George M. Campbell

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, was named for Campbell. The construction contract was cancelled, and she was towed to Charleston, South Carolina. Stripped for parts, she was scrapped.

In 1942 Campbell underwent more flight training and was appointed Lieutenant, junior grade, on April 2, 1942.

VT-8's first and best-known combat mission came during the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942. Flying obsolete Douglas TBD Devastators, all of Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron's fifteen planes were shot down during their unescorted torpedo attack on Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carriers. The squadron failed to damage any Japanese carriers or destroy enemy aircraft.

Piloting a Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bomber during the battle, Campbell took off with his squadron on June 4, 1942, to intercept the Japanese fleet, and without fighter cover attacked the enemy aircraft carriers against murderous opposition. Knowing full well that they had insufficient fuel to return to Hornet, the Torpedo Squadron 8 crews pressed their attack gallantly until all were shot down. Campbell was listed as presumed dead on June 5, 1942. Campbell was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic actions at Midway. He was killed in action during the attack.

He served as a flight instructor beginning in 1938. At the dawn of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, he had become one of the Navy's most experienced pilots. "John Waldron relied on him as a teacher and mentor to the younger pilots." He was promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade) in February, 1942.

On June 27, 1928, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. After boot camp, he spent eight months aboard the USS Lexington (CV-2). He did flight training in Pensacola, Florida and received his wings in 1930. While in that training, he met and married Genevieve Thompson, by whom he had a daughter, Shirley, born in 1932.

George M. 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.

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. He attended a one room schoolhouse. He excelled at basketball in high school, and was part of a team that won a state championship in 1925.