George M. Campbell

George Marvin Campbell (January 7, 1907 – June 4, 1942) was a United States Navy officer. He was killed in action at the Battle of Midway while flying a torpedo bomber during an attack against several Japanese aircraft carriers.

Early life Campbell was born on January 7, 1907, in Madras, Oregon. He was the ninth of a dozen children in his family. His father was a dairy farmer who also piloted a ferry across the Deschutes River. Campbell attended a one room schoolhouse, excelled at basketball in high school, and was part of a team that won a state championship in 1925.

He attended Oregon State University. As Ensign Gay tells it, the flight was chancy at best. They had never performed an attack with torpedoes, and in fact had never even taken off from a carrier with torpedoes. Their equipment was old, and the efficacy of their armament was questionable. He thought that the absence of fighter cover may have made the difference. Nevertheless, he thinks that the low level attack, which drew down the Japanese fighter air cover, opened up the skies for the successful attack by the dive bombers, and that this attack should be given that credit. In passing, Gay has remarked that his sole survival, after being shot down, was just a matter of luck. He was killed in action during the attack.

The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS George M. Campbell (DE-773), laid down by the Tampa Shipbuilding Company at Tampa, Florida, was launched in 1944 but never completed. The construction contract for the vessel named for Campbell was cancelled, and she was towed to Charleston, South Carolina. Stripped for parts, she was scrapped.