Loren Dale Everton (July 14, 1915 – February 15, 1991) was a highly decorated

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 ...

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. 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 twelve enemy planes and was awarded the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is equivalent to the Army ...

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 and service

Loren D. Everton was born on July 14, 1915, in

Crofton, Nebraska Crofton is a city in Knox County, Nebraska, Knox County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 726 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History Crofton was platted in 1892. The city was named after Crofton Court, England, the for ...

. At the age of 17, he earned his flying license. He graduated from Crofton High School in 1933 and attended the College of Pharmacy at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, where he was a member of the

Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (AROTC) is the United States Army component of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. It is the largest Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program which is a group of college and university-based officer tr ...

. Upon graduating from the university in 1937, Everton was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

. In 1939, Everton resigned from the Army and enlisted in the Marine Corps in order to attend flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Upon completing flight training, he was stationed at

Midway Atoll Midway Atoll (colloquialism, colloquial: Midway Islands; ; ) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an Insular area#Unorganized unincorporated territories, unorganized and unincorpo ...

, and was there on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

World War II

With the United States drawn into World War II,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Everton was assigned to Marine Fighting Squadron 212 (VMF-212) in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. While VMF-212 was on the island of Efate, Vanuatu in early August of 1942, Everton's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Harold W. Bauer, temporarily transferred him to another squadron. The other squadron, Marine Fighting Squadron 223 (VMF-223), was heading towards

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- ...

to take part in the upcoming

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

there and needed experienced pilots. On August 20, VMF-223 flew 200 miles from the aircraft carrier USS ''Long Island'' to Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. On the morning of August 21, the commanding officer of VMF-223, Captain John Smith, ordered Everton to lead a flight of F4F Wildcats to investigate reports of Japanese troops landing on a beach. Everton and the pilots under his charge strafed a great number of Japanese soldiers on the beach, marking the first combat action of VMF-223. On August 26, Everton saw his first air-to-air combat. He shot down three Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers, and probably shot down a fourth. On September 1, the transfer pilots from VMF-212 were relieved and returned to Efate. Captain Everton returned to Guadalcanal with his original squadron, VMF-212, on October 16. On October 18, he co-led a mission with Frederick Payne to intercept Japanese bombers and he personally downed two planes, including an

A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

. Two days later on October 20, Captain Everton and VMF-212 engaged several dozen Betties and Zeros. Everton was about to down a Zero when his F4F was riddled by machine gun and cannon fire. Two 20mm shells exploded in the

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

, severely wounding Everton in the leg. Everton's plane spiraled out of control for several thousand feet before he regained control. Everton then returned to Henderson Field and made an emergency landing. What remained of his aircraft was sent to the scrap pile and he was medically evacuated from Guadalcanal. Captain Everton was credited with seven aerial victories from August to October 1942. He was awarded the Navy Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, and

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

during this period. After recovering from his wounds in January 1943,

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 ...

Everton became the commanding officer of Marine Fighting Squadron 113 (VMF-113). While serving as commanding officer of VMF-113, Everton participated in long range escorts for bombers. He also shot down several more Japanese aircraft, bringing his total number of victories to 12 and earning the title of double ace.

Later career and life

After the war, Everton served as the commanding officer of Marine Fighting Squadron 122 (VMF-122). He served in a number of other assignments before retiring with the rank of colonel in June 1967. Loren D. Everton died on February 15, 1991, in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

. He was buried in El Toro Memorial Park in the nearby town of

Lake Forest, California Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California, United States. The population was 85,858 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Prior to incorporation, the community had be ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Everton, Loren D. 1915 births 1991 deaths United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II American World War II flying aces Aviators from Nebraska Military personnel from Nebraska Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) United States Marine Corps colonels United States Marine Corps pilots of World War II United States Naval Aviators