TOMS-GEORGE

KIA  -  BATTLE  OF  MIDWAY  -  6/5/1942

George Albert Toms was born January 3, 1923, in Newton, Pennsylvania.   He joined the Marine Corps on June 27, 1941, and following recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, was selected for aviation duty and trained as a radio operator/gunner.  He was then assigned to Marine Scout Bombing Squadron Two-Hundred Forty-One (VMSB-241) at Midway Island where he was an active participant in the Battle of Midway. 

On June 5, 1942, Toms was crewman aboard a Vought SB2U Vindicator dive bomber that departed Midway to search for a Japanese fleet that was attacking the island.  Toms was in the SB2U which was leading the flight and when the Japanese was sighted his aircraft began a dive bombing attack on the Japanese heavy cruiser IJN Mikuma.  As the plane dove, intense antiaircraft fire was encountered and unfortunately the plane was hit, setting it on fire.  Although mortally wounded, the plane continued the attack, and after releasing its bomb which exploded in the ocean alongside Mikuma, the plane crashed into the sea killing Toms and the pilot.  As his remains were not recovered, the name of George Albert Toms is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

DISTINGUISHED  FLYING  CROSS  CITATION

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumously) to Private First Class George A. Toms (MCSN: 315481), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a radioman-gunner in Marine Scout Bombing Squadron TWO HUNDRED FORTY-ONE (VMSB-241), during action against enemy Japanese forces in the Battle of Midway, 4 and 5 June 1942.  With courageous efficiency and utter disregard for his own personal safety, Private Toms manned a radio and free machine gun in the rear seat of his plane during a search and attack mission against the enemy on the night of 4 June, and again during an assault upon a Japanese battleship on 5 June.  Under conditions attendant upon the Battle of Midway, there can be no doubt that he gallantly gave up his life in the service of his country.  His conscientious devotion to duty was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)