Captain Richard E. Fleming was awakened early in the morning of June 5th, 1942 on Midway Island having had less than four hours sleep. Orders had just been received to pursue and attack a pair of Japanese heavy cruisers sighted in retreat from Midway Island.
As part of the Japanese invasion force intended for Midway, the cruisers Mogami and Mikuma were stationed away from the island with two other cruisers and two destroyers. When the badly outgunned allied forces stunned the Japanese Navy by destroying four of its aircraft carriers the day before, the orders were given to fall back. Captain Fleming had taken part in the attacks against those carriers. That day also saw two of his squadron's commanders killed in action. His own aircraft took 179 hits during one attack from anti-aircraft fire, but was able to pull out with only two minor wounds himself. The damaged aircraft was forced to fall behind the rest of the squadron, but was able to make a safe landing despite total darkness and hazardous weather.
That night the cruisers were ordered to turn around and head to safety. The Mogami, last in the column, didn't get the order promptly and rammed the Mikuma. The Mogami caught fire and damaged so much of her bow that she was only able to make 12 knots. The Mikuma started trailing oil. The two undamaged cruisers moved away to safety, leaving the destroyers behind as protection.
The U.S. submarine Tambor was in the area and heard the sounds of damaged vessels. The cruisers were spotted at night 90 miles west of Midway. The Tambor - never able to maneuver into a firing position - followed them until daybreak at 4:12 a.m. when they were positively identified as Japanese warships.
A PBY Catalina seaplane on patrol from Midway spotted the oil slick and radioed the ship's location back to base, incorrectly identifying them as battleships.
After the losses of the previous day, Captain Fleming was now in command of the second division of Bombing Squadron 241. He collected all airworthy aircraft - six TBM Avenger and six Vindicator dive-bombers - and left Midway without fighter escort in search of the cruisers.
At 8:05 a.m., the cruisers were spotted and he ordered the attack. The Avengers dive-bombed the Mogami while he and the five other Vindicators glide-bombed the Mikuma at a perilously low altitude of 500 feet.
The anti-aircraft fire from the vessels was so heavy and intense that accurate bombing was impossible. Six near misses were scored, but no bomb hits. Captain Fleming's plane was hit and burst into flames. He pressed his aircraft forward, dropped his bombs for a near miss and dove the aircraft into the rear turret of the Mikuma, sacrificing his life.
The impact started the Mikuma on fire and was the only damage inflicted on either cruiser that day. Aircraft from the U.S.S. Enterprise later destroyed the Mikuma and a reconnaissance photograph clearly shows the wreckage of a Vindicator dive bomber scattered around the rear turret.
Soon after, Captain Richard Fleming was awarded the Medal of Honor by the U.S. Congress.
Captain A. Soji was in command of the Mogami and witnessed the attack on the Mikuma. During an interrogation following the war, he spoke of Captain Fleming saying
"I saw a dive-bomber dive into the last turret and start fires. He was very brave."
Perhaps the highest praise a Japanese Naval officer can give to an enemy.
The Medal of Honor was established in 1861 and first awarded in 1863. The stipulation for receiving this award is that the heroic deed must have two eyewitnesses and be outstanding beyond lesser forms of bravery or risk of life.
Captain Fleming received the citation for "extraordinary heroism and conspicuous intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty as Flight Officer Marine Scout - Bombing Squadron 241, during action against enemy Japanese Forces in the battle of Midway on 4 and 5 June 1942."
Richard Fleming was born on November 2, 1917 and attended St. Thomas Military Academy. He graduated as Top Student Officer in 1935.
He attended the University of Minnesota and joined the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity where he became president. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1939 and enlisted in the Marine Corps and applied for flight training.
He was sent to the Naval Air Station at Pensacola Florida for training and finished at the top of his class in 1940. In April 1942, he was promoted to First Lieutenant and then Captain only a month later. The Naval Air Base at San Diego became his first duty station. He was stationed at Midway Island ten days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Captain Fleming's name was not one to be forgotten. The South St. Paul Municipal airport in Minnesota was officially dedicated on September 29, 1940 when it had but a single hangar. Plans were soon announced that included larger hangars, but World War II was looming on the horizon.
The United States Navy was in desperate need for training facilities, so the airport was sold to the Navy in 1941 who invested approximately $1,000,000 in developing the field. Eight hangars, two large barracks, a boiler room and a power house were constructed. One barracks housed WAVES, the women's auxiliary of the Navy. The field, with its two large circular runways, was used over the next four years for carrier training.
The City of South St. Paul entered into an agreement in 1947 to operate the field as a community airport after it had become military surplus, but the transfer of ownership was put on hold when the Korean War broke out. The city received a quitclaim deed in 1950 and acquired additional land bringing the field to more than 230 acres.
Since 1942, the airport had always been unofficially known as Fleming Field. The South St. Paul Jaycees worked for more than a year to have the airport officially bear Fleming's name in his honor.
In May 1965, the Federal Aeronautics Administration (FAA) agreed to officially name the airport "South St. Paul Municipal Airport - Richard E. Fleming Field." A monument was installed at the entrance of the airport.
The field has been instrumental bringing additional business to the community and has been the center of much activity. In 1949, three National Guard flyers leaving Wold-Chamberlain Field (now Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport) enroute to Little Rock, Arkansas lost engine power. They were just about to bail out when they spotted Fleming Field and made a safe landing.
In 1950, under Jack Lysdale's management, Fleming Field was designated as a control airport for civil defense. "Fleming Field will be the essential unit and nerve center for civil aviation in civil defense, serving as the assembly point in case of emergency."
Fleming Field remains an effective airport today and the home to a number of specialized businesses including a major float designer and manufacturer and the home of the Minnesota Wing of the Commemorative Air Force. The CAF Wing is the oldest in the world and is responsible for restoring and maintaining several aircraft including the B-25 "Miss Mitchell."