When one thinks of U.S. Navy aircraft carrier operations in the months leading up to the Battle of Midway, one name that readily comes to mind is Lt. Edward “Butch” O’Hare, the F4F-3 Wildcat pilot whose five aerial victories in defense of the carrier Lexington on Feb. 20, 1942, made him both the Navy’s first World War II fighter ace and its first WWII aviator to receive the Medal of Honor.
Meanwhile, hard on O’Hare’s heels in Lexington lore was a Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless team whose activities seemed just as much devoted to fighters as to dive bombers.
John Arthur Leppla was born in Lima, Ohio, on May 7, 1916. After graduating from Purdue University, he enlisted in the Navy in September 1940, and went on to qualify as an aviator with an ensign’s commission. In 1941, he joined scout squadron VS-2, flying SBDs from the Lexington.
Leppla’s usual “back-seater,” Aviation Radioman 3rd Class John Liska, was born in Coalville, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 28, 1922.
The first indication that the two were a natural team occurred on March 10, 1942, two days after a Japanese naval force occupied Lae and Salamaua harbors in northern New Guinea, when the Lexington and Yorktown struck back in the first raid of the war by two U.S. carriers.
The surprise attack caught Japanese forces without air support except for eight reconnaissance seaplanes, two of which tried to engage the U.S. bombers until they were brought down by Wildcat fighters.
The U.S. bombers sank a number of Japanese ships, in addition to damaging multiple other vessels.
Of the 104 carrier planes involved in the raid, only one SBD from Leppla’s scout squadron VS-2 and its crew were lost to antiaircraft fire.
For their part in the raid, Leppla and Liska were awarded the Navy Cross.
Battle of the Coral Sea
Two months later, in May 1942, the Japanese launched Operation MO, an offensive to seize Port Moresby, New Guinea.
The invasion force was escorted by the heavy cruisers Aoba, Furutaka, Kinugasa and Kako, and the light carrier Shoho. Fleet carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku offered mobile support.
On May 7, 1942, Shokaku’s and Zuikaku’s D3A1 dive bombers sank the U.S. destroyer Sims and so badly damaged the fleet tanker Neosho that it was scuttled a few days later.
Elsewhere, however, the Lexington and Yorktown set out to intercept enemy threats. The carriers located Shoho and dispatched 53 SBDs, 22 TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bombers and 18 F4F-3s to eliminate it.
The Japanese light carrier’s hangar sheltered eight A6M2 Zeros, four A5M4 fighters and six B5N2 torpedo bombers, but it had only one Zero and two A5M4s in the air on combat air patrol when the Americans attacked off Misima Island.
The first Americans on the scene were SBDs of Leppla’s scout squadron VS-2, led by Lt. Cmdr. Robert Dixon. As they positioned themselves to dive from 12,500 feet, the first echelon came under attack. Dixon extended his dive brakes, causing enemy forces to overshoot. Two Zeros then went after an SBD crewed by Leppla and Liska, but Liska drove them off with his .30-caliber machine gun.
As a third Zero attacked the SBD in front of him, Leppla briefly rolled, fired and saw the Japanese disengage. He then resumed his dive, registering a near miss with his 1,000-pound bomb.
Their squadron mates, Lt. j.g. William Edward Hall and Seaman 1st Class John Moore, were more successful in bombing the Japanese carrier Shoho.
Although Shoho launched three more fighters, it could not stop U.S. aircraft from landing as many as 13 bombs and seven torpedo hits in less than one hour when it went down — the first Japanese carrier sunk in the war.
As the U.S. planes returned to their carriers, Dixon reported to the Lexington: “Scratch one flat top! Signed Bob.”
Three SBDs of VS-2 and one from Yorktown’s VS-5 were shot down, while their crews claimed a total of five Zeros and one A5M4, though the Japanese denied any air-to-air losses among their fighters.
Leppla was credited with shooting down two Japanese aircraft in 30 seconds, with two more credited to his radioman, Liska. About halfway along the 180-mile flight back to their carrier, the two encountered a Japanese reconnaissance plane, which Leppla shot down.
The next day, on May 8, 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea reached its crescendo.
Shortly before 11 a.m., the Lexington’s radar detected Japanese forces from 64 miles out. With most of their Wildcats escorting the strike on the Japanese carriers, only 17 remained to defend the American carriers, so their numbers were supplemented with 18 available SBDs from the scouting squadrons, including Leppla and Liska’s squadron mates, Hall and Moore.
Japanese torpedo bombers had an escort of their own, and three picked out Hall’s plane. A 20mm round entered his cockpit, wounding Hall in both ankles and nearly severing his right foot.
Still, Hall stayed in the fight, firing at any opponent that passed before his sights.
Noticing Hall’s plight, Leppla and Liska intervened, with the two claiming four Zeros in the process.
In reality, Japanese forces lost one fighter whose pilot ditched. The SBDs, however, were credited with downing a Japanese D3A dive bomber and five B5N torpedo bombers.
Although the Battle of the Coral Sea ended in a tactical victory for Japan, the U.S. had turned back a major Japanese invasion attempt. Moreover, while Shokaku underwent repairs and Zuikaku replaced its airplane and aircrew losses, Yorktown’s damage was repaired in time to join in the decisive U.S. victory at Midway on June 4, 1942.
After sorting out the air-to-air claims at Coral Sea, Hall was credited with one enemy plane, while Leppla was credited with a Zero and a floatplane destroyed and two Zeros damaged on May 7, followed by two Zeros downed and one damaged on the 8th. Liska was credited with three Zeros.
Their outstanding performance resulted in a gold star in lieu of a second Navy Cross for Leppla and Liska. On Nov. 21, 1942, Hall was awarded the Medal of Honor.
‘Dauntless’ ace
Leppla’s bellicose attitude led to his being retrained as a fighter pilot. He then rejoined the war with fighter squadron VF-10 on the carrier Enterprise in the Solomon Islands. Also aboard, now with VS-10, was Liska with Lt. j.g. Martin Carmody as his pilot.
While en route to intercept another Japanese carrier task force threatening U.S. Marines on Guadalcanal, Leppla trained under VF-10′s commander, Lt. Cmdr. James Flatley Jr., whose experience at Midway led to a change in fighter tactics, from the three-plane formation to the “fluid four.”
On Oct. 26, 1942, Air Group 10 got to put its months of training into practice when the Enterprise and its sister ship, the carrier Hornet, faced the Japanese carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku and light carriers Zuiho and Junyo off the Santa Cruz Islands.
As U.S. forces headed toward the Japanese fleet, U.S. aircraft passed Japanese planes en route to attack their task force.
Lt. Saneyasu Hidaka, leading nine of Zuiho’s Zeros to escort Japanese torpedo and dive bombers, let the first wave of Americans pass, but was unable to resist attacking the second.
In the ensuing dogfight, Hidaka and his pilots claimed 14 Americans. In fact, they downed two U.S. planes and badly damaged a third.
Flatley deviated from his escort task only long enough to pick off a nearby Zero. Belatedly entering the fray, Leppla, flying an F4F, and his wingman, Ens. Albert Mead, were credited with three Zeros and certainly got one.
However, Leppla and Mead soon got into an aerial duel with Hidaka during which Leppla signaled that only one of his six machine guns was functioning.
Mead was surprised Leppla didn’t assume a beam defense position, but he stuck with his wingman, who he noted “seemed to fly straight ahead and I don’t believe fired a shot. I shot for both of us and believe I got three.”
At that point, Leppla had probably been wounded or killed, while another Zero’s fire disabled Mead’s motor. As he descended, Mead saw Leppla’s Wildcat still flying level.
Two of Enterprise’s SBDs reached the Japanese fleet and damaged Zuiho, while Hornet’s Dauntless dive bombers scored hits that put Shokaku out of action for months. At the same time, however, Japanese attack planes reached the American task force, and in the ensuing melee, seven D3As dive-bombed Hornet, losing three planes but scoring three hits.
Although the Hornet ultimately sank and the Enterprise was damaged, Japanese forces failed to follow up their tactical victory at Coral Sea. Meanwhile, the U.S. hurriedly repaired the Enterprise — its only remaining operational carrier — to get back to Guadalcanal, where it continued playing a vital role.
Leppla was recommended for a third Navy Cross for his last mission but only received a Letter of Commendation.
Mead credited him with one of the three Zeros he’d claimed, making Leppla the closest thing to an SBD Dauntless ace. Although his body was never recovered, he is remembered by a cenotaph in Arlington National Cemetery.
Liska survived the war and lived his final years in Manteca, California. He died on Aug. 12, 2011.
Sources consulted for this report include “Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units in World War II” by Ikuhiko Hata and Yasuho Izawa; “The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway” by John B. Lundstrom; “Duel: SBD Dauntless vs. A6M Zero-Sen” by Donald Nijboer; and “Stars & Bars: A Tribute to the American Fighter Ace” by Frank Olynyk.
