Joseph Thomas Piraneo

Private First Class Joe Piraneo was a Marine pilot  with VMSB-241, a scout-bomber squadron based at Midway Island in 1942. He was part of the Fourth Section, First Division, led by Major Lofton R. Henderson, and usually flew with a fellow New Jersey native, 2Lt. Bruno P. Hagedorn, as his pilot.

At 0610 hours on 4 June 1942, VMSB-241 took off from Midway and rendezvoused at “Point Affirm” – a safe distance from the airfield, out of the way of an incoming Japanese strike force. A radio message sent them on course to attack an enemy carrier; a two-hour flight brought them within sight of the IJN Hiryū. The carrier sent up a wall of flak, and her fighters quickly climbed to engage the unescorted American bombers.

In the chaos and violence of the attack, SBD-2 Dauntless #2139 fell victim to a Japanese fighter or anti-aircraft gunner. No eyewitness accounts report seeing Hagedorn and Piraneo fall, but they did not return from the Hiryū strike. Both Marines were officially declared dead on 5 June 1943.