Solomons
Epilog
Sites
'We did lots of training as a squadron left for San Diegoto go aboard ship, Feb. 22nd 1943, and went aboard the USS Pocomoke upon arriving there Feb. 23rd. (The Pocomoke was a Seaplane Tender). Didn’t know where we were going, but we were on our way.

Hit a storm that lasted for three days, Wind rose to a velocity of 85 miles an hour. Waves were 40 feet high and were coming over the bow.'
-excerpt from diary of 2nd Lt. W.O. Reid
Blow-up from below of the aft section of the USS Pokomoke.
This US Navy photo of the USS Pokomoke was taken on February 3, 1943; location unknown. Note the folded wings of the F4-Us on the aft section of the ship. The Flying Deuces were probably the next squadron to be put abord.

VMF-222 Officers aboard the Seaplane Tender USS Pocomoke (AV-9) on February 26, 1943, somewhere between San Diego and Pearl Harbor.
FRONT ROW, Left to Right: W. O. Reid, J. L. Lowman, R. W. Wilson, H. L. Spears, J. P. Morris, P. L. Pankhurst, H. M. Turner.
SECOND ROW, Left to Right: R. G. Newhall, G. E. Wosson, J. B. Williams, D. H. Sapp, M. J. Volcansek, R. A. Harvey, S. T. Trueheart, R. G. Hand, W. D. Moore, L. M. Schaller
LAST GROUP, Left to Right: Dietrich, J. F. Koetch, John Breneman, S. G. Middleman, G. C. Schaefer, J. P. Newlands, C. T. McLEAN, J. F. Cole, Vernon, George Westerlind, Dr. J. T. Brittingham, P. M. Carnagey, P. Lee, S. J. Yeager.

 
Waikiki Beach early 1943. Moana Hotel in the right background and the Royal Hawaiian on the left.

'March 1st at 5:30 PM we docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Looked the city of Honolulu over and did more training at Barbers Point. Several of the pilots were sent to other squadrons. And we were given some new pilots fresh from flight school.
We lost Lt. Sam Trueheart in a mid-air collision with a TBF.'
-excerpt from diary of 2nd Lt. W.O. Reid

French Frigate Shoals
'We left Hawaii May 9th, 1943. Thirteen of us started out to fly our fighter planes to Midway Island. We flew with a DC-3 transport [for navigation], and ran into some bad weather. Had to fly a few feet from the water and some of the fellows’ motors were missing. Landed at French Frigate Shoals to gas up. The island was about the size of a large carrier. The runway was the whole island, so the men lived under the ground, under the runway. We landed in a 30-mile an hour cross wind and one plane crashed upon landing. Lt. Joe Craig, pilot, was not hurt. Took off again for Midway, arriving there about 4:30 PM, completing a 1300-mile oceanic hop.'
-excerpt from diary of 2nd Lt. W.O. Reid
Lt Craig's F4U 'Dyna-mite'