James E. Swett

James Elms Swett
Seattle, Washington
Died	January 18, 2009(2009-01-18) (aged 88) Redding, California
Buried	Northern California Veterans Cemetery, Igo, California
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy (1941–42)  United States Marine Corps (1942–70)
Years of service	1941–1970
Rank	Colonel
Unit	VMF-221
Commands held	VMF-141
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of Guadalcanal Battle of Iwo Jima Battle of Okinawa
Awards	Medal of Honor Distinguished Flying Cross (2) Purple Heart Air Medal (5)

James Elms Swett (June 15, 1920 – January 18, 2009) was a

Early life

Born on June 15, 1920, in

Swett completed flight training in early 1942, placing in the top ten percent of his class. He was given the option to choose between a commission in the Marine Corps or the Navy, and he chose the Marine Corps. He was commissioned as a

On April 7, 1943, on his first combat mission, Swett both became an ace and acted with such "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty" that he was awarded the Medal of Honor.^[2][3][4]

His first mission was as a division leader on a combat air patrol over the Russell Islands early on the morning of April 7 in expectation of a large Japanese air attack. Landing to refuel, the four-plane division of Grumman F4F Wildcats he was leading was scrambled after other aircraft reported 150 planes approaching Ironbottom Sound, and intercepted a large formation of Japanese Aichi D3A dive bombers (Allied code name: "Val") attacking Tulagi harbor.^[2]

When the fight became a general melee, Swett pursued three Aichi D3A Vals diving on the harbor. After he had downed two, and while he was evading fire from the rear gunner of the third, the left wing of his F4F Wildcat was holed by U.S. antiaircraft fire. Despite this, he downed the third Val and turned toward a second formation of six Vals leaving the area.^[2]

Swett repeatedly attacked the line of dive bombers, downing each in turn with short bursts. He brought down four and was attacking a fifth when his ammunition was depleted and his cockpit was shot up by return fire. Wounded, he decided to ditch his damaged fighter off the coast of

Swett returned to Guadalcanal after a short stay in a Naval hospital and learned that Admiral Marc Mitscher had nominated him for the Medal of Honor. After a short rest in Australia, Swett checked out in the Vought F4U Corsair to which VMF-221 was converting and moved to a new base in the Russells. Promoted to captain, Swett covered the Rendova landings on June 30, 1943, adding two Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" medium bombers to his score and sharing the downing of a Mitsubishi A6M Zero.

Eleven days later, near the island of

On December 11, Swett returned to the United States on a Dutch motor ship, arriving in San Francisco on New Year's Eve. After less than 24 hours, he shipped out to San Diego, where he was granted 30-days leave and married Lois Anderson, his longtime sweetheart. Swett was then transferred to NAS Santa Barbara, California, where he worked up a newly manned VMF 221 in the Corsair.

Now carrier-qualified and assigned to the

Swett worked in his father's company in San Francisco, making marine pumps and turbines. In 1960, after his father's death, Swett took over the company and ran it for 23 years, before passing it on to his son. Swett moved to Trinity Center, California, in his retirement and became a frequent speaker at schools, where he shared his strong feelings about the values of respect and responsibility. He owned 13 Porsche cars during his lifetime.

In 2006, Swett's Medal of Honor action was recreated using computer graphics for

Swett moved to Redding, California, in 2007 where he died on January 18, 2009,^[7] in a Redding hospital from heart failure after a lengthy illness.^[8][9][10] He was buried with full military honors at Northern California Veterans Cemetery in Igo, California.

The airport in Trinity Center, California was named in his honor.

Awards and decorations

His awards and decorations include:

Medal of Honor citation

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to

FIRST LIEUTENANT JAMES E. SWETT
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, as a division leader in Marine Fighting Squadron TWO TWENTY-ONE in action against enemy Japanese aerial forces in the

First Lieutenant Swett unhesitatingly hurled his four-plane division into action against a formation of fifteen enemy bombers and during his dive personally exploded three hostile planes in mid-air with accurate and deadly fire. Although separated from his division while clearing the heavy concentration of anti-aircraft fire, he boldly attacked six enemy bombers, engaged the first four in turn, and unaided, shot them down in flames. Exhausting his ammunition as he closed the fifth Japanese bomber, he relentlessly drove his attack against terrific opposition which partially disabled his engine, shattered the windscreen and slashed his face. In spite of this, he brought his battered plane down with skillful precision in the water off Tulagi without further injury. The superb airmanship and tenacious fighting spirit which enabled First Lieutenant Swett to destroy eight enemy bombers in a single flight were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.^[3]

/S/ FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

See also

• List of Medal of Honor recipients
• George C. Axtell
• Jefferson J. DeBlanc
• Archie G. Donahue
• Jeremiah J. O'Keefe
• John L. Smith

References

Inline