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IPTC: Caption
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Lieutenant (later Lieutenant Commander) Walter Lewis Chewning of Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, (February 19, 1914 - February 4, 1990) steps on the burning fuel tank of an F6F-3 Hellcat flown by Ensign (later Lieutenant) Byron Milton Johnson of Potter, Nebraska (May 19, 1920 - February 20, 2005) to effect a successful rescue of the pilot on November 10, 1943. Johnson, attached to Fighter Squadron VF-2 (The "Rippers") had flown out to USS Enterprise (CV-6) from Barbers Point, Hawaii with thirty-seven other Hellcats of VF-2. Enterprise, part of Task Group 50.2, Carrier Division 11 (with USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24), USS Monterey (CVL-25), USS Indiana (BB-58) and USS North Carolina (BB-55) and three destroyers) under Rear Admiral Arthur W. Radford, was enroute to Makin Atoll in the Gilberts to support the United States Army invasion, which occurred on November 20, 1943. The afternoon of November 10, Johnson took off in F6F Hellcat Number 30 for a routine training exercise. He immediately developed engine trouble and requested an emergency landing. He was waved off three times as he struggled to maintain control, but his tail hook caught the third arresting gear wire, and Johnson's Hellcat was slammed into the deck, coming to rest in the port catwalk near 20mm (.78 caliber) Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns. The plane came to rest on its external belly fuel tank, which started to leak. As the engine vibrated horribly as the propeller bent itself on the deck, sparks ignited the fuel. The hard landing had jammed Johnson's canopy closed, shearing the retaining pin; he could not exit the plane. Chewning, who had joined the ship October 2, 1943 as Enterprise new catapult officer, scrambled out of the catwalk and came through the smoke. Stepping on the burning belly tank, he forced open the canopy and pulled Johnson to safety. While Johnson escaped unscathed, Ensign S. S. Osbourne had to ditch while waiting for Hellcat Number 30 to clear the flight deck. USS Brown (DD-546) picked Osbourne up.
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IPTC: Copyright Notice
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Caption ©2007 MFA Productions LLC
Image in the Public Domain
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