Pacifica Military History Free Sample Chapters.pmd

90 Pacifica Military History
Note: The following article is excerpted from the book ACES
AGAINST JAPAN II: The American Aces Speak by Eric Hammel.
The book is currently available in a $27.50 trade paperback edition
published by Pacifica Military History. It is also available in ebook
editions.
BLOOD OVER KWAJALEIN
by Eric Hammel
Copyright 1996 © by Eric Hammel.
Ensign WENDY WENDORF, USN
VF-16 (USS Lexington)
Kwajalein Atoll—December 4, 1943
*
Edward George Wendorf was born on February 22, 1922, in the small
central Texas town of West, about 80 miles south of Dallas. He was
raised in West and attended school there until 1939, when he went off to
the University Texas in Austin on a football scholarship. Between his
freshman and sophomore years, Wendorf became interested in aviation.
When a friend suggested that for just fifty dollars they could take the
Civilian Pilot Training course at Hillsboro Junior College, which was
just fifteen miles north of West, Wendorf agreed. At Hillsboro, the young
men received all the necessary ground courses and about forty hours of
flight time in Piper Cub and Taylorcraft airplanes. Upon completion,
they were awarded private pilot’s licenses.
Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Ed Wendorf enlisted in the Naval Aviation
Cadet program with the stipulation that he would not enter pilot training
until June 1, 1942, so he could complete his second year of college. In
June, on schedule, the Navy assigned him to the Secondary Civilian
Pilot Training center at Browning Field in Austin, where he trained in
Waco biplanes. Upon completion of the course at Browning in September
1942, Cadet Wendorf was sent to the Navy’s pre-flight school at Athens,
Georgia. In December, he was assigned to the Naval Air Station, Dallas,