BOXART STORY

#82202

Text: Jan Bobek

Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz

Swede at Santa Cruz

Stanley Winfield Vejtasa was the only U.S. Navy

aviator to receive the Navy Cross for his service as a bomber and fighter pilot. He capped

his remarkable career in the 1960s as skipper

of the USS Constellation (CV-64) and later

as commander of Naval Air Station Miramar

(yes, the Top Gun!).

He was born on July 27, 1914, in Paris, Montana.

His mother was Inga Amalia Rinnhagen, a Norwegian American. He inherited from her the

Nordic appearance that later earned him the

nickname Swede. Stanley's father John was

born in 1888 in Fairdale, Walsh County, North

Dakota. Swede's Czech grandfather František

Josef Vejtasa, who was from Boňov in the Highlands region (Vysočina), met, in the USA, his

wife Františka née Svobodová, who was born

in Ohrazenice, near Boňov. Besides John, they

had nine more children. The daughters were

named Antonia, Amelia and Marry. Two sons

were given the English names Stanley and

Frank, but the others had the typically Czech

names Cyril, Anton, Vlastimil and Bohumil.

Stanley joined the US Navy in 1937 and in

August 1939 he became a pilot with SBD

Dauntless in Scouting Squadron Five

(VS-5) aboard the USS Yorktown. He received

his first Navy Cross for a raid on March 10,

1942, on Salamaua and Lae, New Guinea. He

earned a second one for the May 4, 1942, raid

on Tulagi and for the Battle of the Coral Sea,

specifically for his part in the sinking of the

aircraft carrier Shōhō on May 7 and for aerial combat with enemy aircraft during May 8.

He received his third Navy Cross for extra-

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INFO Eduard

ordinary achievement on October 26, 1942,

during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands as

a member of VF-10 aboard the USS Enterprise.

During this battle, the Reaper 7 division he led

was part of CAP (Combat Air Patrol) over the

task force. Big E and the USS Hornet launched

a total of 37 Wildcats in their defence. Heading

towards the Americans was a Japanese formation of 55 aircraft led by Lt. Cdr. Shigeharu

Murata. The Japanese commander had visual

contact with the American carrier two minutes

before his formation appeared on the radars of

both flat tops. At 0915, Murata gave the order

to attack. What followed was a large-scale engagement of more than ninety aircraft, which

was accompanied on the American side by

tremendous improvisation by both ship crews

and airmen due to radar malfunctions on the

carriers.

Vejtasa first succeeded in attacking six D3A

Vals from Zuikaku under Lt.(jg) Nobuo Yoneda

and shot down the damaged machine of PO2c

Toshio Nishimori, who was lagging the formation. Vejtasa then attacked three Vals from

Zuikaku that were retreating. They were led by

Lt. Yutaka Ishimaru. Vejtasa managed to shoot

down one of the wingmen just above the water.

This moment is captured on our boxart by artist

Piotr Forkasiewicz. Until this moment Vejtasa

failed to drop one of the auxiliary tanks and

even had to restart the engine. At that time, the

Hornet was hit by three bombs, two torpedoes

and two damaged Japanese bombers crashed

into the carrier deliberately. When the second

attack wave approached, only eight Wildcats

were patrolling over the American fleet, four

of them under Vejtasa's command. Thirteen

others were circling low over the surface.

Around 1045, Vejtasa formation spotted B5N

Kate torpedo bombers from Zuikaku between

storm clouds and the task force. Vejtasa and

his wingman attacked the formation under

Lt. Masayuki Yusuhara. He shot down one

bomber by himself and then, in cooperation

with another pilot, shot down the crew of PO1c

Ken-ichirō Toshida. He then attacked three Kates from 45th Shōtai of Zuikaku. Directly from

behind, he shot down 2nd plane of PO1c Heiji

Tamura, then hit the lead aircraft of Ens. Kazumasa Kanada and finally destroyed 3rd plane

of PO1c Kazu-o Yamauchi.

During the Japanese torpedo attack, Vejtasa pursued low over the water another Kate,

apparently commanded by PO1c Yasuo Kikuchi

of the 44th Shōtai. Either Vejtasa or one of the

ships firing furiously at the Japanese hit the

bomber. The burning machine slammed into

the destroyer USS Smith, leaving on board

a torpedo warhead that exploded six minutes later. Eventually, Vejtasa chased one of

the bombers retreating low. He set it on fire

with the rest of his ammunition and watched

in amazement as the Japanese crew flew the

burning machine another five miles before it

crashed into the sea. The battle was not yet

over, but Vejtasa´s formation was crucial in

disrupting the attack against the Enterprise.

His record of seven aerial victories in a single

combat was matched only by few American

pilots by the end of the war.

November 2022