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
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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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