Embedded video from The Internet Archive
There are historical films that document events, and there are films that preserve people. John Ford’s Torpedo Squadron 8 does both, but its greatest importance lies in allowing us to see the men of VT-8 as they were shortly before the Battle of Midway.
Among them is Lt. Cmdr. John Waldron, one of the Midway Six.
John Ford and the Men of VT-8
John Ford was one of Hollywood’s most distinguished directors, but during World War II he also served as an officer in the United States Naval Reserve and organized the Navy’s Field Photo Unit. His wartime service brought him to Midway in June 1942, where he and his team documented the battle for the United States Navy.
The footage that became Torpedo Squadron 8 had been filmed aboard USS Hornet before the squadron launched for Midway. After it became clear that 29 of the 30 men in the carrier-based attack had been killed, Ford gathered and edited the footage into something very different from a conventional wartime film.
He made a memorial.
Why This Film Matters
The men appear beside their aircraft, talking, smiling, posing, and looking into the camera. They could not have known that within hours nearly all of them would be dead.
Under the leadership of Lt. Cmdr. John Waldron, Torpedo Squadron 8 pressed its attack against the Japanese carrier force without fighter protection. Every TBD Devastator from the Hornet detachment was lost, and Ensign George Gay was the only member of its 30 aircrewmen to survive the attack.
Ford originally prepared the film for the families of the men who had been lost. Copies were reduced to 8mm so their loved ones could see these husbands, sons, brothers, and fathers again.
More than eight decades later, the film remains one of the most personal surviving records of the sacrifice made at Midway. For the Honor American Heroes campaign, it gives us something no written account can fully provide. We can look into the faces of Waldron and the men he led shortly before they climbed into their aircraft and flew into history.
Watch Torpedo Squadron 8
The film is preserved in the collections of the National Archives and can also be watched through the Internet Archive.