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