Major John Webster WWII pilot.

Major John J. Webster, born March 15, 1917, Army serial number 0-396499, from Salt Lake City, by all indications was making a career in the Army. On Feb. 24, 1944 his dreams were brutally snuffed out by enemy planes.
According to an article in the Salt Lake Tribune March 9, 1942, Lieutenant John J. Webster, son of Mr and Mrs. John U. Webster, enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1939. He was promoted to the rank of 1st Lt. December 1, 1941. Webster was a former Univerity of Utah student. He was a member of Sigma Pi, Skull and Bones, and Scabbard and Blade. He received his commission as a 2nd Lt. at Randolph Field, Texas on July 27, 1940, the date of his marriage to the former Virginia Coakley. He volunteered for foreign service and was trasferred to Wheeler Field, Hawaii. He was presented the Silver Star for gallantry in action December 7, 1941. He also received the Purple Heart for wounds he received.

WEBSTER, JOHN J.
Citation:
John J. Webster, First Lieutenant (Air Corps), U.S. Army Air Force, was presented the Silver Star for gallantry in action while serving as a Pilot of the 47th Pursuit Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group, at Wheeler Field and over the Island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, and waters adjacent thereto, on 7 December 1941. When surprised by a heavy air attack by Japanese forces on Wheeler Field and vicinity approximately 8 a.m., First Lieutenant Webster obtained a Garand rifle and ammunition and kept up a continuous fire until all enemy aircraft had disappeared. He then proceeded by automobile to Haleiwa Landing Field, a distance of approximately ten miles, where the planes of his squadron were stationed. He took off for the purpose of attacking the invading forces, without first obtaining information as to the number or type of Japanese in the attacking forces, and proceeded to patrol in the vicinity of Haleiwa, then toward Kaena Point, where he encountered two enemy aircraft. Though outnumbered he immediately attacked the enemy formation and continued to engage them until after his controls were damaged and he had received a leg wound from enemy machine gun fire. He then returned his plane safely to the field. First Lieutenant Webster's initiative, presence of mind, coolness under fire against overwhelming odds in his first battle, expert maneuvering of his plane, and determined action contributed to a large extent toward driving off this sudden, unexpected enemy air attack. The following account of the Pearl Harbor Attack edited by Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate was taken from http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/I/AAF-I-6.html

"In comparison with the havoc wrought by the planes that the Japanese FIrst Air Fleet threw against Hawaiian air and naval installations, the reaction of defending air units was pitiful. The enemy had achieved the crushing advantage of surprise. Moreover, under the alert in effect since 27 November AAF planes were concentrated for protection against sabotage, with an allowance of four hours' notice to make them ready for flight, instead of being dispersed in readiness for a prompt take-off. In the circumstances, it as virtually impossible to put up anything approaching an effective air defense. in spite of handicaps, four P-40's and two P-36's took off from Wheeler Field thirty-five minutes after the initial attack on Pearl Harbor, and from 0830 until 0930 Army pursuit planes flew a total of twenty-five sorties. Perhaps the most successful interception was performed by six pilots of the 47th Pursuit Squadron based on the small field at Haleiwa, the only usable airfield not subjected to serious enemy attack. Though not at their base when the attack commenced, Lts. Harry M. Brown, Robert J. Rogers, Kenneth A. Taylor, John J. Webster, and George S. Welch succeeded in reaching Haleiwa by automobile and, acting without information as to the number and type of enemy planes, carried out a number of sorties in P-40's and P-36's between 0815 and 1000. Welch alone claimed four enemy planes shot down. Lt. John L. Dains, another pilot participating in the action, alternately used a P-36 and a P-40 in three sorties, but on the third of these he was shot down over Shofield Barracks, apparently by antiaircraft fire. on learning of the attack on Wheeler, crews of the 44th Pursuit Squadron at Bellows Field began arming their P-40's and by 0855 three were ready. But just as pilots Hans C. Christiansen, George A. Whiteman, and Samuel W. Bishop prepared to take off, Japanese pursuits swept over the field in a strafing attack. Christiansen was killed while getting into his plane; Whiteman was shot down immediately after his take-off; and the other P-40, severely damaged, crashed into the ocean. In spite of a wound in the leg, Bishop succeeded in swimming ashore. At about 0850 four P-36's of the 46th Pursuit Squadron had taken off from Wheeler during a temporary break under orders to proceed to the vicinity of Bellows Field, near which they attacked a formation of nine Japanese planes. In spite of the fact that the P-36's could not match their opponents in rate of climb, two of the enemy were shot down with the loss of one American plane piloted by Lt. Gordon H. Sterling, Jr.

Not until 1100 was it possible for Hawaii-based bombers to get off the ground in a search for the enemy's carriers. But the B-17's of the 38th and 88th Reconnaissance Squadrons, which had left Hamilton Field the preceding evening on the first leg of a flight from the United States to the Philippines, arrived over Oahu in the midst of the attack. Unfortunately, the planes had been so heavily loaded with gasoline that ammunition could not be carried, and for purposes of balance the armor plate in the rear had been shifted forward. As a consequence, the pilots on reaching Hawaii could attempt no more than to escape from enemy fire. Of the first of two flights, Maj. Richard H. Carmichael, ranking officer of the 88th Squadron, and Lt. Harold N. Chaffin brought their planes down on the 1,200-foot runway at Haleiwa; Lts. Harry N. Brandon, David G. Rawls, and Robert E. Thacker flew through antiaircraft and enemy machine-gun fire to land at Hickam; and Lt. Frank P. Bostrom played tag with the enemy almost all the way around the island before landing on a golf course. The second flight, led by Maj. Truman H. Landon of the 38th Squadron, fortunately arrived during an inactive period in the attack, but one of the B-17's was badly shot up and two of its crew members were seriously injured. Considering the fact that the planes were entirely unarmed, had just completed a flight of more than 2,000 miles, and were forced to land either on inadequate or pock-marked fields, the bombers suffered surprisingly little damage. A final accounting showed that of the fourteen planes which left Hamilton Field, two had turned back early in the flight, and of the remaining twelve which reached Hawaii, one had been destroyed and three badly damaged.

Throughout the remainder of the day, P-40's, P-36's, O-47's, A-20's, B-17's, and B-18's continued a fruitless search."

Major Webster was listed as missing off Makin, Gilbert Islands Feb. 24, 1944, later changed to killed in action while defending one of the Gilbert Islands. He was also a recipient of the Purple Heart for an injury to his leg.