Marine Fighting Squadron 132 (VMF-132) was a fighter squadron in the

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 ...

. The squadron, also known as "The Crying Red Asses", fought in

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 ...

as a

dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...

unit during the

Battle of Guadalcanal The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon Islands during the Pacific Theater of W ...

as part of the

Cactus Air Force The Cactus Air Force was the ensemble of Allies of World War II, Allied air power assigned to the island of Guadalcanal from August 1942 until December 1942 during the most heavily contested phases of the Battle of Guadalcanal, Guadalcanal Campa ...

and later fought in the Central

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

. The squadron was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war but was reactivated in the Marine Air Reserve flying out of

Floyd Bennett Field Floyd Bennett Field is an airfield in the Marine Park, Brooklyn, Marine Park neighborhood of southeast Brooklyn in New York City, along the shore of Jamaica Bay. The airport originally hosted commercial and general aviation traffic before bein ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. They were again decommissioned sometime after 1958.

History

Marine Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6M) was formed in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1932. They were deactivated shortly thereafter in 1933, only to reactivate again in January 1935. The squadron was redesignated as Marine Bombing Squadron 1 (VMB-1) on 1 July 1937. The squadron was again redesignated as Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 132 (VMSB-132) on 1 July 1941. At the outbreak of

, the squadron, under the command of Major A.D. Cooley, and its 19 Douglas SBD-1 ''Dauntless'' dive bombers were stationed at

Marine Corps Air Station Quantico Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico (MCAF Quantico) is a United States Marine Corps airfield located within Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. It was commissioned in 1919 and is currently home to HMX-1, the squadron that flies the President ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

as part of

Marine Aircraft Group 11 Marine Aircraft Group 11 is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar that is currently composed of two F-35C squadrons, one F-35B squadron, two F/A-18C squadrons, one fleet replacement squadron, one ...

. VMSB-132 left the United States on 13 October 1942 from San Diego aboard the ''Lurline''. At the time of their departure the squadron consisted of 27 officers, 245 enlisted men and a few attached

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

personnel. They landed in

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French Sui generis collectivity, special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest Francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main i ...

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

on 28 October. On 30 October 1942, VMSB-132, under the command of Major

Louis Robertshaw Louis Bentham Robertshaw (August 1, 1912 – July 14, 2003) was an American football player and lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps. He flew combat missions in World War II and the Korean War and flew an F4B Phantom II figh ...

, landed at Henderson Field,

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- ...

. Upon arrival, they became part of the

and fought during the

until December 1942 when they were relieved by

VMSB-233 Marine Attack Squadron 233 (VMA-233) was an A-4 Skyhawk attack squadron in the United States Marine Corps. The squadron, also known as the "Flying Deadheads", were part of the Marine Forces Reserve and were based at Naval Air Station Norfolk, Vir ...

. The squadron’s pilots and gunners left the island on 24 December 1942 and arrived in Sydney, Australia for leave on New Year’s Eve. After resting, reorganizing, and retraining, they then moved to

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region ...

where they were met by their ground echelon in January 1943. During this time, they became part of the Strike Command of the

13th Air Force The Thirteenth Expeditionary Air Force (13 EAF) is a provisional numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base, Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam on the island of Oahu, ...

, responsible for attacking nearby enemy bases and shipping and giving what was then considered close support to front-line units. The squadron returned to Guadalcanal in June 1943 and flew missions from there until their return to the States on 26 October 1943. Early in the summer of 1944, the squadron was reorganized and in training at

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located next to the community of El Toro and was then adjacent to the city of Irvine. Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps Av ...

as part of Marine Base Defense Air Group 41. On 14 October 1944, the squadron was once again redesignated, this time as Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 132 (VMTB-132). They received their first

Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval a ...

s in November of that year. The squadron training at

Marine Corps Air Station Mojave The Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field is in Mojave, California, United States, at an elevation of . It is the first facility to be licensed in the United States for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft, being certified as a spa ...

, California from 15 December 1944 until 16 January 1945. They remained in training until they embarked on board the USS ''Cape Gloucester'' on 21 May 1945. They arrived in

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

on 29 June 1945 and operated in the

East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...

during July and August 1945. Following the war, the squadron moved to

Marine Corps Air Station Ewa Marine Corps Air Station Ewa (MCAS Ewa) was a United States Marine Corps air station that was located west of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The base was hit during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and later served as the hub for all ...

, Hawaii where they were decommissioned on 9 November 1945.

Awards

Unit

* Presidential Unit Citation — Guadalcanal/Tulagi (7 August – 9 December 1942)

Notable Former Members

* Major Joseph Sailer Jr. - 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 ...

for his actions during the

from 10–15 November 1942 * Second Lieutenant Frank Christen - was a U.S. Marine dive bomber pilot who, on 16 December 1942, participated in a night strike against a Japanese destroyer off Munda,

New Georgia New Georgia, with an area of , is the largest of the islands in Western Province (Solomon Islands), Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the List of islands by area, 203rd-largest island in the world. Since July 1978, the island has been par ...

in the

during the Battle of Guadalcanal. At approximately 2300 hours, Lt. Christen made the initial run on the destroyer and illuminated it with flares. Lt. Christen’s section leader, Lt. Jackson Simpson, then rolled in on the ship and scored a direct hit. A moment later, Lt. Christen made his own attack run and was last seen entering his dive. This was the last time Lt. Christen’s SBD was ever seen as it vanished into the night. Lt. Frank Christen and his tail gunner, PFC Glenn Shattuck, were reported missing in action (MIA) shortly thereafter. According to a translated Japanese report captured in

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

in May of 1943, Lt. Christen’s SBD had been shot down, and although his tail gunner had died upon impact, Christen had survived the crash and after almost 24 hours at sea, managed to navigate his life raft to a nearby island where he was captured by Japanese soldiers on 18 December 1942. Lt. Christen was then taken to

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

for interrogation and was reported to be a prisoner of war (POW). Frank died while in captivity and was declared dead by the War Department on 17 December 1943. Lt. Christen was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the

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, ...

, and was promoted to Captain.

Citations

References