Sergeant Wesley J Hayes, Army Air Corps (AAF)

Somewhere far away in the dense triple-canopy jungle of Papua New Guinea (PNG) lie the remains of one of Glendale’s patriotic sons of World War II.  Wesley J. Hayes was born in Washington State in 1921.  His parents were Lillian Moriarty Hayes and Wesley James Hayes Sr.  He went to Glendale High School and was a member of the class of 1939.  After high school Wesley joined the Army Air Force (AAF) and with the out-break of World War II soon found himself as a crew member of a B-25 Mitchell medium bomber.  The airplane, named for Gen. Billy Mitchell, the most vocal proponent of airpower in the 1920s, and famed for its role in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, Japan, was new having initially flown in 1940.  By 1941 when Wesley joined his unit in the South Pacific he became a member of the 13th Bombardment Squadron of the 3rd Bombardment Group.  When he arrive in this area of the world the Japanese were threatening to capture all of the South Pacific including the continent of Australia.

Wes's High School Photo

The airplanes in which he would fly had originally been promised to the Dutch government but with the turbulence in the world at the time were shipped in crates to Australia and giving to our AAF.  The 13^th first flew out of a place called Charters Towers in Queensland, but as soon as they were able to fight they moved to airfields at Port Moresby, PNG.  Port Moresby is the capital of PNG, and was highly sought by both Japanese and Allied forces.  This city was where the Japanese naval fleet was headed when intercepted by Admiral Nimitz’s fleet in the Battle of the Coral Sea. After that defeat they would try again to attack Port Moresby with ground forces by traveling cross-country from the North. 

 One of the places to the North of Port Moresby is a city on the edge of the Coral Sea known as Lae.  Allied forces evacuated Lae on 22 Jan 1942 and the Japanese landed on 8 Mar 1942.  As soon as they landed, the 13^th started flying missions to destroy the Japanese capability to attack Port Moresby, 200 miles South.

The B-25 bomber in which Wesley flew, carried four thousand pounds of bombs with a crew of seven which included the pilot, co-pilot, flight-engineer, bombardier and gunners with .50 caliber machine guns.  It’s uncertain what position he had but as a Sergeant he was probably a gunner.  Not only were the airplanes used to drop bombs while flying level but soon they began diving at the earth while dropping.  Another tactic they developed to stop Japanese shipping was to come in low and skip the bombs across the water like a flat rock as the bomb crashed into the ship.

It’s not known how many missions Wesley flew before 24 May 1942 but we do know he was a crewmember one of the six B-25s that departed from Port Moresby to attack Lae.  This mission was led by the 13^th squadron commander, Capt. Herman F. Lowery, and flying as usual without escort (because none was available), cut through a pass in the mountains, swept wide of Salamaua, and turned in toward Lae from the east to be met head-on by a strong force of 11 Japanese Zero fighters.  The attacking Japanese were led by Hiroyoski Nishizawa who was gaunt and sickly looking, but in the cockpit of his Zero fighter known as ‘the Devil’.  Nishizawa reached the Mitchells first, and in moments his cannon shells sent the lead place, flown by Captain Herman F. Lowery, crashing in flames just beyond the Japanese airstrip.  In the running fight that ensued between Lae and Salarnaua, another Japanese pilot, Ota, got the second B-25 in the formation, Sakai got two and Sasai another, leaving only one riddled survivor to return to Port Moresby where it crash-landed and was eventually patched back together sufficiently to ship it elsewhere.  Of the five airplanes that were shot down only one crewmember on one airplane survived, a Sgt Murphy.  His pilot, Lt Keel ordered Murphy out of the aircraft and he barely escaped by exiting through a hatch behind the cockpit.  Wesley Hayes was one of those thirty-four crewmembers that did not survive that that.  For his actions that day and for giving his life for his country, Wesley Hayes was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and Purple Heart.

A few years ago Lee Dixon communicated with the only living member of the surviving aircraft.  That lone surviving B-25 was riddled with cannon fire from the Zeros, but managed to get into some cloud cover and escape the Zeros.  They barely made it back to Port Moresby, as the aircraft was a complete wreck.  He described how, after the bomber’s machine guns were inoperable the Japanese pilots flew close alongside the aircraft so close that one could see their faces and their white scarf. 

 Here is a excerpt for a diary of the unit:

Here are the members of Sergeant Hayes crew:

 As was common at the time the senior officer was afforded greater recognition than the other members of the crews.  This, in spite of the fact that all crew members experienced the same horrors of war.  Here is the citation for the senior officer on Sergeant Hayes aircraft but applies equally as well to Sergeant Hayes:

Distinguished Service Cross

SYNOPSIS: Captain (Air Corps) Herman F. Lowery (ASN: 0-21622), United States Army Air Forces, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a B-25 Medium Bomber in the 13th Bombardment Squadron, 3d Bombardment Group (L), FAR EAST Air Force, while participating in bombing missions during the period 10 through 14 April 1942, in action against enemy Japanese forces in the Philippine islands. Captain Lowery participated in a daring 4-day mission under the command of Brigadier General Ralph Royce, who led a flight of seven B-25Cs and three B-17s from Australia to a staging field at Del Monte on Mindanao in the Philippine Islands. Over the following two days the B-25's and B-17's attacked the many ships and the docks at Cebu, the air and harbor facilities at Davao, and Nichols Field on Luzon. The B-25 Mitchell's were involved in over twenty sorties. They sank one Japanese transport and possibly two others. They also shot down three Japanese aircraft. All but one of the aircraft returned to Australia without the loss of a single flyer, and they brought out a number of important military and diplomatic personnel who had gathered at Del Monte to await evacuation. The personal courage and zealous devotion to duty displayed by Captain Lowery during this period have upheld the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Far East Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces.

General Orders: Headquarters, South West Pacific Area, General Orders No. 56 (1942)
Action Date: April 10 - 14, 1942
Service: Army Air Forces
Rank: Captain
Company: 13th Bombardment Squadron
Regiment: 3d Bombardment Group (L)
Division: Far East Air Force

It was a very sad day, indeed, for the 13^th but they continued on.  Ironically, less then a year later, in April 1943 a nasty Japanese attack on Port Moresby destroyed all of their airplanes.  But the unit was not finished.  When I went to Vietnam in 1967, one of the bombers squadron to which I provided radar controlled was that same13^th Bomb Squadron.  They had a number of newer model of airplanes over the years and at that time they were flying the B-57, Canberra.  Today the 13th Bomb Squadron is equipped with the B1 bomber at a base in Texas called Dyess AFB.  While the youngsters flying the B1 may not know what Wesley Hayes from Glendale personally contributed to the organization and the Country, they do know and respect the courage and heroism of all those that went before and who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom and liberty which we have today.

Because of his service in the Pacific Sergeant Hayes was also awarded the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal and American Defense - World War II Medal.  Those are shown below:

While the remains of Sergeant Hayes were never recovered, he was recognized for his sacrifice in a number of ways.  He was recognized at the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.   In 2009 Wes Vaughn travelled to the Philippines and took photos of the cemetery where Sergeant Hayes is remembered.  These are photographs of that cemetery:

Post Script to this story comes from the hard work of Kathy (Tooley) Vaughn and Lee Vaughn.  Their exceptional efforts along with Lee's brother, Wes, were essential to a better understanding of Sergeant Hayes's story and ancestors.   Through Kathy's research we've learned that his Mother, Lillian (Moriarty) Hayes died when Wes was two years old.  Eventually his father, Wes Sr., remarried.  She also discovered the Grandfather of Wes, Jr., Eugene Moriarty, was born in Tipparary, Ireland and came to this Country as a small boy.  During the Civil War he served as a musician in New York because of his young age and then in Minnesota.  After the Civil War he remained in the Service and was eventually posted to the West.  Sergeant Hayes' grandfather died of pneumonia on 21 Aug 1904 at Fort Stevens, near Warrenton Oregon . Here was a career military man who came from another country to serve in the American Civil War, in the Spanish American War and finally went West while serving his adopted Nation.  Little did he know that his Grandson would also give life for his Country years later in World War II.