YUMA, Ariz. - Have you ever wondered how Marine Attack Squadron 211 came up with the name “Wake Island Avengers"?
It comes down to a little-known fact during World War II; at same time the forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy struck Pearl Harbor Hawaii, across the Pacific and the international dateline, they also struck South Pacific American outposts, including Wake Island.
On Dec. 8, 1941, the Japanese attacked the island, destroying seven of the 12 aircraft on the ground.
In the next two weeks, the remaining five planes repelled numerous attacks and inflicted great losses on the much larger enemy force. During the course of the defense, the Marine ground forces and VMF-211 sunk at least four enemy warships, the first major Japanese naval vessels sunk in the Pacific theater, as well as destroying eight enemy aircraft.
After the loss of its last aircraft, the squadron became a ground unit and fought until the surrender of the atoll.
The first Marine pilot awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II was VMF-211's Capt. Henry T. Elrod. On Dec. 12, “Hammerin’ Hank” single-handedly attacked a flight of 22 enemy planes and shot down two. He also executed several low-altitude bombing and strafing runs on enemy ships. During one of these attacks, he became the first man to sink a warship, the Japanese destroyer Kisaragi, with small-caliber bombs delivered from a fighter aircraft.
When all the U.S. aircraft had been destroyed by hostile fire, Elrod organized remaining troops into a beach defense unit which repelled repeated Japanese attacks. On Dec. 23, 1941, Elrod was mortally wounded while protecting his men who were carrying ammunition to a gun emplacement.
He was posthumously promoted to major on Nov. 8, 1946, and his widow was presented with the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the defense of Wake Island.
Today, his name is still on the cockpit of the squadron’s commanding officer’s jet.
A planned operation to reinforce Wake Island was deemed too dangerous by the fleet command, and on Dec. 23 Wake Island was finally overrun by a numerically superior enemy.
“It’s definitely a heritage we celebrate today,” said Capt. Daniel Ford, VMA-211 pilot and historian. “‘Remember Wake’ became the battle cry for the squadron for the rest of the war. It’s where we get our identity from.”
The squadron's rear echelon at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa lost all but one of its twelve F4F-3s during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and even this lone surviving aircraft was lost when it was transferred to the Navy.
Slowly rebuilding, as personnel and aircraft became available, the squadron was deployed in May 1942 to Palmyra Atoll in the South Pacific and adopted the name "Avengers" in memory of those squadron members who were killed or captured on Wake Island.
Throughout the war, VMF-211 participated in the Treasury-Bougainville Campaign, Battle of the Bismarck Sea, Northern Solomon, Battle of Leyte Gulf and Southern Philippine campaigns, shouting “Remember Wake!” everywhere the Marine went.
The squadron, one of the oldest in the Marine Corps, keeps their fighting spirit alive to this day.
“We take pride in being professional attack pilots, and we strive for excellence every day,” said Ford.