Local author’s latest release details role of Montana pilot during Battle of Midway
Local readers will get a chance to hear about what went into the writing of a book that chronicles the story of one of Montana’s greatest World War II heroes during a book signing event this month in Bozeman.
Dennis Gaub’s second book, Midway Bravery – The Story of the U.S. Army Pilot Whose Famed Flight Helped Win a Decisive World War II Battle, highlights a young Montanan’s crucial role in the Battle of Midway. Gaub will discuss his work at 6pm on Tuesday, January 7th at Downtown Bozeman’s Country Bookshelf.
On June 4, 1942, Army Air Force pilot James P. Muri carried out a daring attack against Imperial Japan’s fleet steaming towards Midway Atoll, with intent to seize it and further the island nation’s goals of domination in the Pacific.
Muri, his co-pilot and five crew members found themselves in a head-on confrontation with a massive fleet. Given almost no details about his mission or target before he took off from Midway, Muri used his skills and smarts to improvise and carry out an assignment that helped win one of the greatest naval battles in world history.
Muri’s flight became the stuff of legend. After launching a torpedo from his twin-engine B-26 bomber, nicknamed “Susie-Q” (also the nickname of his wife, Alice), Muri quickly chose the only route to possible survival. It was a desperate moment because he faced a barrage of antiaircraft fire, plus cannon shells and machine fire blazing from Japanese Zero fighter planes.
Muri banked Susie-Q sharply upward from her low flight path below the level of the Japanese carrier, Akagi, and flew his plane the length of the massive ship’s deck. He thus avoided enemy fire long enough for his badly damaged bomber to regain altitude and for him to fly back to Midway, bringing three wounded men and the rest of the crew to safety. Muri was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery.
Gaub spent six years researching the life of Muri, who died in 2013 and who graduated from Custer County High School in Miles City in 1936 – the same high school Gaub attended in the 1960s. Midway Bravery was released last spring.
Gaub, formerly of Belgrade, now lives in Billings. He retired from the software industry in 2017 and has returned to writing full-time, now as an author. Gaub’s career included 25 years as a newspaper reporter and editor for daily and weekly newspapers in Montana, Colorado, Wyoming and Michigan. This included 20 years, on three occasions starting in high school, as a member of the Billings Gazette staff. He also was a part-time reporter for the Belgrade News after leaving the corporate world.
Country Bookshelf is located at 28 W Main St. Author events are free and open to the public. For more information about the store and to take a peek at its upcoming calendar, visit www.countrybookshelf.com. •