Zenneth Arthur Pond

One of the most promising young pilots in VMF-223, twenty-two-year-old Zenneth Pond was born with an innate love of flying. As a boy, he built countless model airplanes before earning a civilian pilot’s license through the Civilian Aeronautics Administration at 18. Studying at Jackson Junior College kept him grounded for two years, but Pond dropped out to become a naval air cadet, the youngest in his class at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile. He graduated at the top of the class, earning the Knudsen Trophy for “Highest Honors in Flying Ability, Industry, and Officer-Like Aptitude.” He was one of the first Marine aviators to arrive on Guadalcanal a year later, along with his hometown buddy 2Lt. Elwood R. Bailey.

In his first dogfight, Pond shot down three Japanese aircraft; by the end of August, he was a certified ace with five kills to his credit. “I just squeezed the trigger and just let him have it as he came up in front of me,” he remarked to a correspondent. “I just blew him to bits.” Pond notched his sixth kill on 5 September and used his considerable flying skill to pull off a “dead stick” landing in his badly damaged fighter.

At 1115 on 10 September 1942, Lieutenant Pond’s Wildcat bounced down the Henderson Field runway ahead of the now-familiar noontime air raid.* The ensuing fight pitted eleven Marines against some forty Japanese fighters and bombers, and against these odds, Pond’s luck ran out. His aircraft failed to return to base, and nothing more was heard from him.

Zenneth Pond was declared dead on 11 September 1943. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Captain, and awarded the Navy Cross:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Second Lieutenant Zenneth Arthur Pond (MCSN: 0-9433), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession while serving as a Pilot in Marine Fighting Squadron TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE (VMF-223), Marine Air Group TWENTY-THREE (MAG-23), FIRST Marine Aircraft Wing, in aerial combat with enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands from 20 August 1942 to 13 September 1942. Alone, and with utter disregard for his own personal safety, Second Lieutenant Pond courageously attacked and shot down six enemy planes. His outstanding valor and skillful airmanship were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.