![Honoring South Dakota’s World War II heroes Honoring South Dakota’s World War II heroes](https://i1.wp.com/www.keloland.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/103/2024/06/snapshot-2024-06-06T170909.064.jpg?w=1280&w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) – On this 80th anniversary of D-Day, we remember some of KELOLAND’s heroes from World War II. Thousands of South Dakotans left to fight in the war in Europe and the Pacific. More than 1,400 would never return home.
Joe Foss is probably the best known of South Dakota‘s war heroes. The World War II fighter pilot shot down 26 enemy planes. The Marine Ace and Medal of Honor recipient would later become the 20th governor of South Dakota and commissioner of the American Football League.
South Dakota claims another major World War II ace, naval aviator Cecil Harris, who shot down 24 enemy planes.
“Cecil Harris doesn’t get as much credit as Joe Foss,” said USD military history professor Kurt Hackemer. “Although the numbers are comparable in terms of enemy aircraft shot down because he did not earn the Medal of Honor, he did earn the Navy Cross, which is the second-highest award that can be awarded.”
Senator John Thune’s father Harold flew with Harris in the war.
Former senator and 1972 presidential candidate George McGovern had one of the most dangerous jobs during the war. He flew B-24 bombers over Germany. McGovern and his squadmates only had a 25 percent chance of returning home without being killed, wounded, or captured.
Probably one of the most notable unsung heroes of World War II was Fort Pierre commander John Waldron, who led the 8th Torpedo Squadron in an attack at the Battle of Midway.
Don Jorgenson focused on Waldron during this story in 2018 with artist John Mollison.
“John Waldron was a Native American from South Dakota, and what he did was lead a fateful torpedo mission during the Battle of Midway,” Mollison said.
Professor Hackemer says Waldron may well have been the key to turning the tide of the war against the Japanese. Not only did he find the enemy, but he also did something equally important.
“The attack seemed a complete failure. None of the torpedoes hit. All the planes were shot down, but what Waldron and his men did by lowering the deck of the Japanese fighter was to open the sky above them for American dive bombers, and it is those dive bombers who are famously credited with sinking the four Japanese aircraft carriers in battle. of Midway.”
Only one member of the squad survived the attack. The John Waldron Memorial Bridge now connects Pierre and Fort Pierre. A tribute to a small town man who made a big difference in wartime.
Keynote USA
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