| Caption | Admiral Chester Nimitz presenting the Navy Cross to Aviation Chief Machinist's Mate Harold F. Dixon aboard USS Enterprise at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Mar 1942. ww2dbase | ||||||||||||
| Photographer | Unknown | ||||||||||||
| Source | ww2dbaseUnited States Navy | ||||||||||||
| Identification Code | NH 62657 | ||||||||||||
| More on... |
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| Photo Size | 909 x 1,155 pixels | ||||||||||||
| Photos at Same Place | Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii | ||||||||||||
| Added By | David Stubblebine | ||||||||||||
| Licensing | Public Domain. According to the United States copyright law (United States Code, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105), in part, "[c]opyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government". Please contact us regarding any inaccuracies with the above information. Thank you. |
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| Colorized By WW2DB |
Colorized with Adobe Photoshop |
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| WW2-Era Place Name | Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii |
| Lat/Long | 21.3558, -157.9591 |
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Famous WW2 Quote
"All that silly talk about the advance of science and such leaves me cold. Give me peace and a retarded science."Thomas Dodd, late 1945
1 Jun 2020 07:24:28 PM
Enlisted pilot Harold Dixon, 42, was a TBD Devastator pilot flying from Enterprise in the South Pacific when he was forced to land at sea on 16 Jan 1942. The plane sank quickly leaving Tanner, along with his two crewmen, adrift in a rubber raft. Surviving on occasional fish speared with a pocket knife, two birds, and rain water, they survived 34 days in the open raft until landing on Danger Island (now Pakapuka Atoll) at the northern end of the Cook Islands where they were rescued.
The straight line distance from the estimated point of ditching to Danger Island was about 450 miles but it was estimated their actual path was closer to 1,200 miles. Dixon’s Navy Cross citation praised him for his heroism, leadership, and resourcefulness. Dixon’s crewmen were AOM2c Anthony J Pastula, 24, and RM3c Gene D Aldrich, 22. The aircraft was a TBD-1 Devastator, BuNo 0335.
The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II by Robert J. Cressman describes this event on 16 Jan 1942 (date of ditching) and 19 Feb 1942 (date of rescue) but lists the locations as East Longitude when they are both West Longitude.