David Steinberg

David Steinberg served as an aerial observer with the 13th Marines, the artillery regiment of the Fifth Marine Division. In January 1945, he was detached from his battalion and sent to the carrier USS Saratoga for duty during the invasion of Iwo Jima. Saratoga‘s squadrons specialized in night missions, and Steinberg flew with VT(N)-53 – a newly commissioned bomber squadron trained for such operations. On 19 February 1945 – D-Day at Iwo – Sara’s history proudly notes that “at 1858… a VT(N) was launched carrying a Marine Air Tactical Observer to Iwo Jima. This was the first time that night gunnery and troop movement observers had been used in amphibious operations at night.” Some teething problems occurred, but all hands seemed confident in this new aspect of warfare.

As Saratoga prepared to launch her first strike on the afternoon of 21 February, worrying reports of incoming hostile aircraft reached the bridge. The carrier went to General Quarters and started clearing the flight deck, launching as many aircraft as she could. One VT(N)-53 bomber managed to take off – this was probably Steinberg’s plane, with Lt(j.g.) William R. Carey and an unnamed enlisted radioman aboard. Less than ten minutes later, an intense kamikaze attack descended on Sara, blasting holes in the flight deck and starting major fires. The carrier was unable to recover any of her planes, and sent out a call to the task force to allow her pilots to land wherever possible. The USS Bismarck Sea (CVE-95) reported “taking aboard…. one SARATOGA TBM which was looking for a place to land.”

Carey brought the TBM down to the deck, and the three aviators must have thanked their lucky stars to have escaped the conflagration on Saratoga. Unfortunately, their luck quickly ran out. Another wave of bombers approached, and two slammed into the Bismarck Sea. Aviation fuel and munitions exploded, and within fifteen minutes the order was given to abandon ship. Bismarck Sea sank that evening, taking 318 of her crew to their deaths.

Two more might be added to that number. 1Lt. David Steinberg and Lt(j.g.) William Carey were lost in the sinking, their remains never to be recovered.
(The radioman, fortunately, was rescued and survived.)