Strana 49
VGF-29, Lt Cdr John T. Blackburn, USS Santee (CVE-29), November 1943
VMF-111 (121), 2Lt. Thomas Mann, Samoa Spring 1943
John Thomas Blackburn (born January 24, 1912)
became first commanding officer of famous
VF-17 Jolly Rogers Squadron flying F4U Corsairs.
Prior to that, he had managed to achieve fame
and ace status with Wildcats. He graduated
from the US Naval Academy in 1933 and served
as flight instructor when the USA entered the
war in 1941. Although anxious to get to combat,
he was relegated to fly Buffalos in Miami and
had to apply several times for assignment
with combat unit. He was tasked to set up
VGF-29 as its CO on the new escort carrier USS
Santee. After the pilots acquainted themselves
with Wildcats at Pungo, Virginia, the Squadron
embarked aboard USS Santee in October 1942 to
participate in Operation Torch. The first combat
was a disaster, as pilots could not find the
target due to poor weather. More to it, damaged
homing equipment aboard Santee forced them
to ditch or force-land their Wildcats. Blackburn
himself floated adrift in a life raft for three days
before he was rescued by a destroyer. Shortly
thereafter, Blackburn was ordered to set up
a new unit, the VF-17, the second squadron to
fly F4U Corsairs in combat. Blackburn achieved
11 victories in WWII and became Commander Air
Group of CAG 74 aboard the new USS Midway
(CVB-41) in 1945 and he commanded the ship
from 1958 to 1959. After the war he worked at
the Pentagon and was one of the first jet pilots
in the Navy. He retired in 1962 and began growing
wine grapes and raising the Golden Retrievers
in California. He died on March 21, 1994.
Marine Fighting Squadron 121 (VMF-121) was
activated on June 24, 1941 and adopted the
nickname The Green Knights. They began
combat operations with F4F Wildcats, which they
changed for F4U Corsairs later. They took part
in the battle for Guadalcanal starting October
1942 and also fought from the forward air bases
on Bougainville and Emirau. On September
15, 1944, the Green Knights landed on Peleliu
and were fighting from this base until July 25,
1945. The unit was deactivated on September 9,
1945. During the war, fourteen pilots of VMF-121
became fighter aces, and the whole unit downed
208 Japanese aircraft, 165 of them while flying
Wildcats. Marine Second Lieutenant Thomas
H. Mann, Jr., moved to VMF-121 from
VMF-224 and became an ace in the fighting over
Guadalcanal with five victories on his account.
On November 11, 1942, he took off with others
to intercept a formation of Japanese Aichi
Type 99 bombers. He managed to shoot down
three of them prior to being shot down and lost
seven teeth in landing on water, which added
the pain to his wound he suffered from enemy
fire. Mann managed to reach the beach of
a small island in the Tulagi archipelago and
got back with the help of natives in a canoe.
At the end of the WWII, he amassed ten aerial
victories.
KITS 01/2025
INFO Eduard
49
January 2025