huntssurplus Posted September 19, 2017 Share #1 Posted September 19, 2017 Joseph John Scherting was born on August 8th 1922 in St. Louis Missouri. He joined the Navy in 1944 and received his commission of Ensign (equivalent to 2nd Lieutenant). He was a pilot and served with Task Force 58, later changed to Task Force 38. He was a carrier bomber, and participated in multiple missions during the Pacific Campaign. During a specific mission he and another pilot, Lt. Thomas P. Gavin as well as 200 other planes were assigned to bomb the Japanese ship Nagato, which was docked at Yokosuka base. It was docked in a way that made it impossible to use torpedoes. The pilots had to dive in what they described as the heaviest ant aircraft fire of the entire Pacific War. Some planes had as many as 100 bullet holes. Ensign Scherting described it as "the most fortified position he had ever seen". He said that he and Lt. Gavin had "followed another group at 15,000 feet and peeled off" "Going down we were in a steep dive-almost on our back. The sky was covered, it was so black with Ack Ack. There were lots of little islands below us and they were covered with anti-aircraft guns that were firing continuously, I was following Gavin and saw his bomb hit. it landed near the stern of the ship and there was a big red flash". "I was fortunate and got a hit also. As we pulled out of our dive we still were being fired at with ack-ack It was the most heavily fortified spot I had ever seen" Ensign Schertings bomb would be one of four that would hit the Nagato that day. The ship however was not sunk and turned out to be the last surviving Japanese battleship of the war. Joseph Scherting would continue to serve in the Navy reserves into the 70's when he would retire a Lieutenant Commander. He passed away on July 30th, 2000. This is his gravestone, he was buried in his hometown of St Louis Missouri. Here are some photos from Task Force 58/38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted September 19, 2017 Author Share #2 Posted September 19, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted September 19, 2017 Author Share #3 Posted September 19, 2017 Now for the actual grouping. This one shows the entire grouping together These are his Flight caps/helmet he most likely wore one of these during the bombing of the Nagato 3 gloves of his His name stenciled on this hat another stencil on a hat a group photo of some of the many hats in this grouping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted September 19, 2017 Author Share #4 Posted September 19, 2017 multiple of his belts some of his ties WW2 garrison cap with what I believe to be a post war added lieutenant commander insignia This is a freebie found in the garrison cap, looks like a replacement chinstrap for the navy dress cap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted September 19, 2017 Author Share #5 Posted September 19, 2017 Another garrison cap this time with captains insignia some more garrison caps with captains insignia stenciled name in garrison cap Some of the other garrison caps In the grouping Name in one of the hats Leggings with stenciled name, dated 1942 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted September 19, 2017 Author Share #6 Posted September 19, 2017 Last Pictures for now: Shirts one is still in the packaging. and finally the entire grouping again. Thanks for reading! Sorry for the side ways pictures I need to improve my photography. Feel free to ask questions! Thanks, Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US82Bravo Posted September 19, 2017 Share #7 Posted September 19, 2017 Your aviator was a SB2C Helldiver pilot attached to VB-85 flying from the USS Shangri-La. He reported to the squadron 6 February 1945. document from fold3 The mission attacking on the Nagato was 18 July 1945. Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted September 19, 2017 Author Share #8 Posted September 19, 2017 Thanks for the extra research Larry! I really appreciate it. I'll definitely look up the plane he flew. Hunt Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody Posted September 19, 2017 Share #9 Posted September 19, 2017 Beautiful grouping! I'm from Europe but I've always had an interest in the Pacific side of WW2. Thanks for sharing. Rene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pararaftanr2 Posted September 19, 2017 Share #10 Posted September 19, 2017 Hunt, Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the two "flight caps/helmets" are not. They are civilian, and post-WW2 vintage, cold weather liners for use in a hardhat, or welder's helmet. It's common to see these bundled with military groupings at estate sales, or on ebay, as "militaria", when the seller assumes they are a flight helmet because of the way they fit the head. I quick Google image search should confirm this for you. Regards, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted September 19, 2017 Author Share #11 Posted September 19, 2017 Beautiful grouping! I'm from Europe but I've always had an interest in the Pacific side of WW2. Thanks for sharing. Rene Thanks for the feedback! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted September 19, 2017 Author Share #12 Posted September 19, 2017 Hunt, Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the two "flight caps/helmets" are not. They are civilian, and post-WW2 vintage, cold weather liners for use in a hardhat, or welder's helmet. It's common to see these bundled with military groupings at estate sales, or on ebay, as "militaria", when the seller assumes they are a flight helmet because of the way they fit the head. I quick Google image search should confirm this for you. Regards, Paul Don't worry about it, I'm glad you brought it to my attention. I thought it was weird with the colors they were, and I thought they were only made of leather. Here is a very similar one I found online via google images. Hunt Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted September 20, 2017 Author Share #13 Posted September 20, 2017 Can anyone help me find a picture of LCDR Scherting? Thanks Hunt Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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