Harold Hutcheon Millar, Jr.

First Lieutenant Harold Millar flew a TBF Avenger dive bomber with VMTB-232 during the campaign for the northern Solomon Islands. He was one of the squadron’s most aggressive pilots, especially when targeting Japanese shipping, and was credited with sinking at least two transports by flying at a perilously low altitude before dropping his bomb.

On 17 January 1944, Millar and his crewmates Corporal Leonard B. Pike and PFC Victor H. Hertager took off from Piva in TBF-1C #24363 (Squadron Number 121) as part of an 18-plane strike against ships at Simpson Harbor, Rabaul. Millar lined up on another transport and dove down for his drop. The bomb scored a hit, but the Avenger never pulled out of the dive. Other aviators reported that both wings came off the fuselage, and the bomber rolled over and hit the water. It was not clear if a structural failure was to blame, or if Millar was so close to the target that his wings clipped the mast.

VMTB-232 concluded its tour of duty the following day and departed for Espiritu Santo. All three Marines were posted as missing after the mission, and ultimately declared dead on 18 January 1945.