World War II Honoree
Killed in World War II
Richard E. Fleming
Branch of Service
U.S. Marine Corps
Hometown
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Honored By
Orville L. Kline
RANK: CAPTAIN. HE WAS INDUCTED INTO THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS DECEMBER 15, 1939, WAS ACCEPTED AS AN AVIATION CADET AND TRANSFERRED TO PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION FOR FLIGHT TRAINING. RECEIVED HIS GOLD NAVAL PILOT WINGS AND COMMISSION ON DECEMBER 6, 1940. HE FLEW THE SBD-2 DAUNTLESS DIVE BOMBER IN THE PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS. ASSIGNED TO THE MARINE SCOUT-BOMBING SQUADRON TWO HUNDRED FORTY-ONE ‘VMSB-241’ NICKNAMED: ‘THE SONS OF SATAN’, MARINE AIR GROUP TWENTY-TWO, SECOND MARINE AIRCRAFT WING, MIDWAY NAVAL AIR STATION. DURING A GLIDE/DIVE-BOMBING ATTACK ON A JAPANESE BATTLESHIP, HIS BOMBER WAS HIT BY ANTI-AIRCRAFT FLAK BURSTS, CAUGHT ON FIRE AND CRASHED INTO THE OCEAN. BEFORE THE CRASH, HE WAS ABLE TO RELEASE HIS BOMB AND SCORED A NEAR MISS ON THE STERN OF HIS TARGET, CAUSING DEVASTATING DAMAGE. FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 1942, HE WAS KILLED IN ACTION DURING THIS COMBAT ENGAGEMENT WITH THE JAPANESE NAVAL ARMED FORCES IN THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY. REPORTED AS MISSING IN ACTION, LOST AT SEA SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 1943 AND MEMORIALIZED IN THE TABLETS OF THE MISSING, HONOLULU NATIONAL MEMORIAL CEMETERY OF THE PACIFIC, ‘PUNCHBOWL’ HAWAII. ALSO MEMORIALIZED WITH A HEADSTONE IN THE FORT SNELLING NATIONAL CEMETERY, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. THE DESTROYER, USS FLEMING DE-32 WHEN COMMISSIONED, WAS NAMED IN HIS HONOR. DECORATIONS AND CITATIONS: NAVY PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION, AMERICAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL AND THE ASIATIC-PACIFIC CAMPAIGN MEDAL. RECIPIENT OF THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR AND PURPLE HEART POSTHUMOUSLY. THE MEDAL OF HONOR WAS AWARDED TO THE CAPTAIN FOR EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM AND CONSPICUOUS INTREPIDITY ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY DURING ACTION AGAINST THE JAPANESE NAVAL ARMED FORCES. THIS AMERICAN PATRIOT WAS ALSO AWARDED THE PURPLE HEART, WHO SO GALLANTLY GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS COUNTRY. HE WAS THE FIRST MARINE PILOT OF WWII TO BE REWARDED WITH THE FIRST CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR.