Vernon Micheel was born and grew up in Davenport, Iowa. He went to college in Ames [Annotator's Note: Ames, Iowa] and graduated. He went to work in a packing company afterward. With the draft pending, he joined the Navy to avoid the infantry. He would always have good chow and a place to sleep. In December 1940, he joined the Navy as a Seaman 2nd class. He flew ten hours as part of the V-5 program [Annotator's Note: V-5 US Navy Aviation Cadet Program, 1939 to 1943] and then was allowed to solo. He had no problem passing the solo flight and was sent to Pensacola [Annotator's Note: Pensacola, Florida] and then Miami [Annotator's Note: Miami, Florida] for advanced training. November 1941 he went to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] for ACT, Advanced Carrier Training. Pearl Harbor was attacked in December [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], and he was assigned to the Saratoga [Annotator's Note: the USS Saratoga (CV-3]). He had been assigned previously in Miami to Scouting 6 squadron [Annotator's Note: Scouting Squadron 6 (VS-6)]. Micheel and other pilots were withdrawn from the Saratoga and told they would require more training. They stayed stateside until April [Annotator's Note: April 1942] when they joined the Enterprise [Annotator's Note: the USS Enterprise (CV-6)] which had been escorting the Hornet [Annotator's Note: the USS Hornet (CV-8)] during the Doolittle Raid [Annotator's Note: bombing attack on the Japanese mainland on 18 April 1942 carried out by 16 North American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) and named for the raid's commander, then US Army Air Forces Colonel, later US Air Force General, James H. Doolittle]. After additional training off Ford Island [Annotator's Note: in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii], Micheel and the Enterprise delivered a Marine squadron to Efate [Annotator's Note: Efate, Vanuatu]. Returning to Pearl Harbor to refuel and replenish, Enterprise next sailed to Point Lucky [Annotator's Note: Point Luck was the rendezvous spot for the American aircraft carriers prior to the Battle of Midway in June 1942]. That was where they were when the Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] showed up. In Miami, he had trained in an SBC-2 biplane [Annotator's Note: Curtis SBC scout bomber biplane]. He also flew old torpedo planes. In San Diego, he flew SBDs [Annotator's Note: Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers]. The SBDs were assigned to the Saratoga while Micheel and his squadron remained in San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California]. He flew SNJs [Annotator's Note: the Navy version of the North American AT-6 advanced trainer aircraft] for a month before getting upgrades to fleet planes. He had a temporary rear seat gunner during this time. Most of his combat, he had Dance [Annotator's Note: no given name and surname spelling uncertain] as his gunner. While in the Pacific, he mainly did searches and practice bombing as well as deliver the previously mentioned Marine squadron to their base. He knew nothing about the Battle of Coral Sea [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Coral Sea, 4 to 8 May 1942] until he returned to Pearl Harbor. He was an ensign at the time. Intelligence on the ship was scuttlebutt [Annotator's Note: a period slang term for a rumor]. After Enterprise deployed from Pearl Harbor, the crew learned of the potential for battle at Midway [Annotator's Note: Battle of Midway, 4 to 7 June 1942, Midway Atoll]. The enemy location was uncertain.

Vernon Micheel first flew with the whole air group on the morning of 4 June [Annotator's Note: Battle of Midway, 4 to 7 June 1942, Midway Atoll, 4 June 1942]. It was his first large formation flight and the first time he carried a weapon on the airplane. The formation was not as uniform as he had anticipated. Micheel's section leader, Norm West [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling], was skilled at proper formation flying. The Yorktown [Annotator's Note: the USS Yorktown (CV-5)] was performing search missions. Enterprise [Annotator's Note: the USS Enterprise (CV-6)] airmen did not fly in proximity to Midway until the morning of 4 June when the full air group was launched. Much time and fuel were wasted while the whole group became airborne to fly together. First, the torpedo planes were lost in the clouds. It soon became apparent it was just the two bombing squadrons with the CAG [Annotator's Note: commander of the air group] directing their flight. McClusky [Annotator's Note: later US Navy Rear Admiral Clarence Wade McClusky, Jr.] and the rest of his SBD [Annotator's Note: Douglass SBD Dauntless dive bomber] pilots spotted a Japanese destroyer which they followed back to its fleet. McClusky assigned each of his two squadrons to attack a separate enemy carrier. It did not work out that way. Micheel was ten planes back in the attack squadron with four bombers behind him. Following his attack run, he lost track of his squadron. He did have two Bombing 6 [Annotator's Note: Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6), USS Enterprise (CV-6)] planes zoom by him. He followed them but could not catch up with him. He was by himself since he decided not to burn the gas to keep up with them. It was not as safe as flying together in a defensive group against enemy aircraft. Micheel figured he would either be shot down or run out of gas. He did make it back to his carrier. Many of the planes had to ditch after expending their fuel. Micheel told those onboard where the two aircraft he had followed had ditched behind the Enterprise, but the Yorktown [Annotator's Note: the USS Yorktown (CV-5)] had been hit. The major focus became Enterprise air defense and not downed pilot recovery. The pilots were recovered five days after the battle. Micheel had doubts about returning to the carrier when CAG flew them past the point of no return in pursuit of the Japanese fleet. The SBD high-altitude flying had conserved enough fuel for Micheel to make it back to Enterprise. In training exercises, dive bombing runs would push over at much lower altitudes than the dive on 4 June. Instead of the 10,000 feet he was used to, the dive started at 19,000 feet. It seemed to be a long dive with the target pulling away from him. Micheel kept aiming for the bow all the way down, but he does not know if he hit his target. Two squadrons came down on Kaga [Annotator's Note: Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Kaga] with only three planes diving on the Akagi [Annotator's Note: Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Akagi]. Micheel dove on the Kaga instead of the Akagi as had been assigned to his squadron. The Japanese barrage of antiaircraft fire did not track any particular aircraft. It was an attempt to hit attacking Americans as they flew through the barrage. Micheel saw none come close to him. As he drew closer to the target, he could see 20mm [Annotator's Note: 20mm] small arms fire coming at him. He thought if the Japanese were trying to hit him that he would do his best to hit them. He could see fire, airplanes, bomb hits, and personnel moving on the deck. Kaga had received three hits before he reached her. He pulled out low and avoided enemy fire until he saw the two planes from the bombing squadron. The Yorktown was hit about noon while Micheel was telling the quartermaster where those two plane crews had ditched behind the carrier. That hit on the Yorktown convinced Micheel that he would volunteer to fly in the next formation. He did not want to be on the ship. [Annotator's Note: Micheel laughs.]

Vernon Micheel flew the second attack flight against the Japanese [Annotator's Note: as a pilot in Scouting Squadron 6 (VS-6), USS Enterprise (CV-6) on 4 June 1942 at the Battle of Midway , 4 to 7 June 1942, Midway Atoll] because his aircraft was capable of flying. He was surprised of the decision to not assign the more experienced pilots in the flyable attack aircraft. That was fine with Micheel because he wanted to get off the ship. Unlike the first flight of carrier dive bombers, the Japanese saw the second flight of Americans coming. The enemy ship was moving and antiaircraft was heavy. Micheel was right over the ship that he attacked from 19,000 feet [Annotator's Note: he begins to reconstruct his attack on the Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Kaga earlier in the day on the first flight but reverts back to the second flight description]. On the second flight, Micheel was in the first section with the leader of the air group, Gallaher [Annotator's Note: US Navy Lieutenant W. Earl Gallaher]. There were some Zeros [Annotator's Note: Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter aircraft] but no hits on Micheel's plane. He flew his attack at a 70 degree angle. He was hanging on his shoulder harness in his steep dive. After he pulled up, he rejoined his flight. Afterwards, he would fly search missions one of which resulted in an unsuccessful attack by 32 pilots on an enemy destroyer. The last day involved an attack on two Japanese cruisers, the Mikuma [Annotator's Note: Imperial Japanese Navy heavy cruiser Mikuma] and Mogami [Annotator's Note: Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser Mogami]. When Micheel first joined the squadron on Enterprise, the new ensigns kept to themselves in the Ready Room while the veterans largely stayed in their berthing area until preoperational meetings were convened and launch preparations commenced. Micheel would view movies for entertainment during downtime on the ship. He played cards and read. After the first flight against the Japanese carriers, everyone was excited about the enemy ships they left burning. Additionally, Micheel's roommate, Bill Pittman [Annotator's Note: US Navy Ensign William Robinson Pittman], had a gunner who shot down a Zero. There was quite a bit of talk about that. The gun had come out of the rack as the gunner fired it. Emotions were high but so was anxiety over five or six pilots who did not return to the Enterprise. A third of the pilots were lost during the four days of action. They were mostly the younger men. Many had trained with Micheel. The rear end of the echelon of dive bombers had less likelihood of survival. After Hiryū [Annotator's Note: Imperial Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryū] was hit, Micheel could see one of the other carriers burning in a distance. He did not have a lot of time to observe things with Zeros buzzing about. He was just anxious to get back aboard the Enterprise and not land in the water. After hitting four carriers, the American fleet headed east to avoid night actions which they were not trained for. The next morning, the Americans returned in search of the enemy.

Vernon Micheel attacked a Japanese cruiser on the last day of the battle [Annotator's Note: as a pilot in Scouting Squadron 6 (VS-6), USS Enterprise (CV-6) on 4 June through 6 June 1942 at the Battle of Midway, Midway Atoll]. Only one of the two cruisers damaged during the battle managed to make it back to Japan. After Midway, there was some plans to head up to the Aleutians [Annotator's Note: Aleutian Islands, Alaska]. The crewmen were told to break out their foul weather gear for the cold. The weather was miserable. There was no flying. After some hours of steaming, the course was changed to return to Pearl [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] rather than attempting to locate any reinforcing Japanese carriers sailing toward Midway. No further contact was made with the enemy and that was fine with Micheel who was ready to go home. [Annotator's Note: Micheel laughs.] After getting back to Hawaii, he found the B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] got credit for bombing the enemy carriers but they did not actually do very much. Micheel was sent to Kaneohe [Annotator's Note: Kaneohe, Hawaii] where he was assigned to Bombing 6 [Annotator's Note: Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6)] on the Enterprise along with many of the other ensigns. The veterans were sent back to the United States. Micheel's gunner eventually became a fighter pilot with the NAP [Annotator's Note: Naval Aviation Pilot flight training] for enlisted personnel. He got his wings but was shot down. Although decorations were presented back in Hawaii, Micheel would not be invited to participate. He received his later in the mail. The big luau celebration [Annotator's Note: Hawaiian party or feast] in Pearl was not attended by Micheel. He would later receive additional commendations including the Distinguished Flying Cross [Annotator's Note: US Armed Forces award for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight] with a gold star [Annotator's Note: attachment to represent multiple bestowals of the same award] for other wartime operations.

The worst duty for Vernon Micheel was on Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands as a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber pilot in Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6), USS Enterprise (CV-6)]. He landed on Marston matting [Annotator's Note: perforated, lightweight steel plating] rather than being in the mud. He had helped provide air cover for the landings on 7 August [Annotator's Note: 7 August 1942] and returned to land on the island in October [Annotator's Note: October 1942]. He had been sent as a contingent of 12 planes from the Enterprise after it was hit in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Eastern Solomons, also called Battle of the Stewart Islands, 24 to 25 August 1942, Santa Isabel, Solomon Islands]. The Navy pilots flew along with the Marine pilots who were also there. Micheel spent all of October [Annotator's Note: October 1942] and half of November [Annotator's Note: November 1942] on Guadalcanal. The airmen lived in tents and ate good chow. Steaks were available from the Seabees [Annotator's Note: members of US naval construction battalions] who had the best food. The Navy flyers were attached to the Marines. Life was primitive with little coordinating communication. Offshore naval attacks or enemy aircraft attacks were unpredictable. The attackers were likely based at Bougainville [Annotator's Note: Bougainville, Papua New Guinea]. The American planes were slightly damaged by the blasts but still flyable. The enemy intelligence could not locate the American airfield. A foxhole was maintained in Micheel's tent. They kept mattresses in the hole but when it rained, they had to be dumped. The foxhole was safe though. Micheel and some of the pilots decided to sleep in the Army sector of the island because it seemed even safer. The Army officer offered the visiting airmen a tent. The Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] decided that night to mortar the location. The pilots got back into their captured Japanese dump truck and returned to their base and decided to take their luck there. They never returned to the Army base. The shelling, explosions, and shattering the trees were disconcerting. The word was if the whistle of an incoming round could be heard, you would not be hit. It was the one you never heard that would get you. Most flying missions for the Navy airmen were search missions. One attempt to bomb an enemy cargo ship at night was not very successful. Logistical support for the mission was lacking. Other missions involved ground support of troops with the friendly forces identifying target areas. Communication from the ground would adjust bomb drops. It was hard to see anything other than the trees. It was a hit or a miss on actually hitting the designated targets. The enemy fired on landing American aircraft with a 5-inch gun [Annotator's Note: unable to identify]. Micheel was challenged by his commander to take the division up and get rid of the gun. Micheel made himself the target and the rest of the formation saw the gun fire on him and did away with it. Micheel's rear gunner refused to fly with him afterward. Micheel would lead the division when his commander did not feel like doing so even though he was a j.g. [Annotator's Note: lieutenant junior grade or j.g.]. Two-man sections would fly up the Slot [Annotator's Note: New Georgia Sound, Solomon Islands] between two islands about 170 miles then split off and check for ships the first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon. A standby bombing group was ready at Henderson Field [Annotator's Note: Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands] if ships were spotted. A group of ships was spotted when Micheel broke through the overcast but the follow up bombers could not locate them afterward. Micheel and his spotter flight must have surprised the gathering of enemy ships and they fled the area. That was near the end of Micheel's stay on Guadalcanal. The Navy pilots had to stay a bit longer on the island than originally planned so that the Marine pilots could become better oriented and not lose too many of their planes in the process.

Vernon Micheel sailed on a freighter manned by a crew from Ceylon [Annotator's Note: now Sri Lanka, November 1942]. He had a sumptuous first meal on the ship and then three meals a day afterward. The afternoon drink of warm beer or gin was also welcome. It took 23 days from Nouméa [Annotator's Note: Nouméa, New Caledonia] to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] arriving on 7 December 1942. He had left his airplane aboard the Enterprise [Annotator's Note: USS Enterprise (CV-6)] for the next aircrew. After a month of leave, he was assigned to a new Bombing 6 [Annotator's Note: Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6)] being established in El Centro, California. He started training in SBDs [Annotator's Note: Douglass SBD Dauntless dive bomber] in January 1943 but later was provided an SB2C Helldiver [Annotator's Note: Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bomber] the next month. After some of the abnormalities of the later aircraft were corrected, the Helldiver was released from being grounded. Micheel was slated to go to the Yorktown [Annotator's Note: USS Yorktown (CV-10)] in Norfolk [Annotator's Note: Norfolk, Virginia] and qualify for flight operations with her. The problem they had with the SB2C is when the wings were deployed, they would not lock in place. After multiple unsuccessful tries, ship commanding officer Jocko Clark [Annotator's Note: US Navy Rear Admiral Joseph J. "Jocko" Clark] demanded SBDs be returned to the Yorktown. Micheel was offered an opportunity by his skipper to join a newly formed squadron. After he accepted the offer, Micheel found out the skipper was moving on to shore duty and Micheel was to be assigned to a different squadron. He went to Wildwood, New Jersey and became a member of Bombing 2 [Annotator's Note: Bombing Squadron 2 (VB-2)] aboard the Hornet [Annotator's Note: the USS Hornet (CV-12)] after it reached Hilo [Annotator's Note: Hilo, Hawaii]. Micheel along with Hal Buell [Annotator's Note: US Navy Commander Harold L. "Hal" Buell; Buell's oral history interview is also available on this Digital Collections website] were the only two combat veterans in the squadron. There were 54 pilots and 36 airplanes in the squadron which was a combination of two other squadrons. The squadron trained until March [Annotator's Note: March 1943] and was aboard the Yorktown until the end of 1943.

Vernon Micheel flew his first combat mission off the Hornet [Annotator's Note: as a pilot in Bombing Squadron 2 (VB-2), USS Hornet (CV-12)] in New Guinea helping Army ground troops. After a brief rest and recuperation for the carrier, the next mission was Peleliu [Annotator's Note: Peleliu, Palau]. He flew a mission against an airbase when his SB2C Helldiver [Annotator's Note: Curtis SB2C Helldiver dive bomber] was hit and caught fire. He managed to extinguish the fire but there was a large hole in the wing and an aileron wire that was obviously damaged. He told his rear seat man to prepare to ditch near a nearby rescue submarine. The gunner asked Micheel to try for the carrier because he was bleeding, and he could not get the life raft out plus he did not know how to swim. Micheel did get back to the ship but was told to stay at 10,000 feet meaning he would land last of all the aircrews. He did and landed safely after a wave off of his first attempt. The gunner was taken to sickbay and the plane taken to the hanger. The loose wire was still holding on but the hole in the wing was so big that Micheel could stand in it and turn around. The problems were repaired, and the plane made ready for him within a week. The gunner had lost a finger during the incident and no longer flew. Micheel got a new rear seat man. Butch Flores [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify] was the fighter pilot who passed Micheel during that near fatal dive-bombing run. That was the only action where Micheel was critically shot up. He did not fly in the Battle of the Philippines Sea [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Philippine Sea, 19 to 20 June 1944] although he was on deck and ready to takeoff. He had extra chow and bullets all packed away, but his flight was cancelled. He taxied forward and departed his SB2C. The battle was a real melee with landings having to be performed at night after the ships' lights were illuminated. Planes ditched after expending their fuel. Micheel could not bear to watch the landings. He was glad he did not fly that day. He would have flown completely in the dark and was not prepared for that kind of operation. With the loss of so many SB2C planes, they could not be totally replaced. Instead, a dozen F6Fs [Annotator's Note: Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters] were provided and a squadron of fighter bombers was formed. They flew bombing missions with Micheel as the skipper of the group. The tour subsequently ended in three or four weeks. When he reached Advanced Training Command, Micheel was asked what he flew. He responded that he flew fighters, so he was assigned to fighter training as his shore duty. He flew fighters in Melbourne [Annotator's Note: Melbourne, California] at the beginning of 1945 and then in Texas when the war ended. He was in the pre-electronic training phase for night fighting. Micheel has better memories of some wartime details as opposed to others. He had returned to the United States at the end of 1944 and began his fighter training at the start of 1945.

Vernon Micheel met his future wife in June 1943 in Wildwood, New Jersey. They were married in October 1946. Micheel stayed in the Navy for 31 years. Afterward, he attended college to become a CPA, a certified public accountant. He did not pass the required test. He worked for the city of Jacksonville [Annotator's Note: Jacksonville, Florida] in the safety department. Micheel became the executive director in establishing the combined efforts. Nearly all requirements were met after two years of implementation. After four years, the system was disbanded. Micheel enjoyed those efforts and turned over the leadership to his number two man. That was when he went to college to become a CPA. [Annotator's Note: Micheel's wife speaks off camera with some of her discussion being inaudible.] Micheel had a good career. He was a skipper of a squadron of fighters in the Mediterranean. He was also in Korea after the fighting was over [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953] and flew CAP [Annotator's Note: combat air patrol] over the region. He attended the Coral Sea celebration in Australia. He flew around the Philippines and did not know if he would be sent to aid Dien Bien Phu [Annotator's Note: Battle of Dien Bien Phu, First Indochina War, 13 March to 7 May 1954]. He was sent to war college before his ship, the Tarawa [Annotator's Note: USS Tarawa (CV-40)], returned to the United States. Micheel sees few of his wartime colleagues since the war. He was in contact with Dusty Kliess [Annotator's Note: US Navy Captain Norman Jack "Dusty" Kleiss; Kleiss' oral history interview is also available on this Digital Collections website], Hal Buell [Annotator's Note: US Navy Commander Harold L. "Hal" Buell; Buell's oral history interview is also available on this Digital Collections website], Don Hoff [Annotator's Note: US Navy Aviation Machinist's Mate 1st Class Donald L. Hoff; Hoff's oral history interview is also available on this Digital Collections website], and Bill Pittman [Annotator's Note: phonetic spellings; unable to identify]. He does not attend the Hornet [Annotator's Note: USS Hornet (CV-12)] reunions. He did attend a few of the Enterprise [Annotator's Note: USS Enterprise (CV-6)] reunions. He was selected for the Golden Eagles [Annotator's Note: The Golden Eagles Association] and attended their gatherings for some years. The Golden Eagles are limited to 200 aviators who contributed to the advancement of aviation during their careers. Micheel kept his flight log like many flyers have done. Hugh Ambrose [Annotator's Note: Hugh Alexander Ambrose, American historian and author] is writing a book and includes Micheel in it.