American War Hero · World War II · Notice Nearby

Edward H. O'Hare

March 13, 1914 – missing November 26, 1943

Born St. Louis, Missouri

Loss location: Pacific, north of USS Enterprise near the Gilberts (loss location)

Lieutenant commander; Fighting Squadron and Commander Air Group 6, USS Lexington and USS Enterprise

Missing in action — Navy casualty reporting lists Lt. Cdr. Edward Henry O'Hare missing after a night fighter mission from USS Enterprise on November 26, 1943. He flew an F6F Hellcat with a radar-equipped TBF Avenger and a wingman against Japanese bombers. No wreckage was found. A later finding of death did not produce remains. Historians still debate the last seconds; this page will not pick a story.

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Edward Henry O'Hare — Butch in the ready rooms — was a St. Louis Annapolis graduate (1937) who became, on February 20, 1942, the Navy's first flying ace of the war. Flying an F4F from USS Lexington, he broke up a formation of Japanese bombers headed for the carrier. The Medal of Honor citation is public. Chicago later put his name on an airport. That is the famous morning.

The unfinished morning is November 26, 1943. As Commander Air Group 6 on USS Enterprise, he volunteered for an experimental night intercept: two Hellcats and a radar-equipped Avenger sent against land-based bombers working the task group near Tarawa. His F6F left the formation and did not answer. Searches at dawn, and a Catalina later, found nothing.

He was reported missing in action. A finding of death came a year later. The aircraft has not been identified on the bottom. Early talk of friendly fire and later talk of a Betty's guns are arguments among living historians. This register will not settle them. The documentation is a missing Hellcat, a position report, and a Pacific that did not give him back.

Publication: NN-HERO-1941-006
Content hash: 1c18d5a0 d4624bd8 40c13893 a01d627c 66c8adb7 2081939d f1a50fdb a663078a
Base anchor: 0xc8fa41 682c4791 ff88483b 037216e4 c4287d5e 7bfd072c 67a14dd3 9d85a3d6 15

Base stores the content hash, publication number, memorial id, and timestamp — not the full obituary text. The complete memorial remains on Notice Nearby. This is not a legal affidavit.