June 04, 1942

After his squadron commander is shot down in the Battle of Midway, Marine Capt. Richard Fleming, flying a Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless dive bomber, leads an attack on the Japanese carrier Hiryu, dropping his bomb from an altitude of 400 feet and scoring a hit, despite heavy antiaircraft fire and fighter attacks. He returns to the airstrip on the island with 175 holes in his aircraft. The next day, flying an obsolete Vought SB2U-3 Vindicator, he attacks the cruiser Mikuma, but the aircraft is shot down and both he and gunner PFC George Toms are killed. Fleming is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.