Valor Friday

| November 22, 2019

Aviation Machinist Mate Rating Badge

“On November 5th, 1944, 23 year old Loyce Edward Deen, USNR Aviation Machinist Mate (Gunner) Second Class, was killed by anti-aircraft fire during the Battle of Manila Bay.”

He was buried at sea, still in his aircraft.

More on Loyce here: Loyce Deen.og

Thanks to Boomer via Poetrooper for the video. Hand Salute. Ready, Two!

Category: Guest Link, Navy

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5th/77th FA

Wow. Great story Poe, ‘Ed. Thanks! “…that such men lived.”

Final ex wife’s Papa was a Hell Diver Driver. IIRC he was on the Essex, prolly got there right after this happened. He got there “right at Thanksgiving of ’44.” Much respect for that man…his daughter…not so much.

Hand Salute…Ready…Two!

Mason

From the linked page;

“In addition, orders also came down not to strip the plane for parts – which was quite an extraordinary tribute at the time since aircraft parts were scarce and in demand.”

I was struck/surprised that they didn’t take anything off the plane before the burial at sea. Got a little dusty in here as his plane slipped below the waves.

Berliner

I’m overcome by dust also. I went to youtube to learn more about the very moving background music:

William Arms Fisher, a pupil of the Czech composer Antonin Dvorak, wrote the lyrics to and adapted the music to the theme of Dvorak’s 2nd Movement to the New World Symphony. These are his words now sung by the BYU Choir.

“Goin’ home, goin’ home, I’m a goin’ home;
Quiet-like, some still day, I’m jes’ goin’ home.

It’s not far, jes’ close by,
Through an open door;
Work all done, care laid by,
Goin’ to fear no more.

Mother’s there ‘spectin’ me,
Father’s waitin’ too;
Lots o’ folks gather’d there,
All the friends I knew,
All the friends I knew.
Home, I’m goin’ home!”

UpNorth

Indeed, it got dusty here watching the video.

The Other Whitey

Maybe it’s just me, but it always seemed to me that there’s something beautifully and tragically poetic about Loyce Deen’s aircraft carrying him to his final rest like that. Though shot up all to hell, that TBM still carried him back to his ship, and then served her final duty as his coffin. I dunno, there’s just something about a good airplane.

God bless Loyce Deen and the millions of heroes of his generation.

HMCS(FMF) ret

Grumman aircraft had a reputation of being able to take a beating and return home.

Also – all of their fighters built from WWII to the modern age were named after “cats”… from Wildcat to Tomcat. They were the Chief Contractor for the Apollo Lunar Module.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman

The Other Whitey

Grumman Iron Works

Fyrfighter

At the end of WWII, they considered using the name Tomcat for the plane that ended up being the Bearcat, but they deemed it too risque for the times..

Combat Historian

Exactly two years earlier, in Nov 1942 off Guadalcanal, this TBF Avenger would have been hurriedly repaired, if necessary with spit and bailing wire, to continue to go after the “Nips” as the epic battle for control of the ‘Canal reached its climax. It is a dramatic tribute to the mighty wartime industrial capacity and output of this country that only two years later, we could afford to bury this young man at sea encased in an airplane that was still repairable as a tribute to his sacrifice and bravery…

Mustang Major

I have occasionally seen this video though the years, and am appreciative to finally know the rest of the story.

The background information and research was impressive. It told a story that is often overlooked for our war dead. It would be fantastic if this research could be done for all of our country’s finest that died in war.

Mick

Few things actually get to me, but as a career Marine Corps Aviator, this incident always chokes me up. While watching the linked film footage, take a close look at the top of the fuselage just aft of Deen’s gun turret. It looks like he took a 40mm AAA round right through the front of his turret, and in some of the footage/photos it appears that there was a second AAA hit to the starboard side of the fuselage just below Deen’s turret. Deen didn’t stand a chance with those hits, and if those rounds had detonated on impact, the entire aircraft would likely have been destroyed. From the Loyce Deen website linked above: ‘[…] The Final Fight Each day, reveille was sounded on the USS Essex’s intercom at 5:30 am. Breakfast was served in the mess hall at 6:30am. Throughout the night, the planes scheduled for the next day’s mission were being prepared. On the flight deck, the Hellcat fighters were in front so they can take off first and protect the group and the carrier. In the rear were the Avenger and Hell Diver bombers and torpedo planes. After breakfast, pilots attended briefings in the ‘Ready Room’ to get their final orders, weather conditions and the plane that was to be assigned to them. That day, Lt. Cosgrove received tail number #93 – an new plane just acquired in Ulithi Atol a few days ago. Lt. Cosgrove’s orders were to go after the Japanese cruisers in Manila Bay. After the briefing, Lt. Cosgrove joined his crew, Digby and Loyce, and they went topside to their plane. Loyce climbed into his gun turret for the final time. The VT-15 group took off mid morning and It would take about two hours to get to the Manila Bay and release the ordinance. There, they encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire from a Japanese cruiser and Loyce was killed from two AA shells. In the 2001 History Channel documentary film “Battle Group Halsey” interview, Capt. Cosgrove recalled, “Denzek told me over the intercom that Deen was hit bad.Then, Densek came back up thru… Read more »