roi-Namur and the 7th Infantry Division in the south at Kwajalein,
both members of the V Amphibious Corps. At 1522 local time, an
OS2N-1 “Kingfisher” observation/scout float plane from the USS New
Mexico (BB-40) was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire from Ebeye
Island, an enemy float plane base at the time.
The
Kingfisher suffered serious damage and was forced to make an
emergency landing in the lagoon due to high octane aviation fuel
leaking into the bilges in the cockpit, filling it with fuel fumes
presenting a critical fire hazard.
The pilot, Navy
Lieutenant Forney O. Fuqua was mortally wounded by the enemy fire
and instructed the Radioman in the rear cockpit of the Kingfisher,
Harrison Miller, to bail out. Miller elected to stay with the plane
and to attempt a water landing himself from the rear cockpit. With
no prior flying
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experience, no flight instruments and only an emergency control
stick in the rear cockpit, he successfully made a water landing from
the back seat of the Kingfisher. |
After landing, Miller got out of the rear cockpit onto
the wing and made his way to the front cockpit and turned
off the Kingfisher's engine and started to unbuckle the
pilot's parachute and harness; but before he could get him
unbuckled, the plane capsized due to the loss of the
outboard pontoons during the landing. Miller made numerous
attempts to rescue the pilot and remove him from the
cockpit, diving under the gasoline covered waters but was
unsuccessful. Miller later received the Distinguished Flying
Cross for his actions that day aboard the USS New Mexico.
While transiting via KC-130 from Okinawa, Japan to
Hawaii or CONUS, Major Vance made overnight stops at
Kwajalein Atoll for fuel, remaining overnight. While out for
a run, he noticed battle site plaques commemorating the
actions that took place during the battle of Kwajalein which
sparked his research about the battle. On one of his trips,
he met a “local” from Kwajalein, Dan Farnham who is a Navy
Veteran and has worked and lived on Kwajalein for several
years as a civilian Fire Fighter and Internet Technician and
is an avid SCUBA diver, the same as Vance. The two were both
very interested in WWII history, particularly the actions on
Kwajalein and in the Pacific and have kept in touch over the
years.
Last August, Vance contacted Farnham asking
what he was currently researching and Farnham told him about
a scout/observation float plane that was lost from the USS
New Mexico while on a gunfire spotting mission on 31
January 1944, the first day of the battle.
Farnham
was then in the middle of a survey using a side-scan SONAR,
along with Bill Remick, and Barbara Buchanan of Wreck Diving
Magazine. Vance asked how he could assist with the project
and took on the task of seeing if he could locate and
confirm if the Radioman was living as he might be able to
provide some insight on where the plane was lost. The
Radioman was listed in the ship's logs obtained from the
National Archives as H.D. Miller and was picked up by the
Yard Mine Sweeper (YMS) 383.
Vance set to work with
nothing but H.D. Miller, ARM2C from the USS New Mexico to go
by. He spent hours of his own time and resources researching
the event and ultimately utilized ancestry.com, scouring
through the recently released US Navy WWII muster reports.
Narrowing his search by inserting common first names for the
period that began with “H” on board the USS New Mexico,
Vance caught a break in the case. A Muster Report from the
USS New Mexico listed a Harrison D. Miller, ARM2C with a
place of enlistment as West Palm Beach, FL. Vance had the
scent but was still not 100 percent sure if this was “the
guy” and had no way to verify his current contact
information. He knew that people at that time, and to some
extent today, do not move far from where they grew up. He
isolated his search to Florida, utilizing on-line phone
directories and found an H. Miller in Floral City, Florida.
“I called him up” Vance said. Worried that Miller
would hang up, thinking he was a telemarketer or something;
he jumped right in after giving his name and asked “Did you
serve on the USS New Mexico and fly as air crew on a
Kingfisher.” Miller replied with, “I did.” Relieved to
finally find the Kingfisher Radioman, Vance replied with
“Sir, I've been searching for you for a while...” After
speaking with Miller on several occasions and obtaining
detailed accounts on where Miller estimated the plane was
lost; he set out trying to locate crew members of the
YMS-383 that might have witnessed the rescue and have more
information on where the plane might have sunk.
After conducting a search on ancestry.com again, he obtained
crew muster reports for the YMS-383. He started with some of
the uncommon last names listed on the reports and utilizing
the same methods and tracked down two living crew members of
the YMS-383. The unbelievable part was that of the two crew
members Vance had located, one was Louis Sonner, the man who
jumped in the water and pulled Miller back to the YMS-383
from his capsized Kingfisher and the other was Burl Sousa,
the man who assisted Miller onto the YMS-383; they both
remembered the event like it was yesterday. Vance put all
three Veterans in touch with each other and they talk on
almost a weekly basis now. Additionally, Vance has
coordinated a reunion of the Veterans in Floral City,
Florida over Veteran's Day weekend which will be the first
time they've seen each other since the Day Miller was shot
down.
Vance wasn't done yet. After a detailed review
of Miller's WWII service record Miller gave him, he
discovered that he was missing many of his WWII medals and
was never awarded the Air Medal for the combat missions he
flew during the war. Vance then set out to ensure Miller
received the recognition he deserved. After spending hours
sifting through Miller's service record and researching the
WWII award criteria for each medal. After the help of both
the Marine Corps and Navy Personal Awards section, he was
able to assist Miller in applying for correction of his
record. U.S. Congressman, Rep. Rich Nugent, R-Brooksville
was critical in this effort and assisted Miller in the
expediting of the processing of his awards.
At the
completion of all the research and coordination, Vance
wanted to see this through to the end. Once Vance confirmed
the medal and citation had been approved, he flew down to
Brooksville, Florida to present the Air Medal (1st through
3rd awards) to Miller at Congressman Nugent's Brooksville,
Florida office. This was his chance to meet the Radioman he
had learned so much about during his research. When asked
why he had done this and what motivated him, he replied
“It's an honor to work with these veterans; they have
sacrificed so much and put their lives on hold when called
defend our country and the world at the time. They did what
they needed to do without hesitation. A lot of people say
that the heroes are the ones who didn't come back, and while
I understand that kind of thinking, there are a lot of
heroes who came back, too.” Vance Said.
Though Vance
has seen the fruit of his labor, he is a long way from
closing the book on his original history project. He plans
to help Farnham find the wreckage of the Kingfisher. “I'm
not finished yet. She (the Kingfisher) rests somewhere in a
two to four square mile area 50-150 feet below the surface
and Dan and I will find her. The search continues” Vance
assuredly said.
By USMC Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Loewy
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2012
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