As the son of a naval officer, who in his early career was catapulted off aircraft carriers in the venerable Grumman S2 sub hunters, I was always an aviation freak, particularly of military planes and their storied pasts.  

 

The Douglas SBD Dauntless, a WWII US Navy dive-bomber, always fascinated me, as did the naval aviators who flew them.  The Dauntless saw action across the Pacific in battles from the Coral Sea to Midway through its last major engagement in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

 

The plane represented a rather capable fusion of human spirit and design innovation, with its signature “Swiss cheese” dive brakes helping make it a devastatingly effective platform.  Dauntless squadrons were renown for their ability to get the job done under incredibly challenging circumstances.  They would first fend off attacks from fighters on the way in, then dive through waves of antiaircraft fire from ships below to place their bombs with pin point accuracy, pulling out of near vertical dives at the last critical moment.