Talk:C. Wade McClusky

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Decoration?

After reading about McClusky's vital role in the battle of Midway - and probably shortening World War II by many months (to be conservative) and saving a lot of lives that would have been lost in further battles over Midway - I was surprised to see nothing is written here about any sort of decoration, medal, or something giving to him.

So I searched on the internet, and in [1] I found this long list of decorations he got. (wiki links below are mine)

For outstanding service while attached to USS ENTERPRISE, participating in raids on Marshall, Wake, Gilbert and Marcus islands and the Battle of Midway, he was awarded the Air Medal, the Distinguised Flying Cross, a letter of Commendation with Ribbon, a Ribbon and facsimile of the Presidential Unit Citation to ENTERPRISE, the Purple Heart Medal and the Navy Cross.

I don't think we can completely neglect this issue in this article:

Nyh 14:42, 14 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fuel

If his planes were almost out of fuel, how did they return to safety after disabling the Japanese carriers at Midway?173.72.115.153 (talk) 18:25, 11 July 2018 (UTC)Yukiomi Suwamara[reply]

Answer: They barely made it back. Many had to ditch near the carriers. Dusty Kleiss who had hits on both Kagi on June 4th, 1942 and Hiryu which sank the next day said he had "a couple of teaspoons" of gas left. Richard Best had two hits also. In one account Dusty relates how he followed the protocol of flying away from targets in a "dogleg" pattern to avoid the enemy knowing where his carrier was. This would have contributed to his lack of fuel. The main reason that they were short of fuel was that Wade Mclusky who was a fighter pilot was actually leading the two squadrons of dive bombers. He used up a lot of their fuel racing to the site albeit having to change course and follow a destroyer to the carrier's position.

There is still controversy over the choice of McClusky but say what you will he followed Admiral "Bull Halsey's" tactics of being the fastest to get to the battle first ("Hit hard, hit fast, hit often"). Although he wasn't first, I think it was an omen that the first bomb (dropped by Lt Earl Gallagher commander of Enterprise Dive Bomber Squadron 6) to hit the Kagi hit the first plane that was about to take off of the Kagi to attack the now sited American carriers. Within minutes three of the four Japanese Carriers were engulfed in flames and doomed. Only the Hiryu which was 20 miles away lived to attack and cripple the Yorktown which was later sunk by a submarine along with the Destroyer Hammond which was alongside assisting her. Hammond sank in 4 minutes.— Preceding unsigned comment added by SoulTraveler (talk • contribs) 21:36, 1 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Encyclopedic tone?

Near the end of the article is the line, "McClusky, through his intelligence, courage, and skill, had thus made a vital contribution to the outcome of this pivotal battle." I don't doubt that this statement is true, but it isn't encyclopedic information. If it is part of a quote that can be attributed to an authority figure, then it should be included as such in the article, complete with reference(s), but as it is currently, it sounds like Wikipedia is praising McClusky. I guess I'll look into it and see what the existing references have to say, but my concern is that it may come down to removing that sentence and a bit of the next, cutting it to, "For his actions, McClusky was awarded the Navy Cross," and I'm posting this as a preemptive measure to avoid making anyone mad about this. I have tried to find in the Manual of Style a guide to this problem, and so far I haven't, so if anyone reading this knows where I can find a guide for Wikipedia's policy on statements of opinion, I would appreciate the help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cellodont (talk • contribs) 20:36, 11 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, I have looked at the references, there are three. The first is a record of McClusky's account of the battle, the second is an informative 2016 article from the Buffalo News, and the third is a blurb from Variety about an actor joining the cast of a film about the battle. In none of them is there a quote as I described above, so I can only conclude that the content in question is indeed a statement of opinion that amounts to praise of McClusky, which is certainly merited elsewhere, but Wikipedia doesn't praise people, it reports facts. I am editing the article, therefore, and if anyone is offended, I apologize.Cellodont (talk) 20:57, 11 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]