Manuel Gonzalez – Sacrificed His Life for Our Freedom

Manuel Gonzalez was born in Los Angeles, California on April 26, 1911. From the U. S. 1930 Census, we learn that Manuel’s father, born in Spain, also Manuel, 54, was cigar maker. His mother Pearl, 37, had three sons living at home at this time: Manuel, 18, Charles 17, and Robert, 15. They lived at 3020 School Street in Oakland, Alameda County, California.

Obituary Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) 06 Mar 1942, Friday Page 6. Mannie attended McClymonds High School in Oakland and then attended Chico State College. There he stared as a football and basketball in 1937. After graduation from college, he enlisted in the Navy and spent time at Pensacola Naval Air Station training to be a dive bomber pilot in the SBD Dauntless. After completion of training, he was commissioned an Ensign in 1938.

The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/dive bomber from mid-1940 through mid-1944. The SBD was also flown by the United States Marine Corps, both from land air bases and aircraft carriers. The SBD is best remembered as the bomber that delivered the fatal blows to the Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway in June 1942.The type earned its nickname "Slow But Deadly" (from its SBD initials) during this period.

During its combat service, the SBD proved to be an excellent naval scout plane and dive bomber. It possessed long range, good handling characteristics, maneuverability, potent bomb load, great diving characteristics from the perforated dive brakes, good defensive armament, and ruggedness. Each plane had a crew of two; a pilot and a radio/gunner in the “back seat”.

Manuel Gonzalez was then assigned to the Scouting/Bombing Squadron VS-6 aboard the carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6). The USS Enterprise had one of the most fortunate pieces of good luck during the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. They, along with other carriers were out at sea, thus avoiding the surprise air attack. In addition, the huge ship was delayed by weather, or it may already have been at Pearl Harbor when the attack began.

Unaware of the Japanese attack, Enterprise launched eighteen of her SBDs - the CAG's aircraft, 13 aircraft from Scouting Squadron Six (VS-6) and four aircraft from Bombing Squadron Six (VB-6) - at dawn on 7 December to scout an arc extending from the northeast to southeast of the ship, and to land at Ford Island at Pearl Harbor after completing their search routes. As these aircraft arrived in pairs over Pearl Harbor, they were caught between attacking Japanese aircraft and defensive anti-aircraft fire from the ships and shore installations below. Seven SBDs were shot down, either from enemy action or friendly fire, with the loss of eight airmen killed and two wounded.

Enterprise received radio messages from Pearl Harbor reporting that the base was under attack, and she was later directed to launch an airstrike based on an inaccurate report of a Japanese carrier southwest of her location. The strike was launched around 17:00, consisting of six Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters of Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6), 18 Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers of Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6), and six SBDs of VB-6.

Unable to locate any targets, the torpedo and dive bombers returned to Enterprise, but the six fighters were directed to divert to Hickam Field on Oahu. Although word of the planes' expected arrival had been broadcast to all ships and anti-aircraft units in the area, the appearance of the Wildcats in the night sky over Oahu triggered panic firing, which shot down three of them, killing their pilots, while a fourth aircraft ran out of fuel, forcing the pilot to bail out.

OVER THE NEXT TWO hours, the enemy force, commanded by Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, leveled the American fleet at Pearl Harbor. Enterprise’s Squadron Six, outnumbered ten to one, fought the swarming Zeros with everything it had. The pilots’ voices through the crackling radio static rang in Benny’s ears for days, especially that of Ensign Manuel Gonzales. “Please don’t shoot! This is Six-Baker-Three, an American plane!” Next came Gonzales’s urgent command to his rear gunner, “We are on fire—bail out!” The transmission went silent after that. They disappeared without a trace.

Mannie’s wife, Jo Dene, left Pearl Harbor for San Francisco just 12 hours before the Japanese attack. Another example of good timing to avoid tragedy.

After Gonzalez’s death, he was buried in Halawa Naval Cemetery on Oahu but was later laid to final rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. Manuel was awarded a Purple Heart posthumously.

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This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Resources:

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=365889

https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Manuel_Gonzolez&birth=1915-4-26_los+angeles-los+angeles-california-usa_68337&death=1941-12-7&keyword=Navy+Pilot&name_x=s_s&priority=usa&race=White

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55923325/manuel-gonzalez

https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Manuel_Gonzolez&event=_san+francisco-san+francisco-california-usa_69183&birth=1911_los+angeles-los+angeles-california-usa_68337&death=1941&father=Manuel+H_Gonzalez&keyword=Navy+Pilot&mother=Pearl_Gonzalez&name_x=s_s&priority=usa&race=White&_phtarg=vvO2057&queryId=d13c962f85da90f4e3891f9d7568ce4d&successSource=Search

https://www.newspapers.com/image/679075188/?terms=%22Manuel%20Gonzalez%22&match=1

https://www.history.com/news/pearl-harbor-1941-from-a-sailors-perspective

http://www.cv6.org/1941/1941.htm

Gonzalez, Manuel (Manny), ENS