Elza Lester Raymond

Sergeant Elza Raymond was a Marine aviation radioman and gunner 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 Sergeant Elza L. Raymond 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.

Major Henderson, who had been flying out of formation to keep an eye on his newer pilots, pulled back into the lead position, which placed him on Lieutenant Tweedy’s wing. The squadron CO was an immediate target for the swarming “Zeroes” and soon went down in flames. According to the authors of A Glorious Page In Our History, Tweedy “maintained his position on Henderson’s wing until the end, and Zeroes shot him down, too.”

Raymond’s Dauntless (SBD-2 #2103) failed to return from the Hiryū strike; he and Lieutenant Tweedy were officially declared dead on 5 June 1943.