Howard Thatcher Willey O-26814

Howard Thatcher Willey was born on 20 August 1921 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah. His father was Willard Haven Willey, a native of Bountiful, Utah and a descendent of Mormon pioneers. Howard’s mother was Zina Needham Lambert Willey, a native of Salt Lake City, Utah. Willard and Zina were married in Salt Lake City (SLC) on 26 June 1912. Their first son, Robert Haven Willey, was born in SLC in 1916. In 1918, their daughter Marjorie was born in that same city.

According to the 1920 census, the Willeys were living in SLC Ward 4. Willard was working as a traveling salesman for a Woolen Company. There was a General Practice nurse residing in the home as a “roomer.” Howard was born in 1921. In 1924, the family moved to Washington District of Columbia. In his lifetime, Willard served a variety of positions within the LDS Church. Over the family's years in DC, he was superintendent Sunday School, stake missionary and high priest Washington DC ward. The family did not appear in the 1930 census. Historic newspapers indicate that Howard graduated from Central High School (currently named Cardozo Senior High School) in DC. He also followed in his father and brother’s footsteps and attended George Washington University.

At the time of the 1940 census, the Willey family was living at 1628 Argonne Place NW in DC. Willard was an auditor for public works. Robert was an economist for the Agriculture Dept. Marjorie was a stenographer for the House Office Building and Howard was working as an usher in a theater. Howard was best man at his brother’s wedding in 1940. The Evening Star paper noted that Robert was a reserve officer with the US Army.

On 16 February 1942 Howard registered for the draft in Washington, DC, indicating he was employed by the Federal Government in Washington, DC by the Office of Emergency Management. In June 1942, Howard enlisted in the Naval Aviation Cadet Training Program (USN) with the intent of becoming a Marine Corps aviator. Howard was commissioned in the United States Marine Corps Reserve on 28 July 1943 in Corpus Christi, Texas and subsequently assigned to a base at San Diego, California (Naval Air Station North Island on the Coronado peninsula in San Diego Bay.) Howard was assigned to Marine Observation Squadron 251 (VMO-251) at United States Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Mojave in California. Howard became one of the many new pilots for training that included navigation, night flying, combat tactics, gunnery and bombing practice. The VMO-251 War Diary for October 1943 notes that on October 22, Howard `”partially groundlooped plane (F4F-4 #20161) in landing caused by cross and gusty wind. Damaged left wing tip, no injury to pilot.”

On 16 November 1943 at 1900 hours, Howard was participating in night flying exercises at MCAS Mojave in the California desert. Howard was flying Grumman F4F Wildcat as part of Marine Base Defense Aircraft Group 44. He was joining part of a “four plane division” related to a “division tactics hop.” On that evening the sky was characterized by overcast requiring the pilots to go on instruments because no horizon appeared. 2nd Lt. Sidney Goldstein was joining the flight leader when he got vertigo and crashed into the ground. The report of accident notes that “It may be possible that he saw some light on the ground and thought it to be the division leader.” Howard’s plane crashed as well. The probable cause being “Vertigo or he followed Lt. Goldstein into the ground.” The report noted that Howard had 362.0 total pilot hours and 69.4 total flying hours in type. His pilot classification was “intermediate.”

The VMO-251 War Diary for November 1943 notes the following on November 16: “Night Flying…GOLDSTEIN, Sidney R. 2n Lt. USMCR and WILLEY, Howard T. 2nd Lt. USMCR collided in midair about two (2) miles northeast of MCAS, Mojave, California. WILLEY died as result of accident and GOLDSTEIN received two (2) broken legs and lacerations. Both planes completely demolished.”

Willard and Zina were notified of Howard’s death by the Navy Department. Howard’s brother, Army Major Robert H Willey, accompanied the body to DC. Robert happened to be stationed in the desert area of California. On November 24th, Civilian services were held in the Washington DC chapel of the LDS church. Full military honors were held at graveside at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, Section 8; G5188A .

On 12 December 1943, Howard’s parents received a supplement along with their Sunday newspaper. “This Week Magazine” was in many papers across the US with a circulation of over 4 million. A color photograph of Howard was featured on the cover: a young marine flier in uniform (including flying helmet and goggles) holding a puppy with a plane in the background. He was not identified in the magazine. The 16 December issue of the Evening Star featured an article about the cover. Willard had called to inform the paper that his son was on the cover. About the photograph, Zina said “It was exactly like him. That’s just the way he smiled and his eyes sort of squinted when he was smiling. The dog in his arms was right too. It belongs there. He was always fond of dogs.” Howard died just a few days after the picture was taken. Zina stated “All our friends have wanted to know why our boy was chosen for the picture on the cover of This Week. We don’t know, unless it was that they thought he was a good representative of the American boy. He was that, all right.” The family knew about the picture before it appeared because Howard’s commanding officer had told his brother. Cover credit was given to John Randolph. The 19 December 1943 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune announced that the photograph on the cover of the Sunday supplement was that of Lt. Howard Thatcher Willey and that his face represented American Marine fliers.

There is a history of military service in the Willey family. Thatcher Howe Willey, Howard’s uncle, served in the Marine Corps from 1910-1912, serving aboard the USS California and in China. He enlisted again in 1917 with the 145th field artillery of the regular army, becoming a lieutenant. Thatcher died at age 39 in 1932. The Salt Lake Tribune stated “the end came as a final sacrifice to disabilities sustained in the world war.” Howard’s brother served during WWII attaining the rank of Lt. Colonel. He headed a special staff office for General Douglas MacArthur during the early occupation of Japan. Lt. Col Robert Haven Willey is also buried at Arlington.

Thank you, Howard Thatcher Willey, for your service and sacrifice for our freedom! We will not forget. It was an honor to write your story.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Together We Served and on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Laura Hanaford & lunft400k@gmail.com - Contributing Authors, Stories Behind the Stars

If you have any details, photos, or corrections for this story, please email margaret83@cox.net of lunft400k@gmail.com. You can also email Together We Served directly.

SBTS Project/County/Washington District of Columbia

Acknowledgements:

Thank you to “Photo Recon Became Fighter Duty” facebook page for providing me with October and November 1943 war diaries plus the accident report. Semper Fidelis!

References:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49363767/howard-thatcher-willey

https://www.honorstates.org

https://www.ancestry.com: US Census records, Utah Military Records, USMC Casualty Indexes, US Draft Cards Young Men,US Veterans gravesites, National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, USMC Muster Rolls, California Death Index

Familysearch.com

e-yearbooks.com

Newspapers.com Evening Star (Washington, DC), The Salt Lake Tribune

Genealogybank.com

Fold3.com

https://goldstarfamilyregistry.com

www.vmfa251.org

https://www.vmfa251.org/pdffiles/November1943WarDiary.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3zru3YK5zulJ1k72LZQFIyWut6ZdjbKFmOqNMJTCfOZwIeAyqLBA6VXpk

https://www.vmfa251.org/pdffiles/War%20Diary%20Oct%201943.pdf

https://www.mcara.us/VMO-251.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_Cadet_Training_Program_(USN)#Marine_Aviation_Cadet_(MarCad)_program_(1959%E2%80%931968) https://www.aircraftwrecks.com/pages/dave%20trojan%20mrp/Wildcats%20running%20wild%20at%20Mojave.pdf https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/search/?name=Howard%20Thatcher_Willey&event=_Washington-District%20of%20Columbia-USA_6076&birth=1921

HISTORICAL NOTES:

The Naval Aviation Cadet Training Program (USN) was established by Congress in 1935 and significantly ramped up in 1940 to address the increasing needs for Naval aviators. Howard’s intent was to become a Marine Corps aviator, however, in 1942 the Marine Corps had no Aviation Cadet Program, so its flyers were selected from the Naval Program. It is interesting to note that between 1942 and 1945, the U.S. Navy produced 61,658 pilots - more than 2.5 times the number of pilots as the Imperial Japanese Navy.

In March 1942 the Marines began the development of an existing county airport at Mojave, California. Following the adding and upgrading of existing runways and the building of personnel and auxiliary structures, the base was commissioned on 1 January 1943. Eventually the base would cover more than 2,300 acres and would host 29 aircraft squadrons during World War II.

VMO (Marine Observation) Squadron- 251 had seen action in the Solomon Islands during the early months of 1943. Originally designated a photo reconnaissance unit flying Grumman F4F Wildcat aircraft, VMO-251 performed a variety of combat missions in the Pacific Theater including air base support, ferrying planes to and from the area, and providing air crews for observation missions. After the unit’s success in the Pacific, they returned to Mojave Marine Corps Air Station for re-organizing, re-equipping, and a well-earned rest. Sadly, with the accelerated pace of training, accidents were common. Between September and November 1943 VMO-251 destroyed 12 planes, damaged 27, and lost four pilots.

Howard T. Willey