Samuel Elmer Moose

Technical Sergeant Samuel Moose was a long-serving regular Marine aviator – and, although an enlisted man, a highly experienced pilot. He learned to fly at Pensacola in 1937, and was designated a naval aviator in January 1938, while holding the rank of corporal. Moose specialized in reconnaissance and bombing, serving with Scouting Squadron One at Quantico and the Caribbean. His outfit was redesignated Marine Scout Bombing Squadron (VMSB) 131, and sent to California in the wake of Pearl Harbor to defend the west coast against a possible Japanese attack.

On the morning of 8 February 1942, Moose and PFC Lawrence H. Wandler boarded an SB2U-3 “Vindicator” (Bureau Number 2884) and took off for a routine sector search. Four planes departed San Clemente at 0710, but only three returned at 0930. Moose and Wandler had been forced down at sea nearly 120 miles from the nearest land; a fellow pilot reported seeing a rubber boat in the vicinity. VMSB-131 put all available pilots into the air to search, and a crash boat was sent out from San Clemente to rescue the stranded men. Bad weather sent the boat back to base, and the planes returned without success.

Search and rescue flights continued over the next three days, with amphibious aircraft from San Diego lending a hand. No trace of Moose or Wandler remained; the two Marines were posted as missing, and ultimately declared dead on 9 February 1943.