Jack Petit joined the service late like many men. He and his buddy, Mac McCall didn't fly to the Pacific but went on old liners. From there they flew to Esprito de Santos and then to Ewa, Hawaii. There were 27 crew members in Ewa in December of 1942, and two were not pilots. The Marine Corps wanted 27 pilots, so the squadron was not deployed from Hawaii until February of 1943. There they began their tour of the Solomon Islands for the War in the Pacific. Each squadron had to put in 3 tours before they went back to San Francisco.
During their first nine week combat tour, they flew the Grummond F4F “Wildcat”. This was followed by a one week R & R in Sydney, Australia and then a return to Esprito in Turtle Bay. VMF 214, the Swashbucklers, did not check into the Corsairs early in 1943. Their first real tour in the Solomons began in Guadalcanal. They would sometimes fly patrol all day long. The 2nd tour was in Russell Islands in Munda, New Georgia. The fields were small and the Japanese were in the hills. It was a very difficult mission.
In the 3rd tour, VMF 214 was to cover Bougainville. At this time the Marines had made a difficult decision for the squadron. They made a leadership change and gave VMF 214 to Pappy Boyington, USMC wild man and flying ace of the Pacific. He chose 2 members from the original 214, Miller and McClurg, and VMF 214 was reborn as the famous (or infamous) “Black Sheep” squadron. The rest of the pilots became VMF 215 and VMF 221. Jack Petit was to be a member of VMF 215. The members in Petit’s squadron were Barry O’Dell, Lincoln Deets, O.K. Williams, Mac (Drury) McCall, Dick Sigel, Tom Tomlinson and Ledge Hazelwood. Dave Rankin would join 221.
During this dangerous tour they flew out of the Russell Islands up the slot to Bougainville. VMF 215 was based in Vela Lavella and was covering the invasion of Bougainville from the south shore island for an area where they were building a U. S. base. The distance between Vela LaVella and Bougainville was about 90 miles. (about a 45-minute trip)
In October of 1943 Deets, O’Dell, Williams and Petit were on a straffing mission in Bougainville. The 8 member squadron (VMF 215) would sometimes fly from 4 in the morning until 8 at night in 4-hour shifts. Each group would circle and patrol at around 10,000 feet. After each 4-hour patrol they were ordered down to machine gun an area with Japanese (straffing mission). Each corsair had 6 machine guns, 3 in each wing. The planes would come down and strafe on the north side of the river, and then return to circle at 10,000 feet until the relief crew arrived. Then the formation would head back to Vela LaVella. It was very difficult and treacherous work, and took a great deal of intense concentration. Although the Corsair, or “Whistling Death,” as is was known by the Japanese, was very powerful and fast, the planes were not always in good condition. In fact, many of them had not been in good condition when the Navy started having the Marines fly them.
Jack Petit and Lincoln Deets were wingmen in the small formation headed back to Vela LaVella on October 18, 1943. Deets was covering Williams on the left and Petit covering O’Dell on the right. The skies were clear and no one had been hit. Although seemingly ideal conditions for flying, the pilots were flying at 250 mph and constantly on the look out for Japanese. They also had to be sure to stay off the radios for fear of bringing attention to their mission. They had no real instruments other than a compass and fuel gauge.
About ¾ of the way back to Vela LaVella, the small group noticed that Jack Petit was no longer with them. He was nowhere in sight and had not radioed in. Low on fuel from a lengthy and difficult mission, they returned as quickly as possible to the base and reported to Major Robert Owens that only 3 men had made it back from the mission. Granting permission to refuel and search, the crew went back and could not find a trace of their friend. The next morning they fueled up and returned again, but still found no trace. Petit was not shot or hit, not a word said, and not a cloud in the sky. His friends made the difficult call to return without him.
Often downed pilots were picked up by ships or found on islands, but this was not to be the case for Jack Petit. Remembered by his squadron as a good man and a good pilot, he would become one of the 36,000 missing in action in the War in the Pacific. Some friends would remember his humor, dancing around the fire at night to ward off mosquitoes; some would remember him playing poker, a little sharper than they were comfortable with! Most all would agree, Jack Petit was a good man and a good pilot. As one squadron member said, “I can’t think of anyone I would rather have be my wingman.”
Undoubtedly, VMF 215 will not go down in history the same way VMF 214 will. Pappy Boyington was amazing and colorful and everything that history books are made of, but those that were there know that it took many good men to fight a war. The support and mission preparation made by VMF 215 in Bougainville laid the groundwork for victory and success by those that followed.
According to newspaper articles, Jack Petit died a First Lieutenant for the United States Marines. Approximately one year after his disappearance, Mrs. C.W. Petit was visited on a Friday afternoon by Charles S. Andes of the Marine Corps. Although listed by the Navy as “presumably dead”, he had been attached to the Marine Corps as a fighter pilot. The Air Medal he had been awarded by the President was signed by Frank Knox, former Navy Secretary. Petit won this for an attack on a flight of 40 bombers escorted by Zeros while flying with 3 other Marine pilots. Subsequent citations for two Gold Stars were for action July 18, 1943 in the New Hebrides Island and for action in the Solomon Islands. The website by the American War Dead Commission lists him as a Captain and also as having received the Purple Heart. (please visit link below)
Resting place at The World War II Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
What we know is that Jack Wardell Petit was a brave and good man who defended his country honorably. He will not be forgotten. The tombstone pictured below was carved by his Uncle Luke Warnes. The Corsair Jack Petit made his last flight in, is pictured on the stone.
"Jack Petit was credited with shooting down three Japanese planes. He was a good man and and a good pilot." - O. Keith Williams, September 19, 2002.