Avengers, Wildcats & Crickets

“Avengers, Wildcats, and Crickets” – is a rare personal glimpse of the War in the Pacific seen through the eyes and journals of five young American men who served on the USS White Plains in 1943-1944. Their secret writings from eight decades ago tell a fresh and unfiltered dramatic story of heroic patriotism, loyalty, humor, tragedy, loss, and triumph. Four of these men were only teenagers when their country called on them to go to war on small Pacific Islands halfway around the world.

Flying off the USS White Plains in 1944, the men of Composite Squadron Four (VC-4) and Marine Observer Squadron VMO-4 flew into battle in TBM-Avenger torpedo bombers, FM-2 Wildcat fighters, and the tiny OY-1 Marine spotter planes affectionately called "Crickets." In campaigns over the Marianas, Palau Islands, and Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, these men and planes flew antisubmarine patrols, close air support for the Marine invasion forces, and tactical strikes against entrenched Japanese forces.

The vivid first-hand accounts recorded in the journals of these men put you directly inside the Avengers, Wildcats, and Crickets. You will not read about the battles and missions. You will experience the battles through their eyes and voices. Written as narrative nonfiction, the men speak and tell their own stories. Hundreds of photographs, some never before seen, further bring the story to life. The accuracy of the storytelling is assured by the input of Andrew J. Winnegar, ARM/2 who as a teenager flew onboard the TBM Avenger piloted by Lt jg Pat Owens. The story was enriched by hours of videotaped interviews with Winnegar, now 97-years-old, describing every facet of the war, the places, tactics, and life aboard the USS White Plains. His is a rare first-hand accounting enriched by his journals and remarkable memory of events from eighty years ago.

The Battle off Samar on October 25, 1944, was The USS White Plain's final harrowing encounter. In a David and Goliath battle, dubbed the greatest Naval last stand of all time, the vastly outnumbered and outgunned Americans prevailed over a massive armada—the Japanese Imperial Navy’s Center Force. The Americans were stunned to confront a 23-ship Japanese convoy with four battleships including the massive Yamato with her 18-inch main guns, six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and 11 destroyers. Taffy 3 was severely overmatched with only three destroyers, four destroyer escorts, and six small jeep escort carriers, including the USS White Plains. The American ships’ largest armament was 5-inch guns, clearly no match against the powerful Japanese warships. The airmen flying off the USS White Plains played a pivotal role in attacking the Japanese Fleet with bombs, rockets, and machine guns. All of the drama is captured in the journals of the men who flew into battle and manned the radarscopes in CIC aboard the USS White Plains.

War does not create heroes; it simply creates situations where those with the grit and a spark of gallantry can remain in the fight, running towards the danger to become leaders of men and the defenders of freedom. Now, almost 80 years later, we can thank the men of VC-4 and VMO-4 and the USS White Plains for having the grit and the spark that helped win the war and preserve our nation.

Russell Low is a physician with a passion for discovery and storytelling. His discoveries in the medical field have changed the way that his colleagues worldwide practice medicine and image disease. Discovery of his own roots began 30 years ago through the stories of his parents and their siblings. Growing up in Central California, more American than Chinese, his connection to Chinese culture and history was limited and incomplete.

Russell Low's most recent novel "The All-American Crew" explores how Ah Ying's "Three Coins" created ripples that led to her grandsons' heroic exploits as part of the "Greatest Generation" during World War II. Celebrating American diversity and ideals of honor, bravery, and freedom, The All-American Crew is a magnificent true story of men at war.

Discovering the 1903 Hong family photograph among the belongings of 100-year-old great Uncle Kim sparked a decades-long search for the stories behind the photograph. These are the stories presented in Three Coins. In his searches, Russell came across a 130-year-old newspaper notice titled “Villainous-looking Chinese after a Chinese Girl.” In the article, he recognized his great-grandparents’ names, but the romantic drama it uncovered shook the core of his family’s belief in who they are and how they came to be Americans. Russell frequently lectures on Chinese-American history, and his family’s story has been featured on the History Channel, National Public Radio, the Voice of America, and the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Russell lives with his wife Carolyn Hesse-Low, an avid and well-known plein air artist, in La Jolla, California where they raised their two sons Ryan and Robert.