Capt. Marion Carl

From The Air Combat Wiki

W.W.II Aces: Capt. Marion E. Carl

Here is the poignant tale of Marion E. Carl, written by Rapier for the Fighter Ace gaming zone. It's a story that speaks for itself; Marion E. Carl, Hero. Reprinted by permission of the author (Rapier) and Microsoft Corporation, publishers.

Hero for All Seasons

By Rapier, Fighter Ace Content Manager--

On the fine summer morning of June 4, 1942, 27-year-old Marine Captain Marion E. Carl was piloting his F4F-3 Wildcat fighter high over the two tiny Pacific islands that comprised Midway. Though the sky was bright blue with puffy clouds, it was a dark day during a dark time. Captain Carl was one of only 25 fighters that stood between Midway and the Japanese Combined Fleet's oncoming three waves of 108 bombers and fighters. The entire weight of Japan's battle-hardened and courageous fleet was bearing down on Midway, seeking to provoke the U.S. Navy into a decisive battle to the death. In every category of measurable power and strength, the Japanese held the trump cards. They were led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor and all of the subsequent Japanese successes. The Strike Force was lead by Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, the commander at Pearl Harbor. Japan's airmen were experienced and tough, tempered by years of conflict in China. Her fleet was second to none, bringing four mighty carriers, veterans of Pearl Harbor and successful campaigns in Southeast Asia, Singapore, and the Indian Ocean. It was the largest fleet that had ever been assembled up to that time and contained 5,000 occupation troops.

On the other side, the Admiral Chester Nimitz had only managed to scrape together three carriers, and even then only by completing a six-month repair job on the Yorktown in two weeks. The Yorktown had been severely damaged in the previous Battle of the Coral Sea. The United States and her allies had been battered by reversal after reversal and now the Japanese held most of the vast reaches of the Pacific, from Australia to Hawaii, as well as most of China and Southeast Asia. Nimitz had scraped hard to place as many Marine Corps and Army aircraft on the island as he could find, but the U.S. reserves had been decimated by the disasters of the first six months of the war. By any measure, the U.S. would be fortunate to just hold the island.

As for Marion Carl, he had never fired a gun in anger before; in fact, he'd never even seen a Japanese plane. But today he knew that would all change. At least he was one of the fortunate few that was flying the Wildcat; most of the pilots in the formation flew the older F2A Brewster Buffalo.

At 6:16 A.M. they were at 14,000 feet cruising 30 miles out from Midway when Captain John F. Carey called out, "Tally ho!" as he spotted the greenish-brown enemy bombers 2,000 feet below. Major Floyd B. Parks, leading the formation, called for an attack. Only three of the 12 pilots in the attack would survive the day. Captain Carl followed Carey into a split esse onto the single-engine Val dive-bombers. As the lead fighters opened up, Carl at the rear of the formation checked behind…

Enemy fighters! Desperately Carl mashes the radio button down, transmitting a warning to the others. Swiftly he swivels his head from the rear to the front, to the onrushing bombers. He decides he has time for a brief firing pass before taking evasive action. He's cutting it close, but the bombers have to be stopped or Midway is doomed. The Val expands in the sight ring as his thumb hovers over the trigger button. Crash! The six .50s roar into life as a hundred bullets a second hurtle toward the Japanese bomber. The Val belches thick black smoke and falls from the formation. Time to get out of here! He slams the stick over to the left and then sucks it back into his belly, climbing away from the fight.

"I made a head-on approach from above at a steep angle and at very high speed on the fourth enemy division, which consisted of five planes. I saw my incendiary bullets travel from a point in front of the leader, up through his plane and back through the planes on the left wing of the V. I continued my dive, and looking back, saw two or three of those planes falling in flames. . . . I looked back over my shoulder and about 2,000 feet below and behind me I saw three fighters in column, climbing up toward me, which I assumed to be planes of my division. However, they climbed at a very high rate, and a very steep path. When the nearest plane was about 500 feet below and behind me, I realized it was a Japanese Zero fighter. I kicked over in a violent split S and received three 20mm shells, one in the right wing gun, one in the right wing root tank, and one in the top left side of the engine cowling. I also received about twenty 7.7 mm rounds in the left aileron, which mangled the tab on the aileron and sawed off a portion of the aileron. I continued a vertical dive at full throttle, corkscrewing to my left, due to the effect of the damaged aileron. At about 3,000 feet, I started to pull out, and managed to hold the plane level at an altitude of 500 feet."

Captain Kirk Armistead Leader of the second section of fighters

As he climbs, putting altitude back in the bank, he looks around for other Marine fighters to reform on. He sees a few desperate fights too far away for him to get into, but in moments, the sky is curiously clear of aircraft. He heads back to Midway, constantly rubbernecking, as he is alone and extremely vulnerable. When he reaches the field, he sees that the Japanese are methodically and professionally working it over, destroying aircraft and installations. He knows it would be suicide to dive into that mass of enemy planes, so he waits until some of the enemy head for the carriers. Finally, there are about twelve enemy planes left. He notes a shotai of three Zeros strafing the field. It's obvious that they no longer expect any American fighters in the area. Marion rolls his Wildcat over and selects the rear Zeke and the speed of his fighter builds rapidly. The airstream screams over the canopy as the enemy's form expands in his gunsight. Again the guns crash and the stricken Zeke spews smoke, then a streak of yellow fire, as it dives into the ground. Kill #2! The other two Zekes are no slouches as the leader flips around in a tight turn. Before Carl can open fire on the second Zeke, the first one has him in his sights. Cannon shells smash into the F4F as Carl goes berserk in the cockpit. No altitude and no speed to get away. His salvation appears in the form of a small puffy cumulus cloud. He slews the fighter around, slamming the throttle forward in a desperate attempt to reach safety. His feet are frantically dancing on the rudder pedals, moving the fighter around unpredictably, anything to make him less of a target. There! He is enveloped in the puffy white damp. With snake-striking swiftness he yanks the throttle back and cranks the stick and rudder over as the plane slows, throwing him against the harness. If it works right, the Zeke will shoot past him in the cloud. He holds his breath as he exits. Ah hah! The Zeke is below and to the left. He maneuvers into firing position and mashes the trigger down. Nothing! The guns have jammed! Any moment now the enemy will realize his location and be on him. He rolls the fighter on its back and dives away.

Marion Carl survived the action at Midway. When he landed at the field, only two fighters out of 25 were still able to fly. For his action at Midway, he was awarded the nation's second-highest award for valor, the Navy Cross. He went on to fly at Guadalcanal, where he became the Marine Corps' first ace.

"I was over the water well north of the field when I glanced down and saw a formation of Japanese bombers . . . I rolled into an overhead pass and splashed one bomber. Then things fell apart. My division split up and I lost contact with the other three pilots but we continued to hammer away at the bombers . . . I dropped a second bomber in another overhead run and shot a Zero off [T/Sgt. John] Lindley's tail. As the flight drifted toward Henderson, I claimed another bomber that was confirmed a bit later. These three kills (added to the two at Midway) made me an ace, the first in Marine Corps history, but that thought didn't occur to me at the time. We were far too busy and more concerned about our losses."

Captain Marion Carl The First Ace of Marine Corps

He shot down 11 enemy planes before he himself was shot down at Guadalcanal, barely surviving the bailout from his mortally wounded Wildcat only to struggle against the heavy tide. By luck he was rescued by friendly natives. He was awarded a second Navy Cross for his flying with Marine Fighter Squadron 223 at Guadalcanal.

Carl flew a second combat tour in the Solomons, ending the war with 18.5 confirmed kills, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, and 13 Air Medals.

After the war, he stayed in the Marine Corps and moved into test piloting, making some of the first jet carrier landings with the F-80 Shooting Star, as well as becoming the Marine Corps first helicopter pilot. In 1947, he set a world speed record in the Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak, for which he was awarded a fourth Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1953, he flew the Douglas Skyrocket to a new world altitude record and a fifth Distinguished Flying Cross. He flew again in Vietnam, commanding the 2nd Marine Air Wing and racking up 490 hours in another F4, the Phantom. He retired in 1973 as a Major General, and his last assignment was Inspector General of the Marine Corps. On the way, he had flown 14,000 hours, survived seven airplane crashes, and earned a Legion of Merit with three gold stars.

On Sunday in Oregon, June 28, 1998, Major General Marion E. Carl, at the age of 83, performed one last act of heroism. Though his capacities had been diminished by Alzheimer's over the past few years, he knew what to do when he saw a young robber holding his wife at gunpoint in their living room. Though he saved her, he was killed instantly as he lunged at the 19-year-old gunman.

As the FA-18 Hornets flew the missing-man formation above the Marine Honor Guard delivering the 21-gun salute, one could imagine the words of Admiral Chester Nimitz to the garrison of Midway Island: "Please accept my sympathy for the losses sustained by your gallant aviation personnel based at Midway. Their sacrifice was not in vain. When the great emergency came, they were ready. They met unflinchingly the attack of vastly superior numbers and made the attack ineffective. They struck the first blow at the enemy carriers. They were the spearhead of our great victory. They have written a new and shining page in the annals of the Marine Corps."

Sources:

Air Art NorthWest Web page.

Division of Public Affairs, HQMC. DCMilitary

Fightertown, Fighter Association Web page.

Filips, Janet. The Oregonian. Friday, July 3, 1998.

Heinl, Lieutenant Colonel R.D., Jr. Marines at Midway. USMC Historical Section, Division of Public Information Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1948.

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Web page.

Sims, Edward H. Greatest Fighter Missions. New York: Ballantine Books, 1963; pp. 1-14.