James Hubert Marmande
Second Lieutenant James H. “Jimmy” Marmande was a Marine Corps pilot who flew with VMSB-241.
He was reported missing at the battle of Midway on 4 June 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number O-9307
Current Status
Remains not recovered.
Pursuit Category
Based on circumstances of loss, this individual is considered permanently non-recoverable.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
August 25, 1917
at Theriot, LA
Parents
Emile Bernard Marmande (d. 1923)
Felice Marie (St. Martin) Marmande
Education
Terrebonne High School (1935)
Louisiana State University (1939)
additional graduate studies
Occupation & Employer
Student
Service Life
Entered Service
May 21, 1941 (enlisted)
March 7, 1942 (officer)
Home Of Record
808 Roussell Street
Houma, LA
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Felice Marmande
Military Specialty
Pilot
Assistant Engineering Officer
Primary Unit
VMSB-241
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Second Lieutenant James “Jimmy” Marmande was a Marine Corps pilot who trained at Pensacola and received his wings in early March, 1942. Immediately after graduation, he was shipped to California and deployed overseas to a scout-bomber squadron stationed at Midway in the central Pacific.
Marmande arrived at Midway on 26 May 1942, and was welcomed to VMSB-241 along with Major Benjamin W. Norris, Captain Marshall A. Tyler, and six other junior second lieutenants – “the greenest group ever assembled for combat.” The new men were given the squadron’s outdated Vought SB2U Vindicator bombers – which they had never flown before – and precious little fuel with which to practice. Each pilot made two or three flights with dummy bombs, and got to know his rear-seat gunner: in Marmande’s case a fellow Southerner, PFC Edby M. Colvin.
Ready or not, the pilots were ordered to standby in their cockpits early on the morning of 4 June 1942. Conflicting orders and confusion rattled the nerves somewhat, but by 0600 the bombers were taking off to strike at an approaching Japanese fleet. Director John Ford was on Midway, and brought his film camera to the runway in time to catch the Vindicator unit taking off. He shot a color sequence of SB2U-3 #2045 – painted with squadron number 6 – taking off, with Marmande and Colvin clearly visible at their positions.
Norris rendezvoused his formation at Point Affirm and led them towards the reported carrier position, climbing as he went. The Vindicators trailed behind the Dauntlesses, and Japanese fighters were already in the air when they arrived over the fleet. As the fast “Zekes” raced through the Americans, Norris opted to attack the nearest target: the battleship Haruna, directly below. Despite their slow speed and shallow dive angle, not one of the Vindicators fell over the enemy fleet. The formation scattered and the pilots were left to find their own route back to Midway.
Second Lieutenant Orvin H. Ramlo coaxed his shot-up Vindicator 10 homewards, hoping to get medical help for his wounded gunner. He was heartened by reported hits on enemy ships, no apparent losses, and the company of “Jimmy” Marmande’s Vindicator 6 flying behind him. Ramlo was so fixated on his task that he lost track of Marmande until safely on the ground.
“Plane #6 with Second Lieutenant Marmande followed me to within 10 miles of the island and disappeared,” he said. “I didn’t miss him until some time after I landed. I do not know what happened to him.”
Exactly where and why Vindicator 6 vanished will never be known. All aircraft sustained damage during the attack, and this likely played a role in Marmande and Colvin’s demise. Both Marines were reported missing in action following the battle, and ultimately declared dead on 5 June 1943.
Burial Information or Disposition
Failed to return from mission over open sea; remains not recovered.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Felice Marmande.
Location Of Loss
Marmande’s Vindicator was last seen approximately ten miles from Midway.
Comment from Lloyd LeBlanc
8 August 2016
Jimmy Marmande was a high school classmate of my Mother in Houma, Louisiana. I was born there — only 4 years old in 1942. Incredible that Jimmy and his group of newly hatched USMC pilots were sent to Midway less than a month before they died in our desperate attempt to beat back the Japanese. Marginal training — almost none in the obsolete dive bombers they flew in the battle. All the USMC pilots deserved the Navy Cross awards they received; but I’ve always felt it unfair that all the enlisted men flying with them as gunners received the Distinguished Flying Cross — after all, they were only inches behind the pilots as they died.
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