Squadron Records
The squadron records showed one full credit for a bomber shot down by Rex Barber; one full credit for a bomber shot down by Lanphier; a half credit each to Barber and Holmes for the one bomber shot down over the water.
No one had any way of knowing which bomber Admiral Yamamoto was riding in.
Because the interception had been made on the basis of intelligence information of Yamamoto’s plans that came from our intelligence people having broken the Japanese naval code, it was of utmost importance that the Japanese not figure out that their code had been broken. So, the mission was not publicized and it appears that references in the official records were minimized.
After the mission was flown and things were well confirmed that all of the Betty bombers had been shot down and thus probably Yamamoto killed, Admiral Mitscher, commanding on Guadalcanal, recommended the award of the MOH to the five pilots named. This award was favorably endorsed by Mitscher’s immediate superior, Admiral Fitch, whose favorable endorsement then went to Admiral Halsey. Admiral Halsey had received incorrect information that Lanphier and Barber had told a newspaperman, Mr. Lodge, about the breaking of the Japanese code. Lanphier and Barber had played golf with Mr. Lodge, the newspaperman, in New Zealand but Lodge already knew as did nearly everyone on Guadalcanal about the breaking of the code and he asked of Lanphier and Barber details of the flight to get his story correct. Lodge’s story was intercepted by the censor in San Francisco and all hell broke loose in Halsey’s headquarters.
Halsey called in Lanphier and Barber and read them the riot act, telling them that all of the MOH recommendations were being disapproved because of this breach of security. They were subsequently awarded the Navy Cross.
Halsey’s disapproval was based on erroneous information.
In 1995, the Second Yamamoto Mission Association raised the question with the Navy about the award of the MOH for John Mitchell. It was approved all the way through Navy channels but was disapproved by the State Department for it was in 1995 that our relationship with Japan was terribly strained over the rape by Marines of a Japanese girl on Okinawa. Apparently the State Department felt that awarding the MOH for the shoot down of their beloved Admiral Yamamoto would exacerbate the strained feelings at that time. With State Department disapproval, the Navy reversed their position and refused to go forward with the award of the MOH for John Mitchell. John died just a few weeks after receiving word of the Navy’s rejection.
Among the factors to be considered in the award of the MOH are:
The action of the recipient would be above and beyond the ordinary call of duty of a serviceman in combat.
The recipient would have deliberately taken actions that put his life in extreme jeopardy to achieve his mission.
The actions of the serviceman made a great contribution to the entire war effort and the outcome of the immediate combat.
Rex Barber’s valor and determination is clear:
He deliberately throttled back to stay behind the Betty bomber as it was descending towards the tree tops and was continuing to pour gunfire into the bomber knowing that 6 Zeros were diving on his tail and would be shooting at him from the 6 o’clock position with superior altitude and superior speed.
With a lot of luck and some very skillful flying, he not only shot down the bomber carrying Yamamoto but also escaped the 6 Zeros who shot 104 holes into his airplane but did not destroy a vital system.
MOH RECOMMENDATION
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