Tim Campbell

Love God, Joy, family, sports, and music. Live to serve.

[Voices of WW2 @VoicesofWW2]

84 years ago today, a pilot running out of fuel made a decision that won the Pacific War. Most Americans have never heard his name.

June 4, 1942. Six months after Pearl Harbor, Japan's navy is undefeated. Four of the carriers that burned Pearl, Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu, are steaming toward Midway to finish off the US Pacific Fleet.

At 7:52 AM, Wade McClusky launches from USS Enterprise leading 32 Dauntless dive bombers. Here's the detail nobody mentions: McClusky is a fighter pilot. He'd been given the air group weeks earlier and had barely flown a dive bomber in combat. Now he's leading every SBD the Enterprise has at the most important target in the Pacific.

9:20 AM. He arrives at the intercept point where the Japanese fleet is supposed to be.

Empty ocean. Nothing for miles.

The Japanese had turned. Nobody knew where. And now McClusky owns the worst math problem in naval aviation: his fuel is bleeding away, and every minute he keeps searching, he condemns more of his own pilots to ditch in open water where nobody will find them.

Doctrine is clear. Turn back.

McClusky keeps going. He works a search pattern, squeezing miles out of dying fuel tanks.

9:55 AM. Far below, a single Japanese destroyer is cutting a white scar across the ocean at flank speed. It's the Arashi, racing to rejoin the fleet after depth-charging the American submarine Nautilus. Think about that. A failed sub attack is about to give away the entire Japanese navy.

McClusky reads the wake like an arrow and follows it.

10:02 AM. The horizon fills with the entire Japanese strike force. Four carriers, their decks crammed with planes being refueled and rearmed. Fuel lines snaking everywhere. Bombs stacked in the open.

And here's the miracle: the sky above them is empty. Minutes earlier, American torpedo squadrons had attacked at sea level and been annihilated. Torpedo 8 lost all 15 planes. One survivor, Ensign George Gay, watched what came next while hiding under his seat cushion in the water. Those doomed pilots dragged every Japanese fighter down to the waves. The door upstairs was wide open.

10:22 AM. McClusky pushes over from 14,500 feet. Both squadrons follow him down onto Kaga. It's actually a mistake, doctrine said split the targets, but Lt. Dick Best catches it mid-dive, pulls out with two wingmen, and goes after Akagi alone. His single bomb pierces the flight deck into the packed hangar. It's enough.

By 10:28, Kaga, Akagi, and Soryu, the third hit simultaneously by Yorktown's bombers, are floating infernos. Six minutes. Three carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor, gone. Hiryu follows them to the bottom that evening.

The cost of McClusky's gamble was real. Many Enterprise bombers never made it home, some shot down, others swallowed by the sea when their tanks ran dry. McClusky himself was jumped by two Zeros on the way out, took five bullets through his shoulder, and still flew his shot-up Dauntless back to the Enterprise.

Admiral Nimitz said McClusky's decision "decided the fate of our carrier task force and our forces at Midway." Japan never won another major battle.

One borrowed pilot. One destroyer's wake. One choice to keep flying when every gauge said go home.

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@timotheeology You’re in for a struggle, I think we both know that, but it will be SO worth it. DS are some of the most loving people on planet earth. And to see them worship their Lord and Creator is such a blessing that will be in store for you in a few years.

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@chckdotai @CardPurchaser Thank for the laugh. I needed that.
🤣🤣🤣

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

Hey @CardPurchaser , how do you report a scammer on Twitter?

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@trapshoptcg @chad_radesi @sean_morris12 Yes. I know.

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@TanyaCorbinEdm @kendallhosseini So that’s why Francis was named Captain in 1994-95? Was that a mutiny too? 🙄

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@Faith1611pod You still have time to delete that nonsense. Do me a favor and search for repent in the Bible app.

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

Of all the bad takes I’ve ever seen, this may be the worst.

[Protestia @Protestia]

"faith.unfiltered_1611" on Insta insists John MacArthur is "burning in hell" for THIS BIZARRE reason:

[The Original Burnsie @burnsieoriginal]

Alright, it’s that time of the month again and you know how it works. Like, retweet, & make sure you’re following @burnsieoriginal for your chance to win the wax & the bonuses. Good luck and thank you for playing!

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@chad_radesi @sean_morris12 @trapshoptcg I should have done more research. After I paid for one, he asked for my wantlist, which has some ultra rare cards, some I’ve never seen before, and he said he had them all. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@trapshoptcg @sean_morris12 @chad_radesi Someone with a blue check can and he put it in thread. I missed it after it was too late. Only $15. But still.

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@TheAngryBird63 I wondered about this since Lindberg didn’t cross the Atlantic until 1927. The US did ship 17,000 planes to Europe during WWI.

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@ngtcollectibles @sean_morris12 @AcunaFan13 @alex_budimir He’s a scammer anyway.

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@sean_morris12 @ChiTown60419 @eshecker @sports_district @eBay Scammer

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@sean_morris12 @pezN8 @Elliott0924 @gearsandglass @davisdugout @premiercards_2 Scammer

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@sean_morris12 @JustinElmore10 @RSJRsteel Scammer

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@sean_morris12 @PleasantCollec2 @RSJRsteel Scammer

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@sean_morris12 @gunboat82 @CardsStory Scammer

[Tim Campbell @TimCampbell30]

@Burgerx2Cheese @kendallhosseini If so, why was Ron Francis named captain of the Penguins in 1994-95?