Yap Island Mission Loss—21 March 1945

The following plane was lost on 21 March 1945 on a mission to Yap Island. I would greatly appreciate anyone's help to locate additional information regarding the information listed below.Submit additional information, updates, newpaper articles, pictures, and supporting documents to: pat@missingaircrew.com

Date:	Plane Type:	Unit:	Crew Names:	Supporting Documents:
21 March 1945	F6F-5 Hellcat	VF-12 from Marine Air Base, Ulithi due to damaged USS Randolph	ENS. DELBERT L MARTIN, 364035	Action Report
Description: HIT GRD STRAFING;POSS AA HIT United States Naval Reserve Entered the Service from: Indiana Died: 22-Mar-46 Missing in Action or Buried at Sea Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery Manila, Philippines Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal Ens. Delbert LaRue Martin USNR Parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. Frank Martin from Fountaintown, IN Delbert apparently did not marry. He had one sister Scytha Martin Brown who died in 1993 and a brother Robert L Martin who died in 2003. Delbert's maternal first cousin is Maurice Eugene Boring. I talked to Maurice and he said Delbert was a little guy, light build but a ball of fire. He stopped by to say goodbye before leaving for the service. His parents thought he was lost at sea and his dad walked the roads in grief for years. VF-12 and VB-12 flew this mission from the Marine Air Base in Ulithi due to their carrier being damaged by a Japanese attack in the Ulithi harbor. They flew with a support package of Marine planes (F6F-5, TBM-3 and PBY-5A) from Casu-51 and VPB-23. Ens. Martin went into a dive with the other F6F-5 from VF-12 but never pulled out. It was not known whether he had been hit by AA, blacked out, or a structural failure caused the plane to crash near the Pelak harbor entrance on Gagil-Tomil, Yap. VF-12 History VF-12 History Overview On 11 March 1945, while anchored at Ulithi Atoll, a Yokosuka P1Y Frances kamikaze hit the Randolph on the starboard side aft just below the flight deck, killing 25 men and wounding 106. She was repaired at Ulithi Atoll before joining Task Group 58.2 enroute to Okinawa on 13 March 1945. USS Randolph (CV-15) alongside repair ship Uss Jason (ARH-1) at Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands, 13 March 1945, showing damage to her after flight deck resulting from a kamikaze hit on 11 March. Please submit additional information.

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