OSU
History Minute - June 30, 2000
Number
2 of a 12 part series: Honoring Oregon Staters who
died in WWII
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Teats,
as pictured in
The Beaver, 1939
|
Grant
W. Teats came to Oregon State from Sheridan,
Oregon, where he was an outstanding student
and track star.
At
OSC, Teats was a middle-distance runner
for Coach Grant "Doc" Swan's cindermen
of the late 1930s. A member of Theta Chi
fraternity, the handsome Teats graduated
in engineering in 1940.
When
the war began, Teats left for Pensacola
for training as a naval aviator, eventually
landing a spot with one of the most famous
(or infamous) torpedo squadrons of the entire
war...Squadron 8 or VT-8.
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Led
by brilliant, afraid-of-nothing Lieutenant Commander
John C. Waldron of South Dakota, Squadron 8's 16
torpedo planes took off from the carrier USS Hornet
on the morning of June 4, 1942, to locate and attack
the entire Japanese Fleet in an engagement that
marked the beginning of the pivotal Battle of Midway.
 |
| Oregon
Stater Grant W. Teats, '40, is pictured here
with other pilots from Squadron 8. Teats is
second from the right in the back row. Photo
originally appeared in LIFE Magazine, August
31, 1942. |
Everyone save one pilot was lost from VT-8, but
the position of the enemy fleet was exposed for
the first time and U.S. warships were able to win
the battle the following day by engaging the Japanese
in a moment of surprise.
Almost
nothing is known of the last minutes of Teats or
the rest of VT-8. Lt. George H. Gay, the Squadron's
only survivor, was too busy fighting for his life
to notice what was going on with his friends. Radio
operator Leory Quillen, flying in the vicinity with
a squadron of fighter bombers, heard a voice over
his radio he was sure was that of Waldron. It was
choking with excitement, the last words of a doomed
squadron.
"Watch
those fighters"...
"See
that splash!"...
"I'd
give a million to know who done that"...
"There's
two fighters in the water."
Now
decades later, the story of Grant Teats and Squadron
8 remains one of the most inspiring tales of gallantry
from World War II.
--
By George
Edmonston Jr.
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