Patrick D. Fleming

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Patrick D. Fleming

Fleming was an "Army brat" and an Annapolis graduate, the only ace from the class of 1941. He did a surface tour in cruisers, then applied for flight training. He won his wings in 1943 and was promptly assigned to be an instructor. He joined VF-80 in March, 1944.

His brief fighter career demonstrated the dominance of the U.S. Navy's carriers and Hellcats in the later stages of the Pacific War. Fleming engaged only nineteen targets during six combat missions between Nov. 5, 1944 and Feb. 17, 1945; he shot down all nineteen. His first kill was a Zero, over Manila, his only single victory.

Fleming's carrier, Ticonderoga (CV-14), gave aerial support to the Mindoro landings in the Philippines in mid-December 1944. At dawn on Dec. 14, the Hellcats started things with a series of fighter sweeps. VF-80 was one of the few squadrons to find combat when its fliers caught 27 Zeros trying to reinforce Mindoro. "Vorse's Vipers" shot down nineteen of them, four by Pat Fleming. On Jan. 3, 1945, the fast carriers went after Formosa, but bad weather prevented most squadrons from getting through. VF-80 did get to its objective and swept the area looking for targets; "P.D." Fleming found and shot down three.

As the kamikaze threat grew, the Navy increased the number of fighters on the carriers. When the VF squadrons exceeded 70 planes, they became increasingly awkward to administer, and many squadrons split into more manageable VF and VBF (fighter-bomber) squadrons. Frequently the two squadrons ran the same type of missions and both usually flew Hellcats. So it was with VF-80; on Jan. 10, 1945, VBF-80 was established, with Pat Fleming as its exec. While the distinctions between the two squadrons were mainly administrative, the records show that Fleming scored ten with VF-80 and nine more with VBF-80.

The carriers struck at Formosa again on the 21st, fiercely engaged by kamikazes. Three groups came at Ticonderoga, one hitting it with a 550-lb. bomb. As fires raged from this hit, another one crashed into the carrier's island, bringing the fatalities to 143. Several VF-80 pilots, including Pat Fleming manned the AA guns after the first attack. When the second Zero hit, a piece of falling debris hit Fleming on the helmet and knocked him overboard. A nearby destroyer rescued him. Due to the extensive damage to Ticonderoga, the air group transferred to Hancock (CV-19)

In mid-February, the carriers hit the Home Islands themselves, for the first time since the Doolittle raid of April, 1942. Fleming led nine VBF-80 Grummans on a Feb. 16 fighter-bomber attack on the Mobara airfield; they successfully bombed three of its five hangars. He spotted three Zeros high above and zoomed up to engage them. Approaching from behind, he burned two immediately, then chased and exploded another pair. He also hit another from behind (for a confirmed or probable kill, depending on the source). Fleming's Navy Cross citation for the mission credited him with five kills. The next day, Feb. 17, he closed his score with four more victories over Japan. VBF-80 went home in March, 1945.

After the war, he served at the Navy's famous Pax River test center, where he lived near Marion Carl's family. In January, 1947, General Curtis LeMay invited him to transfer to the new USAF Strategic Air Command (SAC) as a Lt. Col. He died in 1956 when he bailed out of a B-52, but his chute caught fire.