KITS 03/2023

Lt. Stanley W. Vejtasa, VF-10, USS Enterprise,

April 1943

Unusual surname and blond hair were equally responsible

for the nickname “Swede” for Stanley Winifield Vejtasa,

a man with strong Czech roots as a grandson of

immigrants from then part of the Austria-Hungary

Empire. He made himself famous when he managed to

shoot down three Zeros while leading a formation of

eight SBD-3s tasked with the air cover of the US ships

during the Battle of the Coral Sea. This achievement

gave him opportunity to join VF-10 fighting squadron

as its Operations Officer. There he scored seven more

kills during the Guadalcanal campaign on board of the

USS Enterprise. After the war he enjoyed a great career,

making him the Captain of USS Constellation and CO of

the Miramar base. He retired in 1970 and died on January

23, 2012, at the age of 98. The Wildcat No. 79 took over

the starboard side panel with eight kill marks from the

No. 19 (BuNo. 03417) Vejtasa used before. Ninth kill mark

was added on November 13, when he shot down one

huge Kawanishi Type 97 Mavis flying boat. Some of the

Wildcats sported the kill marks on both sides, but only

starboard of this Wildcat is known. This hangs question

mark on their port side presence. Also, the white vertical

rudder strip is not sure for the period of the early 1943.

BuNo. 5192, Ens. Mortimer Kleinmann jr.,

VF-5, USS Saratoga, August

This is a reconstruction of the aircraft, assigned to and

usually flown by Ens. Mortimer “Junior” Kleinmann. But

on August 7, 1942, during the rush to take off against

Japanese bombers as soon as possible, Lt. James Julien

“Pug” Southerland jumped the plane and took it off against

the enemy. He managed to shoot down two bombers but

during the consecutive dogfight with Zero he learned his

guns would not fire, probably due to the damage from fire

by the tail gunner of the bomber. To make the things even

worse, two more Zeros joined the fight. Pug was able to

outmaneuver them, but the melee was spotted by Saburo

Sakai. The Wildcat was hit by numerous shells from

machine guns and cannons, but kept flying, until a Zero

gave him a burst into the left-wing root setting it afire.

“Pug” bailed out over the enemy territory of western part

of Guadalcanal. Wounded and weaponless he managed

to escape the Japanese soldiers thanks to the help of

natives and was evacuated from Henderson Field on

August 20, 1942. Later he added three more victories with

F6F-5 and died in flying accident on October 12, 1949.

Mortimer Kleinmann achieved two kills during the time

USS Saratoga was taking part in Guadalcanal campaign.

Capt. Joseph J. Foss, VMF-121, Henderson Field,

Guadalcanal, October–November 1942

This is one of the Wildcats of VMF-121 the highest-scoring

ace of the Guadalcanal campaign, Capt. Joseph Jacobs

Foss, used during the combat missions. The Bureau Number

is unknown, but we know Foss scored with nine different

Wildcats. This speaks of itself as the Marine pilots on

Guadalcanal did not have the luxury of assigned aircraft. Not

even the best ones. The fierce combats, harsh environment

and other factors made the Wildcats rather consumable

goods, and the pilots simply jumped the closest airworthy

March 2023

aircraft. Joe Foss, former flying instructor, joined VMF-121

on August 11, 1942 and was promoted to Captain on the same

day. He arrived at Guadalcanal on October 9 and four days

later scored his first victory, shooting down a Zero. His score

was rising, as he shot down 16 enemies during October and

prior to his farewell to the island his score raised to 23. He

had to bail out himself on November 7 after shooting down

one Rufe and two float biplanes and made it back to the base

in three days. The VMF-121 left Guadalcanal on November

19, but Joe returned to Guadalcanal for his final tour there

from January 1 to January 26, 1943. Adding three more kills,

he became the highest scoring USMC ace of WWII. After

the war, he served in the South Dakota Air National Guard,

which he helped to organize. Later he turned to politics and

was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives

but returned to the duty during Korean war. In 1954, Foss

was elected Governor of South Dakota. He passed away on

January 1, 2003.

INFO Eduard

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