On Friday evening, the nation witnessed the passing of our 41st President, George H. W. Bush. As has been pointed out by the press and elsewhere, Bush enlisted in the US Navy when war with Japan broke out in 1941. After graduating from naval flight school, Bush was acknowledged to be the youngest US naval aviator of the war at only 18 years of age and would later go on to become a war hero, receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions near Chichi Jima.
Bush piloted a Grumman Avenger TBM-1C torpedo-bomber, a 3-man aircraft designed for low-level attacks against enemy naval vessels. Because of this, many were shot down, forced to evade anti-aircraft fire from virtually every type of gun the Imperial Japanese Navy possessed. While flying a TBM with VT-51 (from the USS San Jacinto (CVL-30)), Bush’s plane was shot down on September 2nd, 1944 over the Pacific island of Chichi Jima. Both of his crewmates died; however, because he released his payload and hit the target before being forced to bail out, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
After being rescued at sea by the submarine USS Finback, Bush subsequently returned to San Jacinto in November 1944 and participated in operations in the Philippines until his squadron was replaced and sent home to the United States. Through 1944, he flew 58 combat missions for which he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals, and the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to San Jacinto.
Because of his valuable combat experience, Bush was reassigned to Norfolk Navy Base and put in a training wing for new torpedo pilots. He was later assigned as a naval aviator in a new torpedo squadron, VT-153, based at Naval Air Station Grosse Ilse, Michigan. Upon the Japanese surrender in 1945, Bush was honorably discharged in September of that year.
Several years ago, Hobby Master produced a 1:72 scale replica of his earliest mount “Barbara”, which has long since sold out and will likely appreciate in value now that he has passed away. We are therefore hoping that the manufacturer will re-release a model of his aircraft and, if at all possible, consider offering a 1:32 scale tribute too as a means of kicking off their 1:32 scale run of the Avenger and as a tribute to the man and his machine.
