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Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Marine Corps
Reserve. Born: 2 November 1917, St. Paul, Minn. Appointed from:
Minnesota.
Citation... For extraordinary heroism and
conspicuous intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty as Flight
Officer, Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 241, during action against enemy
Japanese forces in the battle of Midway on 4 and 5 June 1942. When his
Squadron Commander was shot down during the initial attack upon an enemy
aircraft carrier, Capt. Fleming led the remainder of the division with
such fearless determination that he dived his own plane to the
perilously low altitude of 400 feet before releasing his bomb. Although
his craft was riddled by 179 hits in the blistering hail of fire that
burst upon him from Japanese fighter guns and antiaircraft batteries, he
pulled out with only 2 minor wounds inflicted upon himself. |
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On the night of 4 June, when the squadron
commander lost his way and became separated from the others, Capt.
Fleming brought his own plane in for a safe landing at its base
despite hazardous weather conditions and total darkness. The
following day, after less than 4 hours' sleep, he led the second
division of his squadron in a coordinated glide-bombing and
dive-bombing assault upon a Japanese battleship. Undeterred by a
fateful approach glide, during which his ship was struck and set
afire, he grimly pressed home his attack to an altitude of 500 feet,
released his bomb to score a near miss on the stern of his target,
then crashed to the sea in flames. His dauntless perseverance and
unyielding devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest
traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. | |
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Fleming, Richard E.
