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PAGE 4B PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 12. 2020
Continued From 1A
Navy crewmen watch a B-25 Mitchell take off from the USS Hornet. This medium
bomber was one of sixteen to take part in the Doolittle Raid which bombed Tokyo on April
18th, 1942. Ensign George Gay was on board the Hornet that fateful day and personally
witnessed the beginnings of the historic raid.
Ensign George Gay is seen here, front row center, in a photograph on the deck of the
USS Hornet taken just prior to the Battle of Midway with other members of the ill-fated
Torpedo Squadron 8. Within minutes of the beginning of the battle, all of these naval avi
ators perished with the exception of George Gay.
Veterans
ital city of the United States'
prize Pacific territory, the
Philippines, also fell.
In early 1942, to most
Americans it seemed as if all
the war news was bad. How
ever, there was one bit of
positive news in mid-April,
1942 when Americans
learned of a bombing attack
on mainland Japan, an attack
that became famously known
as "The Doolittle Raid."
In March, 1942, plans
were formulated and training
began on a mission which
would launch Army medium
bombers from the deck of an
aircraft carrier. The plan was
daring and audacious, simply
because such aircraft were
not designed to take off from
a flattop. However, Colonel
Jimmy Doolittle, who was
placed in charge of the mis
sion, believed that properly
modified B-25 Mitchell
Bombers could carry a one-
ton bomb load and still man
age the risky, short take-off
from a carrier.
On April 18, 1942, 16 B-
25s were launched from the
deck of the USS Hornet.
Their mission - "to strike the
enemy capital." The first
plane to take off for the one
way trip was piloted by
Doolittle, himself. The
bombers spent only six min
utes over Tokyo, and then, all
but one of the bombers were
either abandoned or crashed
off the coast of China.
Strategically and tacti
cally, The Doolittle Raid ac
complished very little
because Tokyo suffered only
minimal damage. However,
there were two important ac
complishments. First, the
Japanese were shocked into
the realization that their
homeland was not immune
from air attacks. Secondly,
and most importantly, news
of the raid was a tremendous
and much-needed boost for
American morale.
Standing on the deck of
the USS Hornet on the morn
ing of April 18 th, was young
naval aviator, Ensign George
Gay. He watched the historic
event as the B-25 Mitchell
Bombers lumbered down the
flight deck to take off. Only
one week later, Gay and the
rest of the crew of the Hornet
would be in Pearl Harbor to
meet up with their sister ship,
the USS Enterprise, and the
two carriers would become a
part of Task Force 16 which
would play a vital role in the
Battle of Midway.
For the Japanese, Midway
was seen as an important po
tential staging area for an
eventual invasion of the U. S.
Hawaiian Islands, so in late
May, the Japanese launched a
massive fleet of 140 ships,
including four large, power
ful aircraft carriers, to sup
port an invasion of the small
island. However, their mis
sion was two-fold. Realizing
the United States fleet of air
craft carriers had escaped the
carnage of Pearl Harbor, Ad
miral Isokuro Yamamoto, the
commander of the combined
Japanese fleet, hoped to lure
the carriers into a trap where
they could be destroyed. The
bait for the trap was a feint
attack against the Alaskan
Aleutian Islands.
U. S. codebreakers, how
ever, had learned of the
George Gay, the "Sole
Survivor of Torpedo
Squadron 8," was originally
from Waco, Texas, but he
resided within 50 miles of
Pickens County the last sev
eral decades of his life. He
quit school at Texas A & M
University to join the Navy
and was commissioned an
Ensign in September of
1941 just three months be
fore the Japanese surprise
attack on Pearl Harbor.
Japanese plans and relayed
the information to Admiral
Chester Nimitz, commander
of the US Pacific Fleet.
Nimitz didn't take the Aleu
tian bait, but instead, set a
trap of his own. He dis
patched three American air
craft carriers to lie in wait to
the north of the main Hawai
ian Islands. The carriers were
the USS Enterprise, the York-
town, and also included
George Gay's Hornet.
The Japanese attack on
Midway Island began early
in the morning of June 4th
when aircraft from the Japan
ese fleet were sent to "soften
up" Midway for the invasion.
Meanwhile, Catalina search
planes were launched from
American carriers to deter
mine the exact whereabouts
of the enemy fleet.
The Japanese Carrier Task
Force Commander, Chuichi
Nagumo, then made a fatal
mistake. Unaware American
warships were in the vicinity
lying in ambush, Nagumo de
cided to launch a second
wave on Midway. While
Japanese aircraft were being
refueled and rearmed, Amer
ican Douglas SBD Dauntless
Dive Bombers and Douglas
TB-1 Devastator Torpedo
Bombers, along with fighters
to offer air cover and support,
were in the air in search of
the Japanese fleet.
Because of the urgency in
launching the attack before
the Americans could lose the
element of surprise, the U. S.
attack was almost totally un
coordinated. Also, with the
exception of the aircrews
from the Yorktown, all of the
American aviators were inex
perienced and going into
combat for the very first time
including George Gay whose
Devastator was the first plane
to take-off from the Hornet.
Squadrons became separated
from each other and lost con
tact with one another. The re
sult was that the first to arrive
on the scene were the
squadrons of cumbersome
and extremely slow Devasta
tor Torpedo Bombers, includ
ing Torpedo Squadron 8, of
which George Gay's Devas
tator was a part.
As the torpedo bombers
began their final approach on
the Japanese carriers, many
of their air crews were franti
cally searching the skies
above them for supporting
American fighter planes. The
American fighters were
nowhere to be seen. Instead,
all the torpedo bomber crews
saw were scores of Japanese
Mitsubishi Zero fighters
swooping down upon them
from above. There was no
fighter support and the Tor
pedo Bombers were helpless
sitting ducks. Their attack
would be suicide.
All of the bombers of Tor
pedo Squadron 8 were shot
down and none of their torpe
does found their marks. After
being riddled with bullets
from a Zero, George Gay
crash-landed his Devastator
in the sea and would spend
the next several hours tightly
holding onto a life preserver
in the undulating waters
amidst the Japanese carrier
fleet. Every pilot and
crewmember of Torpedo
Squadron 8 were killed with
the exception of the sole sur
vivor, George Gay.
In Gay's personal account
of the attack, he said that
after he dropped his torpedo,
instead of turning away, he
headed straight for the Japan
ese carrier, the Soryu. He
knew that by banking his
Devastator in a wide turn, he
would be offering a larger sil
houette for enemy anti-air
craft fire. He flew low over
the full length of the Jap flat-
top, and by doing so, George
Gay probably saved his own
life. However, as he cleared
the enemy carrier and then
began his turn, five Zeroes
attacked his plane.
Because of the relentless
and courageous attack of the
Devastators, all of the Japan
ese fighter aircraft had de
scended to just above the
wave tops to engage the
Americans. Yet thousands of
feet above, scores of Daunt
less dive bombers had just ar
rived, belatedly, and as a
result of the Jap attacks on
the Devastators, there were
no Japanese fighters to op
pose them. Down, down,
down the Dauntlesses dived,
preparing to unleash their
bombs on the Japanese carri
ers. The Japanese, just finish
ing their refueling and
rearming, were caught totally
unawares and those armed
bombs and full fuel tanks
served only as an accelerant
for the resulting fires caused
by the American bombs.
Within just five minutes,
three of the Japanese aircraft
carriers, the Sory>u, the Kaga,
and the Akagi, were engulfed
in flames and listing. Within
the next few hours, all three
of those carriers would even
tually sink. Watching the at
tack from his watery
observation point, the prover
bial "front-row seat," George
Gay had been cheering on his
fellow aviators. Unbe
knownst to him at the time,
he had witnessed first-hand
the turning-point of the Pa
cific War.
Despite their devastating
losses, the Japanese re
grouped and launched an at
tack on the USS Yorktown
from their one remaining car
rier, the Hiryu. Two waves of
Japanese bombers set the
Yorktown on fire and crippled
the flattop, and its crew had
to abandon ship. Several
hours later, a torpedo from a
Japanese submarine finished
off the Yorktown and sent her
to the bottom of the Pacific.
The Japanese success,
however, was short-lived, be
cause Dauntless dive
bombers from the USS Enter
prise sought out and found
the Hiryu and then attacked
the Japanese carrier repeat
edly setting it ablaze. The fol
lowing morning, the Hiryu
was scuttled by Japanese de
stroyers.
George Gay, when he
wasn't cheering on his aviator
brothers, hid under his seat
cushion. It was not until after
dark on the night of June 4th,
that he felt it was safe to in
flate his life raft. After 30
hours in the waters of the Pa
cific amid the burning wreck
ages of Japanese Imperial
naval warships, Ensign Gay
was finally rescued by a
Catalina search-and-rescue
plane after the Japanese Navy
had abandoned the area.
For the Japanese Imperial
Navy, Midway was a devas
tating blow from which they
would never recover. The
U.S. Navy lost one carrier,
the Yorktown, but the Japan
ese lost four carriers, half of
their entire carrier fleet. After
the Battle of Midway, the
Japanese were on the defen
sive for the duration of the
war and their expansion in
the Pacific was halted.
After a brief recuperation,
Ensign George Gay contin
ued to serve with distinction,
once again piloting a Devas
tator torpedo bomber in the
Guadalcanal Campaign and
later serving as a Navy flight
instructor. His awards and
decorations included, the
Navy Cross, the Purple
Heart, a Presidential Unit Ci
tation, and the Air Medal.
The young ensign became
quite the celebrity after his
Midway experience, and his
story was featured in the Au
gust 31, 1942 issue of Life
magazine.
Following the war, Gay
decided to make his home in
Georgia. His adopted home
state named him to the Geor
gia Aviation Hall of Fame in
May of 1994.
Only four months later, on
September 21, 1994, in Ma
rietta, Georgia, George Gay
was attacked again, only this
time it wasn't at the hands of
Japanese Zeroes, but instead,
he suffered a fatal heart at
tack. His body was cremated,
and at his behest, in order to
be laid to rest near his aviator
brothers-in-arms, his ashes
were scattered at the exact lo
cation in the Pacific Ocean
where Torpedo Squadron 8
made their famous attack on
the morning of June 4, 1942.
(All photographs are cour
tesy of the National
Archives.)
While serving in the Air
Force, the author, Larry
Cavender, had the opportu
nity to meet with and talk to
George Gay at the Dobbins
ARB service club only a few
months before the former
naval aviator passed away. At
that impromptu meeting,
Cavender shook Gay's hand
and thanked him for his serv
ice. Signed copies of Thank
You for Your Service - A Trib
ute may be purchased at The
Pickens County Progress of
fices in Jasper, Bell's Family
Pharmacy in Tate, and the
Ball Ground Pharmacy in
Ball Ground. In addition,
Cavender's new book, as well
as all of his previous works,
may be purchased on-line at
Amazon.com or Bamesand-
Noble.com in either hardback
or ebook formats.
Called board meeting
11/12/2020 at 5:00 p.m.
Pickens County Board of Education
Central Office,100 DB Carroll Street,
Jasper, Georgia 30143
The Pickens County Board of Education will
meet on Thursday, November 12, 2020 at
5:00 pm for a called board meeting and will
follow the governor's guidelines for groups of
people gathering.
I. Call to Order
II. Approval of Agenda
III. Executive Session
IV. Approval of Executive Session Minutes
V. Adjourn
Regular Board Meeting
11/12/2020 at 6:00 p.m.
Pickens County Board of Education
Central Office, 100 D.B. Carroll Street,
Jasper, Georgia 30143
The Pickens County Board of Education will meet
on Thursday, November 12 at 6:00 p.m. for the reg
ular monthly board meeting and will follow the gov
ernor’s guidelines for groups of people gathering.
I. Call to Order
II. Invocation
III. Pledge of Allegiance
IV. Approval of Agenda
V. 4-H Recognition (Destini Shope, Director
of Public Relations)
VI. Superintendent Reports
A. Financial Update (Amy Smith, Chief
Financial Officer)
B. Operations and Construction (Stacy
Gilleland, Chief Operations Officer)
C. COVID Guidance
D. 2021-2022 Pickens County School System
Calendar (Dr. Rick Townsend, Superintendent)
VII. Action Items
A. Approval of Financial Reports
B. Approval of Personnel
C. Policies for Final Board Approval
1. Policy GAAA - Equal Opportunity
Employment -Request for Approval
2. Policy GAEB - Sexual Harassment of
Employees - Request for Approval
3. Policy JAA - Equal Educational
Opportunities - Request for Approval
4. Policy JCAC - Sexual Harassment of
Students - Request for Approval
5. Policy JGC - Student Health Services -
Request for Approval
6. Policy JGCD - Medication - Request for
Approval
D. Approval of Amendment to the 2020-21
Pickens County Schools Student Code of
Conduct
E. Approval of MOU with Valdosta State
University
F. Approval of Student Teaching Letter of
Agreement with Western Governors
University
G. Approval of Natural Gas Contract for 1 Year
H. Approval of Change Order #1 at Pickens
Junior High School - PAC
I. Approval of Change Order #1 at Pickens
Junior High School - Phase I IB
J. Approval of Minutes
VIII. Board Comments
IX. Adjourn
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