Saturday, May 3, 2008

William Speir

Dear Jon, I think what you propose is a wonderful memorial to Hamp, as I always called him , or 'Mac' as his military friends dubbed him. We shared maternal grandparents..... and after an amazing hurricane in Florida, the McWhorters came to Hillsboro, GA, and lived with the grandparents, as we all did , too. I was an infant, at the time, don't remember anything..... but later, wore Jim McW's Alabama jersey proudly for a number of years.... When my family was stationed in Germany & Morocco, in the late 50's and early 60's, Hamp was my anchor- at the time, he was the executive officer of the USS Enterprise, I believe.. when I arrived by FLOGWING ( space available) during college, this soft-spoken, nice man ( Hamp) would always meet me.... show me the carrier, and drive me home. He and Louise were the anchors for a callow youth , who had not found his way...I never realized, at that time, that they really cared for me- my mistake.

I still have a letter- a treasured possession- from Hamp , dated May 16, 2001...: 'Dear Bill and Mary, Certainly wish that we did not live so far away- cannot recall the last time that we saw you. Hope that someday you will get out this way and stop by to visit with us....' The next year , after I had retired as Chief of Pulmonary/ Critical Care Medicine and was a Professor Emeritus, we had lunch with Hamp & Louise at 'The Yacht Club' overlooking the harbor.... an absolutely delightful time. Then , 2 years later, at the end of a lecture tour, Hamp and Louise spent 3 days with us in Augusta... a most enjoyable time, and they both thoroughly charmed Augusta....(knew they would)... I was devastated by the news, but as a Marine fighter pilot during the early Viet Nam War said...' God bless Ham and his buddies, they're our heroes... they have a special place in heaven for Ham & his friends.' Bless you , Jon, for doing this......................... Bill & Mary

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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.