" THE FIRST HELLCAT ACE": Owen Miller

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Owen Miller

My dad was a WWII Naval Aviator so I grew up on stories of Wildcats and Hellcats.

Probably all little boys have an interest in the military and combat but I really got "the bug".
Kids today have heroes from the sports and entertainment world. My heroes back then (as well as today) have names like McCampbell, Foss, McWhorter, and Best. I always felt these guys were not only the ones we owe our freedom to but the ones to look toward to see how to live your life.

About 1988 I decided I wanted to get to know some of these men I had read bout
and admired. I began to track them down, meet them, and try to record their stories.
It was in the course of this that I met Mac. He always had time for me. We began to
exchange letters and later email. As we got to know each other a little better we discover-
ed we had similar political views. I really enjoyed the book when it came out and I bought
several copies to give as Christmas presents. Mac signed mine for me and he also signed
some other photos and the aviation prints depicting him. (I want to add here that I'm not
one of the guys who gets photos signed and then sells them on eBay. Mine are either on
the walls of my study or in albums.)

I only got to meet Mac and Louise one time. They were in Pensacola for a convention.
I got in touch and arranged to meet them. I was able to buy them lunch and we had a really
good visit. I only wish it had been longer. My hope was to take them to Trader Jon's but
that day there was no time for the drive. We talked about doing it the next time they came
to town. Hurricane Ivan took care of what was left of Traders in 2005 so we never got to
go there.. Mac remembered the place from his active duty days.

I used to tease Mac, asking him what a Georgia boy was doing in California with all
the liberals. He countered that he didn't have to worry about hurricanes out west. I would
then ask him about the forest fires, landslides, and earthquakes. We had a lot of fun with
that.

Mac was truly a member of the greatest generation. These men saved freedom in
the world, then they went home and raised families, protected our freedom, and made
America the greatest country. We all owe them a debt that can never be repaid. About
the onlt thing we can do is remember what they did and honor them for it.

Respectfully,
Owen Miller

(Attached is a photo of my little tribute to Mac on the wall in my study. It's my way to
remember a very quiet and humble man.)

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Mac recounts a battle victory

Leading the Hellcats was LT Hamilton W. "Mac" McWhorter III, now on his second combat tour in the Pacific after becoming the first Hellcat ace of World War II and the Navy's first double-ace of the war during his first Western Pacific tour a year earlier:

"We were orbiting at 12,000 feet on combat air patrol, when we were given a vector to intercept four bogies at twenty-thousand-plus. We applied full power and started climbing. By the time we got to 20,000, I spotted a single airplane ahead at 24,000, just making a bit of a contrail. I was climbing faster than the others in the division, and hit the water injection to catch up to him. I was right up on him at six o-clock and about one hundred feet below when I opened fire. He never made a move, but the engine went up and then his fuel tank caught. I was so close when he blew up that I had his engine oil all over the canopy. He went straight in as a fireball all the way down."
The date was May 12, 1945 - the Myrt was McWhorter's twelfth and final victory of the war.

Dad's Obit

By Blanca Gonzalez

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

April 24, 2008

Hamilton “Mac” McWhorter was 7 years old when a barnstorming pilot visited his hometown and he took his first ride in an airplane.

From that moment, he knew he never wanted to do anything else.

The future Navy commander was a naval aviation cadet undergoing training when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Within a couple of years he had become the first American pilot to achieve “Ace” status flying a new airplane, the Hellcat.

By May 1945, he had shot down at least 12 Japanese planes and escaped danger on several occasions. In a book he wrote more than 50 years later, retired Cmdr. McWhorter recounted his war experiences, including battles over North Africa and the Pacific.

Cmdr. McWhorter died of natural causes April 12 at his home in El Cajon. He was 87.

His wife, Louise, said he loved flying and that was a big reason he made a career in the Navy. He later taught three of their five children to fly and after retiring from the Navy, he became a flight instructor at Gillespie Field.

“He was so proud that so many of his students became airline pilots,” she said.

Cmdr. McWhorter didn't talk much about the war to his family until he joined other fighter aces and started touring air shows where the members of the “greatest generation” shared their experiences.

Cmdr. McWhorter was born Feb. 8, 1921, in Athens, Ga., to Hamilton McWhorter Jr. and Nettie Lou Peurifoy McWhorter.

He met his future wife in November 1942 in Norfolk, Va., at a party thrown for a friend who had been shot down over the Atlantic during the invasion of North Africa. The friend had been reported dead, but when his friends found out he had been rescued, they threw a resurrection party.

Eight weeks later, Louise and “Mac” McWhorter were married. The couple had five children and later opened their home to a struggling Chinese immigrant family for a few years.

Cmdr. McWhorter was a member of the American Fighter Aces Association, the Distinguished Flying Cross Society and the Tailhook Association. He received several military honors including five Distinguished Cross Medals. Cmdr. McWhorter was elected to the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame in 1989.

The family moved to El Cajon in 1968, and he retired as the executive officer of Naval Air Station, Miramar in 1969. Cmdr. McWhorter spent the ensuing years as a “gentleman farmer” tending to avocado trees at the family's home, as a flight instructor and an author.

He coauthored a book, “The First Hellcat Ace,” that was published in 2001. In 2006, Cmdr. McWhorter was interviewed for a History Channel segment on dogfights.

Besides his wife, survivors include sons, Donald of Lemon Grove, William of El Cajon, Hamilton IV of San Diego and Jon of San Diego; daughter, Georgia Scheingross of San Diego; and six grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday at First United Methodist Church of El Cajon. Ashes will be interred at 1 p.m. May 5 at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

Donations are suggested to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.