John D. Foley (March 1, 1918 – December 21, 1999), served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

as a gunner during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was the inspiration of the popular 1943 song " Johnny Got a Zero".

Biography

Foley enlisted in November 1941. After the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

, he was assigned to a non-combat role with the 22nd Bomb Group stationed in Australia. His diligent cleaning of the machine guns of a

B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in t ...

caught the attention of the bomber's pilot, Lieutenant Walter Krell. As the top turret gunner was injured, Foley became his replacement, despite having no aerial-gunnery training. After a quick introduction to the equipment and procedures and one practice mission, Foley found himself on his first combat mission two days later, a raid against shipping near

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

on May 24, 1942. He shot down an

A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 19 ...

, even though he had not even been taught how to use the gunsight. Two weeks later, he was credited with two more over

Lae Lae () is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River and at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor between the Highl ...

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

war correspondent Pat Robinson wrote an article about him and dubbed him "Johnny Zero". The song "Johnny Got a Zero" was released as

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

in 1943, lyrics by

Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...

and music by Vee Lawnhurst, and topped out at #4 on the ''Variety'' list for the week of April 28. An ''

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

'' rendition by The Song Spinners, "Johnny Zero", stayed on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine's charts from June to August, peaking at #7. In the song, Johnny does poorly in school, with the other children mocking him with "Johnny got a zero" every time he fails a test. However, when he grows up and becomes a fighter pilot, the words take on an entirely different meaning. Foley flew on 31 more missions in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, sharing credit for at least six confirmed victories and surviving three crashes (in the second, he was the sole survivor). After contracting

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, he was sent back to the United States in 1943 to undertake a promotional tour and become a gunnery instructor. He applied to fight in Europe, and flew another 31 missions in only 60 days with the 309th Bomber Squadron as a gunner in a

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

. He volunteered for a third tour of duty, but the war ended. He died on December 21, 1999, at the age of 81 in Banning, Riverside County, California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, John D. United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II