Assigned to the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, Fleet Marine Force, he was stationed at San Diego and Hawaii before reporting for duty with Marine Scouter-Bomber Squadron (VMSB)-241 at Midway early in 1942.
Early on the morning of 4 June 1942, 2Lt. Tweedy took off from Midway in his "Dauntless" Navy dive-bomber (SBD-2). Minutes later, the Battle of Midway commenced as planes from the Japanese carriers pounded the Marine installations on Midway, and outdated American fighter planes based at Midway were bloodily dispatched by the newer and nimbler Japanese Zeros m the opening stages of the battle.
On that morning, 2Lt. Tweedy flew with Major Lofton Henderson's division of VMSB-241. Although stripped of its fighter protection, this division nonetheless attempted a glide-bombing attack on Japanese carrier HIRYU. Despite a fearsome antiaircraft barrage and repeated attacks by the numerically superior enemy fighter planes, Lt. Tweedy dove his aircraft to a perilously low altitude before releasing a bomb over the enemy carrier. Japanese fighters then attacked and splashed his slow-moving bomber, killing 2Lt. Tweedy. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his extraordinary heroism, cool courage, and conscientious devotion to duty.
The destroyer escort USS TWEEDY (DE-632) was named in his honor.
note: bio information taken the U.S. Navy's Dictionary of American Fighting Ships series.
See a memorial plaque in the family plot at the
High Street Cemetery in Hingham, MA.
Assigned to the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, Fleet Marine Force, he was stationed at San Diego and Hawaii before reporting for duty with Marine Scouter-Bomber Squadron (VMSB)-241 at Midway early in 1942.
Early on the morning of 4 June 1942, 2Lt. Tweedy took off from Midway in his "Dauntless" Navy dive-bomber (SBD-2). Minutes later, the Battle of Midway commenced as planes from the Japanese carriers pounded the Marine installations on Midway, and outdated American fighter planes based at Midway were bloodily dispatched by the newer and nimbler Japanese Zeros m the opening stages of the battle.
On that morning, 2Lt. Tweedy flew with Major Lofton Henderson's division of VMSB-241. Although stripped of its fighter protection, this division nonetheless attempted a glide-bombing attack on Japanese carrier HIRYU. Despite a fearsome antiaircraft barrage and repeated attacks by the numerically superior enemy fighter planes, Lt. Tweedy dove his aircraft to a perilously low altitude before releasing a bomb over the enemy carrier. Japanese fighters then attacked and splashed his slow-moving bomber, killing 2Lt. Tweedy. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his extraordinary heroism, cool courage, and conscientious devotion to duty.
The destroyer escort USS TWEEDY (DE-632) was named in his honor.
note: bio information taken the U.S. Navy's Dictionary of American Fighting Ships series.
See a memorial plaque in the family plot at the
High Street Cemetery in Hingham, MA.
Gravesite Details
Body lost at sea
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement