Henry Talmage Elrod had a troubled childhood, both of his own doing and through bad luck. He had to drop out of college when his father died, so he joined the Marine Corps in 1927. Elrod learned to fly, but had a problem with testing. He got so nervous under supervision that he flunked his pilot's test, so badly that he wasn't given another chance until a new commander was assigned. Even then he had to take the classes and training all over again. Elrod passed the test this time, just barely.
Without the pressure of testing, Elrod was a great pilot. He was promoted to Captain, and was transferred to Hawaii in 1940. He and his commander led a team of 10 other pilots flying Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter planes to Wake Island, about halfway between Hawaii and Japan. That was on December 4, 1941. Four days later, Wake Island was attacked by Japan, just a day after the Pearl Harbor attack. The enemy destroyed eight of the 12 planes and killed most of the personnel. The Japanese returned on both December 10th and 11th, but this time Elrod gave them his all. Read about the early World War II battles that left Elrod with the permanent nickname "Hammerin' Hank" at Military History Now. -via Strange Company
(Image credit: US Navy)
