Normand Bressette
POW Memorial Page
Bombing 87
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VB-87 was commissioned at NAS
Wildwood on 1 July 1944 with an authorized compliment of 36
SB2Cs. This was reduced the following month to 24, at which time
the squadron was flying the SB2C-3 model. In September, base was
shifted to NAAS Oceana where joint training with the other
squadrons of the air group got underway and continued until 20
November, on which date CVG-87 boarded the new Randolph for her
shakedown cruise. By now the squadron was flying the SB2C-4.
As was customary, the
carrier proceeded to the Gulf of Paria to conduct training
operations but at the conclusion of these, instead of returning
to Norfolk, she continued west, passed through the Panama Canal
and , on 31 December, docked at San Francisco. VB-87 became
temporarily shore-based at NAAS Livermore and underwent a further
reduction in complement, to 15 aircraft. Towards the end of
January the squadron took passage aboard Bunker Hill to Pearl
Harbor, and transferred thence to NAS Kahului. While at Kahului,
the Air Group made short carrier qualification cruises and
participated in joint Army/Navy exercises.
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Finally, in early May the
training period came to an end and on the 12th CVG-87 sailed from
Pearl aboard Ticonderoga. A warm-up series of strikes was flown
against Maloelap on the 17th, the carrier then continuing to
Ulithi where she joined Task Force 58 in time to participate in
the final support missions of the Okinawa campaign. After the
last of these, on 10 June, the Task Force retired to Leyte Gulf.
With the other carriers of Task Force 38 Ticonderoga sailed again
on July 1st, headed for Japan, but engine trouble forced a
diversion to Guam and it was not until the 21st that she was able
to join her sisters off the enemy homeland.
VB-87 participated in the strikes
against the surviving Imperial Fleet units at Kure on July 24 and
28, and bombed factories south-west of Tokyo at month's end.
In early August the Task Force moved north and the squadron hit
targets at Aomori and Ominato. Back south again towards
mid-month, VB-87's final strike was against the Yokohama
docks on the 13th.
Following the surrender,
Ticonderoga spent a month in Japanese waters before sailing back
to Pearl, where CVG-87 was put ashore for a fortnight at
Barber's Point. Re-embarking on 16 October, carrier and air
group reached Bremerton on the 22nd. VB-87 was decommissioned at
NAS Seattle on 31 October.
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Commanding Officers:
| LtCdr. G.C. Simmons | to 8 July 1944 |
| Cdr. P.W. Maxwell | to 5 January 1945 |
| LtCdr. F.N. Kanaga | from 5 January 1945 |
Personnel Losses
| 4 September 1944 | Ens. J. Thomas |
| 5 September 1944 | Ens. C.J. Wetterlund/ARM3c T.E. Smith |
| | 14 November 1944 | Ens. W.C. Ohlemeyer |
| 27 November 1944 | Ens. R.W. Nielsen/ARM3c T.J. Dombrowski |
| 21 February 1945 | Ens. J.S. Hoge/ARM3c T.N. Grafton |
| 24 July 1945 | Lt. A.L. Matteson |
| 24 July 1945 | Lt.(jg) E.L. Vaughn/ARM2c K.W. Grout (C---AA, Kure) |
| 28 July 1945 | Lt.(jg) R. Porter/ARM3c N.R. Brissette (C---AA, Kure;
both
POWs but killed by Hiroshima A-Bomb) | | 2 September 1945 |
Ens. M.H. Allard/ARM3c R.W. Noall |
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