Battle of Midway dive bomber pilot with direct hits on two Japanese carriers: 'Never call me a hero'

Seventy-five years ago this week, American pilot "Dusty" Kleiss began a near-vertical dive aimed the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga, 20,000 feet below. Seconds later, the smoldering Kaga was crippled by Dusty’s perfectly-placed bomb; at that moment—almost six months after the tragedy of Pearl Harbor--the course of World War II began to change. Now, Kleiss has published his memoirs, Never Call Me a Hero, co-written with Timothy and Laura Orr, who reflect here on the Battle of Midway and their collaboration with one the battle’s decisive participants.

On June 4-7, 1942, two U.S. Navy task forces won an unexpected victory in the waters near Midway Atoll, sinking four Japanese aircraft carriers and turning the tide of the Pacific War. America’s aviators paid a high price for that victory. When the echoes of combat subsided, American forces counted up 189 missing aviators. Lieutenant (junior grade) Norman Jack Kleiss, a dive bomber pilot attached to USS Enterprise’s Scouting Squadron Six (VS-6), was one of the lucky few to survive. Known as “Dusty” to his friends, the twenty-six-year-old Kansas pilot had quite a story to tell. He had participated in every air operation launched by his carrier and he had helped sink two aircraft carriers and one cruiser. Dusty was one of the few Battle of Midway veterans to live into the twenty-first-century. Toward the end of his life, he felt the urge to tell his tale in full and leave behind his account for future generations.

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