William A. Shomo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| William A. Shomo | |
|---|---|
| unknown - unknown | |
| Image:William A. Shomo.jpg William A. Shomo |
|
| Nickname | Bill |
| Allegiance | U.S._Army |
| Rank | Major |
| Battles/wars | Guadalcanal Campaign, Battle of Okinawa |
| Awards | Medal of Honor |
William "Bill" A. Shomo was a United States Army fighter pilot during World War II. He is credited with scoring 8 victories during the conflict, seven during a single mission, while flying a P-51 Mustang. For his service he was awarded the Medal of Honor.
For over a year, Shomo was assigned to the 82nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. His unit had moved from airstrip to airstrip along the northern coast of New Guinea and then to Morotai supporting General MacArthur's drive to the Philippines performing dangerous photorecon and ground attack missions. His squadron was equipped with older P-39 Airacobras and Curtiss P-40s, which were adequate for the photo recon/ground attack role, but too short-ranged to reach areas where they might encounter Japanese aircraft.
In December 1944 the squadron was given North American P-51D "Mustangs" specially modified for photo reconnaissance. On the 24th of that month Shomo was put in command of the squadron and ordered to move it to Mindoro, an island off the southwest coast of Luzon, to support MacArthur's landing at Manila. During that landing on 9 January, Shomo led his first combat mission in the squadron's new planes. The low-level recce was to gather intelligence on the air strength of Japanese in northern Luzon. They approached the Japanese airfield at Tuguegarao where he scored his first air victory, an Aichi D3A "Val" dive bomber, coming in on its final approach.
Two days later on 11 January 1945 Captain Shomo performed the feat that earned him the Medal of Honor. While he and his wingman, Lt. Paul Lipscomb, were heading north for the Japanese airfields at Tuguegarao, Aparri, and Laoag, they saw several enemy planes flying south at about 2,500 feet. Despite being obviously outnumbered, they immediately pulled Immelmann turns and and found themselves behind 11 Ki-61 "Tonys" and 1 Ki-44 "Tojo" escorting a G4M "Betty" bomber.
On their first pass through the formation Shomo closed to less than 40 yards before opening fire. He shot down four Tonys, then came up under the bomber, firing into its belly. The bomber caught fire and began to lose altitude as its pilot attempted to crashland the plane. Two of the Tonys escorting the bomber stayed with it as it went down. Shomo pulled up in a tight vertical spiral to gain altitude while the Tojo turned to engage him. The Japanese fighter fired until it stalled and slipped into the clouds. The Betty exploded as it bellied in, and the two escorting Tonys broke away, staying low. Shomo made a second diving pass at the two Tonys and downed them both. In under six minutes, Bill Shomo had shot down seven enemy planes, becoming an "ace in one day." No other American pilot scored as many confirmed victories in a single mission. Meanwhile, his wingman shot down three of the remaining six planes. The surviving three Japanese planes fled the encounter.
By 1 April 1945, Shomo had been promoted to major and was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading an attack against heavy odds and destroying seven enemy aircraft.
Though Shomo flew more than 200 combat missions, he saw only a total of 14 enemy aircraft from his cockpit. He destroyed more than half of them.
[edit] Medal of Honor Citation
SHOMO, WILLIAM A.
Maj. Shomo was lead pilot of a flight of 2 fighter planes charged with an armed photographic and strafing mission against the Aparri and Laoag airdromes. While en route to the objective, he observed an enemy twin engine bomber, protected by 12 fighters, flying about 2,500 feet above him and in the opposite direction Although the odds were 13 to 2, Maj. Shomo immediately ordered an attack. Accompanied by his wingman he closed on the enemy formation in a climbing turn and scored hits on the leading plane of the third element, which exploded in midair. Maj. Shomo then attacked the second element from the left side of the formation and shot another fighter down in flames. When the enemy formed for Counterattack, Maj. Shomo moved to the other side of the formation and hit a third fighter which exploded and fell. Diving below the bomber he put a burst into its underside and it crashed and burned. Pulling up from this pass he encountered a fifth plane firing head on and destroyed it. He next dived upon the first element and shot down the lead plane; then diving to 300 feet in pursuit of another fighter he caught it with his initial burst and it crashed in flames. During this action his wingman had shot down 3 planes, while the 3 remaining enemy fighters had fled into a cloudbank and escaped. Maj. Shomo's extraordinary gallantry and intrepidity in attacking such a far superior force and destroying 7 enemy aircraft in one action is unparalleled in the southwest Pacific area.
