Pearl Harbor Vet Passes
Michael “Mickey” Ganitch
CDR D sends us the sad news that another of the Greatest Generation has left us. Michael “Mickey” Ganitch grew up in Ohio and joined the U.S. Navy in early 1941. Less than a year later, he was in the crow’s nest aboard the USS Pennsylvania as it sat in dry dock off Battleship Row during the Japanese attack. He passed after a 102 year run. Thanks, CDR D.
Fair winds and following seas, Mr. Ganitch.
Category: Fair Winds and Following Seas
Damn another one……Fair winds and following seas. He had a long, and honorable life.
God Speed and Fare Well, Good Sir. We have the Watch. A life well lived, indeed.
This past June, we also lost another great Hero, LTC Alexander Jefferson, a member of the famed 332nd Fighter Group, better known as the Tuskegee Airmen. He was 100 years old:
https://www.wearethemighty.com/featured/tuskegee-airman-lt-col-alexander-jefferson-passed-away-at-100/
“He was assigned to the 332nd “Red Tails” Fighter Group at Ramitelli Airfield where he flew the P-51 Mustang. With the 332nd, Jefferson flew bomber escort missions over Europe.”
“On August 12, 1944, during his 19th mission, Jefferson was shot down while attacking an air control tower in Toulon, France. He parachuted safely but was immediately captured by German forces. Jefferson was sent to the Stalag Luft III POW camp in Poland, a a special facility for Allied air crews run by the Luftwaffe. Jefferson noted that he was treated the same as the other Allied officers by his German captors.”
“In 1995, Jefferson was inducted into the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame. On March 29, 2007, he and all other surviving Tuskegee Airmen were collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal at the U.S. Capitol. In 2004, President George W. Bush awarded him the Purple Heart for wounds received when he was shot down in 1944.”
“During his military service, Jefferson also earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, and the Air Medal. In 2021, he was awarded the key to the city by Detroit.”
Salute and Rest In Peace To Mr. Mickey Ganitch and LTC Alexander Jefferson.
Condolences to their Families, Friends and Love Ones.
Never Forget.
RIP
Fair winds and following seas, Senior Chief!
If he was aboard “Pensy” from Pearl until Bikini, he saw a lot of action. She was in the Aleutian Islands Campaign, in mid-1943, and then attacked Makin later that year. During 1944, she supported the landings on Kwajalein and Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands and the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, including the Battles of Saipan, Guam, Peleliu, and Battle of Angaur. During the Philippines campaign, in addition to her typical shore bombardment duties, she took part in the Battle of Surigao Strait, though due to her inadequate radar, she was unable to locate a target and did not fire. During the Battle of Okinawa, she was torpedoed by a Japanese torpedo bomber and badly damaged, forcing her to withdraw for repairs days before the end of the war.
She was repaired enough to sail to Bikini where she was hit with both bombs of Operation Crossroads, but didn’t sink. She was scuttled.
Note – that Stalag Luft III is best known for the “Great Escape”
Rest In Peace.
Never Forget.
He was a “[r]esident of San Leandro, CA…”
In the past I’ve seen a Pearl Harbor Survivor license plate parked in the Moffett Field commissary parking lot. I wonder if that was he?
Rest in Peace.