On February 20, 1942, the United States was still reeling from the sneak attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and was in desperate need of victories after island after allied island fell to the seemingly unstoppable Japanese Navy and Army. Burma, Malaya, The Dutch East Indies, Solomon Islands, Gilbert Islands, Philippines, Wake Island, Singapore, Hong Kong, and numerous other places had fallen or been invaded by the Japanese. The US Navy that had been battered at Pearl Harbor was all that prevented Japan from sailing East to attack the US West Coast.
Digging Deeper
In this time of peril and non-stop bad news, Lt. Edward “Butch” O’Hare, USN, stood out as a beacon of hope for the Navy and the United States when he became the first US Naval Aviator to become an aerial “ace” by shooting down at least 5 enemy planes. The historic day was February 20, 1942, and O’Hare was flying from the USS Lexington, a valuable aircraft carrier and one of only a few the US had in the Pacific. The Lady Lex was under attack by various flights of Japanese aircraft, when from the opposite side from which the attacks had been coming another flight of Japanese bombers was spotted on radar, and closing fast.
