Leader Born: The Life of Admiral John Sidney McCain, Pacific Carrier Commander by Alton Gilbert

Author:Alton Gilbert [Gilbert, Alton]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Bisac Code 1: HIS027100
Publisher: Casemate
Published: 2006-08-19T04:00:00+00:00

Reaction

It is interesting that there always seemed to be a reaction to John Sidney McCain. He had hundreds of friends, but not everyone understood or approved of his style, which occasionally was unorthodox, and a number of his peers seriously underestimated his abilities.

It was noted that the appointment of McCain to alternate the command of Task Force 38/58 with Mitscher caused something of a stir among the aviators. The early-day flyers felt a latecomer did not deserve the top carrier command.22

This comment about a “stir” seems to refer mainly to the senior officers, particularly those involved in the ongoing skirmish between air admirals and battleship admirals. This sort of reaction from the senior aviators is puzzling, because John McCain had been fighting so hard for them in Washington.

But if such a stir occurred, there was no evidence that it extended down through the ranks. One pilot’s view of Slew McCain is provided by an absolutely wonderful story recorded by Harold Buell, a dive-bomber pilot on the Hornet. He related how the pilots were allowed to go ashore for recreation while Task Force 38 was at Eniwetok. After an afternoon at the junior officer’s bar, they returned to the dock to catch a boat back to their ship. Evidently the pilots were not feeling much pain and a game of the old heave-ho started, launching newcomers into the water. As events unfolded:

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