Technical Sergeant Hugh F. Newell
Killed In Action 7 Dec 1950
VMF-323
Hugh Newell was an officer during World War II. During the war, he served in VMF-213, was attached to VMF-216 and VMF-217. He was also assigned to VF-10 aboard the USS Intrepid. Later served with VMF-513. 1stLt Newell kept a detailed log of most of the flight operations he took part in.
Here are some of his entries:
20 Feb 1945. The Marines of the 4th and 5th divisions hit the beach today at Iwo Jima (IO Shima). Due to caves, volcanic rock and dust with practically no vegetation for cover, it’s expected to really be a tough rock to take. I know it will be taken though or there won’t be a live marine out of these three divisions to tell about it. (3rd Marines standing by if needed).
22 Feb 1945. Had a CAP today. The weather closed in (we were around Iwo) and waves were pretty high. Geo. And I circled destroyer #735 for a while at fifty feet altitude, doing tight turns trying to keep her in sight. We lost her occasionally but would turn across her wake and follow that up to the ship. Things didn’t let up any so we decided to try to make it back to the carrier, which cleared us to land by blinker. We split off and I squared the plane away for landing. Other planes were milling around all over the area, keeping an eye the instrument panel to try to reach a position for the groove on instruments, and the other watching out for other aircraft doing the same thing. I made a pass at the Wasp and was too close to her when I saw her and couldn’t wrap it up enough to get aboard. That was really disappointing and I really bore down on the next pass to try to get in. This time I ended up on the starboard side of the Wasp on my downwind leg. I thought of trying a right hand pass but decided if I didn’t kill myself in trying it, the Skipper would finish me up when I got aboard, so I decided I’d just as soon spin in or crack up. So the only thing for me to try for was a good pass and make it good. I went up the upwind leg, concentrating on the landing and trim made the turn into the downwind leg. Finally noticed the bow of the ship coming up and I was too close inboard again so I immediately swung out and corrected it as much as I had time for and turned into the cross leg and the groove. He brought me on in and gave me the cut. I taxied up the deck and killed the engine and sat there for a couple of minutes, dead tired and the happiest guy in the world. It was raining like cats and dogs and I finally realized I was getting soaking wet so I crawled out of the cockpit and went thru the hatch in the island. These big carriers are hard to get used to and I was glad a sailor offered to lead me to the ready room. He must have recognized me as one of the new guys in the squadron, I figured, and it’s swell the way they try to get a guy started. I noticed though that he had led me to the wrong ready room, when we got to the door, so I told him I wanted the Marine Fighters ready room. He asked me what ship I thought I was on. I said the Wasp, (because I had recognized the tail insignia when I took the wave off). He said, “Nope, you’re on the Hornet”. ---- I was treated swell on the Hornet and the sqdn. Doc was splashing around the medical brandy pretty freely and I sure welcomed it. I was the first Corsair that ever landed on the Hornet and the Corsair the L.S.O. had ever landed. I was mighty glad to be aboard. A good indoctrination hop in carrier work—first landing since Dec 18th.
25 Feb 1945. Strike “B” on Tokyo today. It was my first combat hop. We didn’t encounter any enemy aircraft in the air, which was our primary duty. Secondary was to strafe Yokosuku Naval base, just south of Tokyo and hit any targets of opportunity. AA and Flak was not too heavy or accurate and we got thru okay. Wouldn’t have missed it for any thing. The weather was really poor, about 3,000 to 4,000 ft. We cruised around under it for quite a while in the Tokyo Bay but they never sent up their fighters to intercept us, so we proceeded with our secondary instructions.
After the end of World War II, Hugh Newell enlisted in the Marines to stay in because of the cut backs and RIFs. He was assigned to VMF-323 at MCAS El Toro. T/Sgt Newell took part in the movie “Halls of Montezuma.” He was part of a 4 Marine Corsair stunt team. In the John Wayne film, “Sands of Iwo Jims”, the Corsair that comes in low over the beach is T/Sgt Newell. It is told that the movie director was complaining that none of the planes were coming in low enough so Newell thought that he would give them a good scare. He came in so low that the cameraman dove out of the way.
His daughter Natalie recounts this story.
While we were stationed at El Toro in the late 40s, He was with the aerial acrobatic team – something my mother hated. I was only about 5 years old, but I remember a number of occasions Daddy buzzing us as we drove home from the PX. He would just do barrel rolls or fly upside down and my mother would pull the car over on the side of the road, get a red blanket out of the trunk and wave it furiously at him yelling, “OK, Hugh I see you, now stop that right now!” Of course, I thought it was great.
VMF-323 was sent to Korea on the carrier USS Badoeng Strait. Part of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade. From 1 Dec 1950, T/Sgt Newell would fly mostly CAP missions in support of Marines in the Chosin Reservoir area. On 7 Dec 1950, Technical Sergeant Hugh F. Newell was killed during a strafing run against enemy emplacements near Hagaru-ri, when his Corsair was hit by antiaircraft fire. “Whiskey” Newell, as his fellow squadron members called him, was considered to be one of the best fighter and acrobatic pilots in the Marine Corps. His body was never recovered. Gone but not forgotten. He was survived by his wife and two children.
This is by no way a definitive story of Hugh Newell’s life or career in the Marine Corps but rather a telling of history, Marine Aviation history, and a history he was part of and helped shape using excerpts from his log and by his Son and daughter. His son David wrote, the following. When he was killed, his body was never recovered and we never received his personal effect. Two years ago, his flight bag containing his personal effects was found in his sister’s attic in Phoenix, AZ. And returned to me complete and intact. I have a 50-year-old carton of Lucky Strikes, several lighters from Japan, his comb, razor, shaving cream, reading glasses, and more. I also have his “Aviators Flight Log Book” showing all his flights from Feb 1947 through 7 Dec 1950. The last entry was written by a shipmate. It simply says, “Crashed”.
Technical Sergeant Hugh F. Newell was part of a special breed of pilot, “The Flying Sergeant.” The Navy called them “Naval Aviation Pilots” or NAP. A breed that would soon disappear from the Corps. But their feats of courage and heroism will always be a part of Marine Corps history. Their exploits were above and beyond the call of duty both to country and corps.
Semper Fi Technical Sergeant Hugh F. Newell
“Lest We Forget”
We are looking for stories about 323 Death Rattlers both past and present to highlight on this page. A great Sea Story about a Death Rattler or something unusual that happened in 323 would suffice.