John H. Martindale

	NAME John Homer Martindale	NICKNAME Marty	SERVICE NUMBER O-13678
	UNIT VMSB-143 Pilot	HOME OF RECORD 3300 Central Avenue, Middletown, OH	NEXT OF KIN Father, Mr. Homer T. Martindale
	DATE OF BIRTH 1918	ENTERED SERVICE September 12, 1941	DATE OF LOSS March 14, 1943
	REGION Solomon Islands	CAMPAIGN / AREA Guadalcanal (en route)	CASUALTY TYPE Missing Declared Dead March 15, 1944
CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS Second Lieutenant John H. Martindale was a Marine bomber pilot assigned to VMSB-143, an Avenger squadron that fought in the campaign for the Solomon Islands. On 13 March 1944, Martindale joined a group of TBFs for a ferry flight from Espiritu Santo to Guadalcanal. They were joined by a handful of Marine fighters and an Army transport plane which led the group. About an hour out of Espiritu Santo, the formation encountered a massive weather front. The thirteen Avengers flew into the storm – and only eight flew out. The remaining five, including Martindale’s TBF-1 06019, were never seen again. All nine pilots and aviators were declared dead on 15 March 1944.
INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS —	LAST KNOWN RANK Second Lieutenant	STATUS OF REMAINS Missing in action	MEMORIALS Honolulu Memorial

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When the C-47 [leading the formation] punched through the storm, only six TBFs remained on its wing. Two more reached Henderson Field later, but by the end of the day it was evident that five had been lost…. Perhaps several had suffered a chain-reaction collision in the midst of the violent storm. It was a small consolation to the Avenger squadron that instead of the normal crew of three, only gunners had ridden with the pilots aboard four of the missing planes, and one pilot flew solo. But the blow was still tremendous: nine souls were gone, including the executive officer. The cause of their disappearance remains a mystery, for no trace of them has been found.

– Bruce Gamble, The Black Sheep

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