Lofton Russell Henderson (May 24, 1903 – June 4, 1942) was a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

aviator 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 opposing ...

. He commanded Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 241 (VMSB-241) at the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under ...

and died while leading his squadron in an attack against Japanese aircraft carriers.

Biography

Early years

Lofton Henderson was born on May 24, 1903, in Lorain, Ohio. He attended Lorain High School and was captain of the football team. He graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

in 1926 along with Max Leslie and C. Wade McClusky.

Early Marine Corps career

Henderson departed the United States on November 3, 1927 from

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and arrived at Chingwangtao, China on December 16, 1927. He was assigned as a platoon commander with the 15th Machine Gun and Howitzer Company, 12th Regiment, 3rd Brigade at

Tientsin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

. After passing a flight physical while in China, he received orders to report to Observation Squadron 8 (VO-8M) in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, California. He departed China on July 28, 1928 onboard the USS Chaumont (AP-5) arriving in San Francisco on August 17, 1928. He also served in various Caribbean stations, and on the aircraft carriers ''Langley'' (CV-1), ''Ranger'' (CV-4), and ''Saratoga'' (CV-3).

World War II

On June 4, 1942, as Japanese forces approached

Midway Island Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; haw, Kauihelani, translation=the backbone of heaven; haw, Pihemanu, translation=the loud din of birds, label=none) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the Unit ...

in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

, Major Henderson, the commanding officer of VMSB-241, led 16 Marine Corps aircraft in the attack. Henderson split his squadron into two flights, one with

SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/dive ...

and one with

SB2U Vindicator The Vought SB2U Vindicator is an American carrier-based dive bomber developed for the United States Navy in the 1930s, the first monoplane in this role. Vindicators still remained in service at the time of the Battle of Midway, but by 1943, all h ...

dive bombers in a glide bombing attack on the aircraft carrier ''Hiryū''. His left wing burst into flames as he began his final approach. Henderson continued the attack and perished as his plane dived toward the enemy carrier. He was posthumously awarded the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...

Honors

(posthumously) *

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

(posthumously) *

Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal The Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States Marine Corps. It was established on 8 May 1919 as the ''Marine Corps Expeditionary Ribbon''. A full-sized medal was authorized on 1 March 1921. The Marine Corps Exped ...

* Yangtze Service Medal * Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal *

American Defense Service Medal The American Defense Service Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces, established by , by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on June 28, 1941. The medal was intended to recognize those military service members who had served ...

* Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with star (posthumously) *

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal is a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. The Wo ...

(posthumously)

Navy Cross citation

HENDERSON, LOFTON R.
Major, U.S. Marine Corps
Marine Scout-Bombing Squadron 241 (VMSB-241),

Marine Aircraft Group 22 Marine Aviation Training Support Group 22 (MATSG-22) is a United States Marine Corps aviation training group that was originally established during World War II as Marine Aircraft Group 22 (MAG-22). Squadrons from MAG-22, were decimated at the ...

(MAG-22), Naval Air Station, Midway
Date of Action: June 4, 1942
Citation:
''The Navy Cross is presented to Lofton R. Henderson, Major, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism as Squadron Commander of Marine Scout-Bombing Squadron TWO HUNDRED FORTY-ONE (VMSB- 241), during action against enemy Japanese forces in the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942. With utter disregard for his own personal safety, Major Henderson, with keen judgment and courageous aggressiveness in the face of strong enemy fighter opposition, led his squadron in an attack which contributed materially to the defeat of the enemy. He was subsequently reported as missing in action. It is believed he gallantly gave up his life in the service of his country.''

Legacy

In August 1942, the partially constructed Japanese airfield on Guadalcanal was captured at the outset of a six-month campaign to expel the enemy from both Guadalcanal and nearby and smaller

Tulagi Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island——in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1 ...

. It was named Henderson Field (now

Honiara International Airport : ''For the military history of the airport, see Henderson Field (Guadalcanal)'' Honiara International Airport , formerly known as Henderson Field, is an airport in the province of Guadalcanal in the nation of Solomon Islands. It is the prima ...

) in his honor. Another Henderson Field (IATA: MDY, ICAO: PMDY) is today a public airport on Sand Island in Midway Atoll, an unincorporated territory of the United States. The airport is used as an emergency diversion point for ETOPS operations. The airfield provides access to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. It operated until 1993 as Naval Air Facility Midway. The original Henderson Field was on Eastern Island (Midway Atoll). In 1945, the was named after him. The 21st Street Bridge in his hometown of Lorain, Ohio, was renamed the Lofton Henderson Memorial Bridge.

Citations

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Lofton 1903 births 1942 deaths United States Marine Corps personnel killed in World War II Aviators from Ohio Aviators killed by being shot down Battle of Midway Military personnel from Ohio People from Lorain, Ohio Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps pilots of World War II United States Naval Academy alumni