James Gilbert Percy (July 26, 1921 – September 16, 2015) was a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

officer. He was a

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

credited with shooting down six Japanese aircraft and was awarded the Navy Cross during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

James G. Percy was born on July 26, 1921, in

Ventura County, California Ventura County () is a County (United States), county located in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, Ca ...

. He was raised in Northern California, and began attending

New Mexico Military Institute New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) is a public military junior college and high school in Roswell, New Mexico. Founded in 1891, NMMI operates under the auspices of the State of New Mexico, under a dedicated Board of Regents that reports t ...

in 1937. Percy graduated from the high school division in 1939 and the junior college division in 1941. In August 1941, Percy was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps and was designated as a Naval aviator.

World War II

Cactus Air Force ace

During World War II,

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

Percy was assigned to Marine Fighting Squadron 112 (VMF-112). VMF-112 arrived at Henderson Field in

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

on November 2, 1942, making up part of the Cactus Air Force. Lieutenant Percy began to engage in combat missions in F4F Wildcats on November 14, when he participated in overwatch for friendly dive bombers attacking enemy tank forces. He spotted six enemy A6M Zeros approaching the and alerted his flight leader. Percy helped break up the enemy attack, claiming his first kill. On February 1, 1943, five enemy dive bombers and 30 fighters attacked American ships near Savo Island, sinking the USS ''De Haven''. Lieutenant Percy led four planes into a group of 10 enemy fighter planes, personally shooting down four. A total of 21 of the enemy aircraft were shot down. Percy was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during the

Guadalcanal campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allies of World War II, Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon Islands during th ...

Shot-down

On June 7, 1943, Lieutenant Percy and his squadron engaged more than 100 Japanese aircraft over the

Russell Islands :''See also Russell Island (disambiguation).'' The Russell Islands are two small islands ( Pavuvu and Mbanika), as well as several islets, of volcanic origin, in the Central Province of Solomon Islands. They are located approximately northwe ...

. Percy was flying the new

F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contracts ...

and shot down one Zero, his sixth and final kill of the war, and damaged another one. Shortly after making his sixth kill, Percy was wounded by enemy fire and the starboard wing of his aircraft was shot off. Percy managed to bail out of his plane at a speed of 350 knots. Percy's parachute failed to deploy properly, trailing above him as he fell about 2,000 feet into the ocean. He hit the water feet first, spraining both of his ankles and breaking his pelvis. After miraculously surviving the fall, Percy swam for three hours to the nearest shore. Percy would spend the next year in the hospital before returning to duty.

Later career and life

In the years after World War II, Percy became an experienced Marine helicopter pilot in the early 1950s.

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Percy deployed to

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, where he served as the operations officer for a Marine helicopter transport squadron from December 1952 to June 1953. In 1955, while serving as the commanding officer of Marine Experimental Helicopter Squadron 1 (HMX-1), Lieutenant Colonel Percy was named the first Presidential helicopter pilot. Percy retired from the Marines in 1961 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He died on September 16, 2015, and was buried in Eagle Point National Cemetery in Eagle Point, Oregon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Percy, James Gilbert 1921 births 2015 deaths United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War American World War II flying aces Aviators from California Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal Shot-down aviators United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps pilots of World War II United States Naval Aviators