thedrifter
07-27-06, 08:31 AM
Besby Frank Holmes -- decorated WW II ace fighter pilot
- John Koopman, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Besby Frank Holmes, a decorated combat ace who helped kill the Japanese admiral who planned and coordinated the attack on Pearl Harbor, died Sunday at Marin General Hospital. He was 88.
Mr. Holmes died of a stroke, said his son-in-law, Jeffrey Roehm of Fairfax, Va. He had lived in San Rafael since retiring from the Air Force in 1968.
Mr. Holmes was an avid flier and career officer, but the high point in his career came in 1943 when he was a 25-year-old pilot flying P-38 Lightnings from an airfield on the island of Guadalcanal.
The Army and Marines were battling the Japanese for control of the South Pacific. U.S. forces intercepted a message indicating that Adm. Isoruko Yamamoto would be flying to Bougainville island for an inspection tour of forward Japanese combat units.
Yamamoto was the commander of Japan's Pacific fleet, had studied in the United States and once said famously that he feared Japan had "awakened a sleeping giant" by attacking Pearl Harbor. He was considered one of the most brilliant military leaders of his time and a great threat to the American war machine in the Pacific.
The intercepted message indicated that Yamamoto would be within 400 miles of Guadalcanal, too far for any U.S. fighter aircraft at the time. But the newly arrived P-38s had a long range that could be extended by jury-rigging external fuel tanks. The men who planned the raid figured their chances at 1,000 to 1, because they would have to fly low and arrive at exactly the right time -- while Yamamoto's plane was still in the air but near its destination.
Mr. Holmes and 17 other pilots took off the morning of April 18. Two planes turned back because of mechanical problems. The other 16 flew just over the water, through Japanese-held territory, until they reached their destination. The gamble paid off, and they ran into six Japanese fighters and two bombers, one of which was carrying Yamamoto. In a short, furious dogfight, the bombers were shot down, and Yamamoto was killed.
The raid was a considerable morale booster for U.S. forces, even though the details had to remain secret so the Japanese would not know their code had been broken.
Mr. Holmes and the other pilots in the action were awarded the Navy Cross, the nation's second-highest award for valor.
Mr. Holmes finished the war as an ace -- an ace is a pilot with five kills or more. Mr. Holmes had 5 1/2.
He stayed in the military after the end of World War II, when the Army Air Forces officially became the Air Force. He flew in Korea and served in Vietnam, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
Mr. Holmes was born Aug. 5, 1917, in San Francisco. He graduated from Balboa High School and San Francisco City College before joining the Army as a pilot candidate in March 1941.
He was sent to Hawaii and was at Pearl Harbor for gunnery school on Dec. 7. Roehm said Mr. Holmes had been attending Catholic Mass when waves of Japanese fighters and bombers swarmed the harbor and destroyed much of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Mr. Holmes ran out of the church during the attack and dashed to his airfield, his son-in-law said. He took off in an attempt to fight the attackers, but had to return to the airfield because every soldier, sailor and Marine on the ground was shooting at his plane, thinking it was a Japanese Zero.
"He said he stood on the airfield when a Japanese plane flew past, and he emptied his .45-caliber pistol at him," Roehm said.
In 2003, Mr. Holmes was inducted into the Commemorative Air Force's American Combat Airman Hall of Fame.
He is survived by his wife, Lavina; daughters Katherine Roehm of Fairfax, Va., and Diana Movey of Fresno; sons Frank Holmes of Petaluma and Robert Holmes of St. Petersburg, Fla.; a twin brother, Robert Holmes of San Diego County; 10 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. A brother, Richard Holmes, died in an accident shortly after returning home from World War II.
A rosary is to be held at 7 p.m. today at Keaton's Mortuary in San Rafael. A funeral Mass is to be said at 9:30 a.m. Friday at St. Raphael's Catholic Church in San Rafael. Mr. Holmes will be buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno.
Ellie
Rest In Peace
- John Koopman, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Besby Frank Holmes, a decorated combat ace who helped kill the Japanese admiral who planned and coordinated the attack on Pearl Harbor, died Sunday at Marin General Hospital. He was 88.
Mr. Holmes died of a stroke, said his son-in-law, Jeffrey Roehm of Fairfax, Va. He had lived in San Rafael since retiring from the Air Force in 1968.
Mr. Holmes was an avid flier and career officer, but the high point in his career came in 1943 when he was a 25-year-old pilot flying P-38 Lightnings from an airfield on the island of Guadalcanal.
The Army and Marines were battling the Japanese for control of the South Pacific. U.S. forces intercepted a message indicating that Adm. Isoruko Yamamoto would be flying to Bougainville island for an inspection tour of forward Japanese combat units.
Yamamoto was the commander of Japan's Pacific fleet, had studied in the United States and once said famously that he feared Japan had "awakened a sleeping giant" by attacking Pearl Harbor. He was considered one of the most brilliant military leaders of his time and a great threat to the American war machine in the Pacific.
The intercepted message indicated that Yamamoto would be within 400 miles of Guadalcanal, too far for any U.S. fighter aircraft at the time. But the newly arrived P-38s had a long range that could be extended by jury-rigging external fuel tanks. The men who planned the raid figured their chances at 1,000 to 1, because they would have to fly low and arrive at exactly the right time -- while Yamamoto's plane was still in the air but near its destination.
Mr. Holmes and 17 other pilots took off the morning of April 18. Two planes turned back because of mechanical problems. The other 16 flew just over the water, through Japanese-held territory, until they reached their destination. The gamble paid off, and they ran into six Japanese fighters and two bombers, one of which was carrying Yamamoto. In a short, furious dogfight, the bombers were shot down, and Yamamoto was killed.
The raid was a considerable morale booster for U.S. forces, even though the details had to remain secret so the Japanese would not know their code had been broken.
Mr. Holmes and the other pilots in the action were awarded the Navy Cross, the nation's second-highest award for valor.
Mr. Holmes finished the war as an ace -- an ace is a pilot with five kills or more. Mr. Holmes had 5 1/2.
He stayed in the military after the end of World War II, when the Army Air Forces officially became the Air Force. He flew in Korea and served in Vietnam, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
Mr. Holmes was born Aug. 5, 1917, in San Francisco. He graduated from Balboa High School and San Francisco City College before joining the Army as a pilot candidate in March 1941.
He was sent to Hawaii and was at Pearl Harbor for gunnery school on Dec. 7. Roehm said Mr. Holmes had been attending Catholic Mass when waves of Japanese fighters and bombers swarmed the harbor and destroyed much of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Mr. Holmes ran out of the church during the attack and dashed to his airfield, his son-in-law said. He took off in an attempt to fight the attackers, but had to return to the airfield because every soldier, sailor and Marine on the ground was shooting at his plane, thinking it was a Japanese Zero.
"He said he stood on the airfield when a Japanese plane flew past, and he emptied his .45-caliber pistol at him," Roehm said.
In 2003, Mr. Holmes was inducted into the Commemorative Air Force's American Combat Airman Hall of Fame.
He is survived by his wife, Lavina; daughters Katherine Roehm of Fairfax, Va., and Diana Movey of Fresno; sons Frank Holmes of Petaluma and Robert Holmes of St. Petersburg, Fla.; a twin brother, Robert Holmes of San Diego County; 10 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. A brother, Richard Holmes, died in an accident shortly after returning home from World War II.
A rosary is to be held at 7 p.m. today at Keaton's Mortuary in San Rafael. A funeral Mass is to be said at 9:30 a.m. Friday at St. Raphael's Catholic Church in San Rafael. Mr. Holmes will be buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno.
Ellie
Rest In Peace