VB-19 Bombing Nineteen

Bombing Squadron Nineteen
1943-1944


Why is America lucky enough to have such men?
They leave this tiny ship and fly against the enemy.
Then they must seek the ship, lost somewhere on the sea.
And when they find it, they have to land upon its pitching deck.
Where did we get such men?

James A. Michener

VB-19 graphic


Read the stories of the men of Bombing Nineteen in their own words:

The Voices of Bombing Nineteen

depending on the margins, this book is 100-150 pages long

Microsoft Word Format (.doc)

Adobe Portable Document Format (.pdf)


Highlights

Chronological Highlights

15 AUG 1943 - Squadron Commissioned - N.A.S. Los Alamitos, CA
16 NOV 1943 - ENS Franklin P. Hart and Theodore G. Scheck, ARM3 killed on dive bombing run near Seal Beach, CA
3-4 JAN 1944 - Carrier landing qualifications, USS Altamaha, off San Diego, CA
21 FEB 1944 - Entrained to Alameda for further transportation west
24 FEB 1944 - Departed N.A.S. Alameda, CA in USS Lexington (CV-16) for Maui, T.H.
28 FEB 1944 - Arrived Pearl Harbor
29 FEB 1944 - Transferred to N.A.S. Kahului, Maui, T.H.
APR 1944 - Received first SB2C-1s for transition training
MAY 1944 - Received SB2C-3s
11-13 JUN 1944 - Refresher carrier landing aboard USS Franklin
21 JUN 1944 - Departed Maui and boarded USS Intrepid for transportation to Eniwetok
30 JUN 1944 - Arrived Eniwetok
1-10 JUL 1944 - Moved to USS Bunker Hill
7 JUL 1944 - Refresher carrier landings aboard USS Bunker Hill
9 JUL 1944 - Embarked in USS Lexington for Combat
10-14 JUL 1944 - Provisioning and rearming at Eniwetok Atoll
18-21 JUL 1944 - First Comat Missions - Guam
25-27 JUL 1944 - Strikes on Palau Group
4-5 AUG 1944 - Strikes on Bonins - Kazans - Iwo Jima
10-29 AUG 1944 - Rearm - provision - Eniwetok
6-8 SEP 1944 - Strikes on Peleliu Island
9-10 SEP 1944 - Strikes on Mindanao, Philippines
12-14 SEP 1944 - Strikes on Visayans - Cebu - Mactan
21-22 SEP 1944 - Strikes on Luzon - Manila
24 SEP 1944 - Strikes on Visayans - Cebu - Negros
25 SEP - 7 OCT 1944 - Rearm - provision - Palau and Ulithi
10 OCT 1944 - Strikes on Okinawa
12-14 OCT 1944 - Strikes on Formosa - Pescadores
21 OCT 1944 - Strikes on Coron - Romblon
24 OCT 1944 - Strikes on Japanese battle fleet, Sibuyan Sea and on Luzon
25 OCT 1944 - Strikes on Japanese carrier force - Philippine Sea
26 OCT - 1 NOV 1944 - Standby at Leyte and provision at Ulithi Atoll
5-6 NOV 1944 - Strikes on Luzon
5 NOV 1944 - Hit by Kamikaze plane off Luzon
10-22 NOV 1944 - Repairs at Ulithi Atoll
23 NOV 1944 - Relieved on Station by Air Group 20 - transferred to USS Enterprise for transportation to Pearl Harbor
8 DEC 1944 - Aboard USS Long Island for transportation to San Diego
14 DEC 1944 - Arrived San Diego

Combat Record

18 JULY 1944 - 8 DEC 1944 1,364 SORTIES FLOWN

Naval Ships Sunk

2 Aircraft Carriers
1 Heavy Cruiser
1 Destroyer Escort
2 Troop Ships
1 Submarine Tender
Total Tonnage Sunk 67,500

Naval Ships Damaged

1 Aircraft Carrier
3 Battleships
1 Cruiser
3 Destroyers
2 Minelayers
Total Tonnage Damaged 112,000

Merchant Ships Sunk

8 Tankers
21 Cargo and misc.
Total Tonnage Sunk 95,200

Merchant Ships Damaged

14 Tankers
53 Cargo and misc.
Total Tonnage Damaged 133.500
Airfields Struck - 28 spaceShip and Harbor Facilities - 10
Industrial and Military Targets - 301

Aircraft Destroyed

In the Air - 10spacewiderProbable in the Air - 1
On the Ground - 105spaceDamaged on Ground - 17

Campaigns space Combat Targets

Marianas
Bonins / Kazans
Palau

Philippine Islands

Ryukus
Formosa / Pescadores
Sibuyan Sea
Second Battle of the Philippine Sea

Guam - Saipan

Chichi Jima, Iwo Jima, Haha Jima

Peleliu

Mindinao, Cebu, Leyte, Mactan

Coron, Surigao, Luzon, Negros

Okinawa

Awards

Individual Awards Presented

34 Navy Crosses
3 Silver Stars
60 Distinguished Flying Crosses
46 Air Medals
29 Purple Hearts

The Presidential Unit Citation
as an attached squadron
aboard
USS Lexington CV-16

Lost Shipmates

Shipmates lost 15 AUG 1943 - 23 NOV 1944

Albini, Edward R.
Banker, Donald F.
Blazevich, Michael M.
Burns, James T.
Cavanaugh, John A. Jr.
Doyle, Robert W.
Evatt, John W.
Fisher, Charles F.
Gevelinger, Paul A.
Gilchrist, John W.
spaceHansen, Richard E.
Hart, Leon F.
Jackson, Francis O.
Majors, Roy F.
McGowan, Richard S.
Nitchman, Louis O.
Parker, Robert B.
Scheck, Theodore E.
Smith, Robert G.
Snow, John R.

Some squadron songs:

I Wanna Go Home
lyrics by "the guys" / MP3 format

I Wanted Wings
lyrics by "the guys" / MP3 format

Transfiguration (The Ballad of Bombing Nineteen)
lyrics by George H. Bowen / MP3 format
music composed by Hugh Emerson 5/26/2001


Click on one of these three pictures for an even larger version





The following is a reproduction of the plaque presented to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, by Ben Buttenwieser.
The plaque now resides on board the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi Bay.

"TO LIVE ON IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THOSE WE LEAVE BEHIND IS NOT TO DIE"

VB-19 BOMBING SQUADRON

8/15/43 - 11/23/44

ADLMAN, ALBERT
ALBINI, EDWARD RICHARD
ALERIDGE, EMERY PAUL, JR.
ALLEN, EDWARD BENARD
BANKER, DONALD FRANCIS
BEISNER, EDWARD WILBERT
BERG, GEORGE E.
BIRMINGHAM, THOMAS WILLIAM
BLACK, LEWIS EDWARD
BLAZEVICH, MICHEAL MARK
BOWEN, GEORGE HALDANE
BRATTEN, THOMAS OBADIAH
BROTTEN, BILLY JEAN
BROWN, EUGENE EVERETT
BROWN, LYNN HEWITT
BURNS, JAMES FRANCIS
BURNS, JAMES JOSEPH
BUTTENWIESER, BENJAMIN JOSEPH
BUTTS, JOHN L., JR.
CAVANAUGH, JOHN ALOYSIUS, JR.
CHAPMAN, MELVIN L.
COCANOUR, JAMES WALTER
CORNELIUS, WILLIAM H.
CRAPSER, STUART E.
CRAVEN, WILLIAM HOWARD, JR.
CROCKER, JOHN H., JR.
DAVIS, ROBERT M.
DELLIQUADRI, C.A.
DOYLE, ROBERT WILLIAM
DROSKE, ARNO FRANZ
DULONG, PAUL ROGER
DUNCAN, ROBERT E. LEE, JR.
ELIAS, ERNEST JOSEPH
ELL, WILLIAM AUGUST
EMERSON, WILLIAM SIGGINS
EMIG, ALVIN FREDERICK
ENGEN, DONALD DAVENPORT
EVATT, JOHN WESLEY
EVERTSEN, VERNON VORKINK
FERGUSON, FERDIE LAWRENCE, JR.
FISHER, CHARLES FORREST
GAINER, FRANK, JR.
GAISER, NORMAN E.
GATES, BILLY V.
GEVELINGER, PAUL ANDREW
GILBRIDE, AUSTIN LEO
GILCHRIST, JOHN WARDELL
GLASER, JACK LEE
GLASGOW, EDWARD ARTHUR
GLUMAC, GEORGE
GOOD, WILLIAM THOMAS
GRAY, IRA GASTON
GRIFFIN, ROBERT SHELDON
GRIFFIN, WALLACE STANLEY
GUNTER, JOHN B.
HALL, NATHANIEL SHERMAN
HANSEN, RIGHARD EDWARD
HARLESS, VIVIAN EUGENE
HART, FRANK
HARVANKA, JOHN
HARVEY, MILTON JOSEPH
HEILMAN, LOUIS A.
HELM, DONALD FREDERICK
HENDRICK, JOHN ALLSTON
HESS, NORMAN LAWRENCE
JACKSON, FRANCIS ORIN
JANCAR, ARNOST
JOHNS, BOSTON EDWARD
JOHNSON, ROBERT LIGON
KAMP, LLOYD WADE
KANTJAS, JOHN
KASTE, VICTOR HARRISON
KINARD, LEON FRED
KOCH, WESLEY
LEAF, ENO HJALMER
LEWIS, GEORGE T. JR.
LOCHER, JAMES RICHARD
MADRID, ALBERT ESTRADA
MAJORS, ROY FRANCIS
MC BRIDE, WILLIAM E.
MC GOWAN, PETER SCOTT
MC GOWAN, RICHARD SPENCER
MC NAUGHTON, JOSEPH
MEANY, WILLIAM THOMAS
MEEKER, JACK
MICHAELSON, CHAUNCEY DEORR
NANCE, JOE DOUGLAS
NELSON, GEORGE KERWOOD
NEWMAN, EVERETT EARL
NICKENS, MINOR HOWARD
NIEMEYER, ROBERT DEAN
NITCHMAN, LOUIS OSCAR
ORTIZ, LOUIS
PARKER, ROBERT BROWNWELL
PECK, GEORGE W.
PLANT, HARRY JACK
READING, ROBERT CYRIL
REID, JOHN NORMAN
REID, NEAL SAMUEL
REISHCMAN, PAUL LEWIS
RIPPLE, ROLAND HOLLISTER, JR.
ROONEY, ARTHUR MICHAEL
ROSS, REYNOLD DORAN
ROUNDY, PAUL FROST
RYDER, ARTHUR CHAN
SADLER, DANIEL, JR.
SCHECK, T.
SCHOENER, RAYMOND JAMES
SCHRAM, NORMAN WILSEY
SCOTT, JACK
SEABOLT, JACK DEMPSEY
SETTERBERG, JAMES EARL
SIMMERMAN, JACK FERDINAND
SIMMONS, LUTHER KALE
SISSON, ROBERT LEROY
SMITH, HARRY DAVIS
SMITH, ROBERT GILMOUR
SMOLINSKI, RICHARD CHARLES
SNOW, JOHN RUSSELL, JR.
SOBEL, LOUIS
STAMM, FRANK JAMES
STANKEVICH, VICTOR ALFRED
STANLEY, ROBERT SINCLAIR
STELLA, EMIL B.
STEVENSON, THEODORE BLAIR
STRADLEY, PRICE ROE
SWANSON, LEONARD R.
THORNGREN, ALBERT DUANE
THURMON, NORMAN E.
UNSWORTH, FRANK C.
WAGNER, WILLIAM H. JR.
WALTERS, HERBERT NORMAN
WARNKE, GERALD ALBERT
WEST, RICHARD C.
WICKLANDER, RAYMOND GEORGE
WILLIAMS, JOE WYLIE
WILTON, JERRY B.
WODELL, WEBSTER PAGE
WOOLHOUSE, DWIGHT LEON
WRIGHT, WILLIAM A.

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Links

Naval Historical Center

VB-19 in the Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons

page 261; see "VA-194". Adobe PDF file.

The USS Lexington Museum

Flightdeck Museum Store

The Tailhook Association

The National Museum of Naval Aviation

VB-19 in the National Flight Log

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