05/02/2026
Richard H. Best climbed into his SBD Dauntless at dawn on June 4, 1942, tasted blo*d in his throat from the oxygen leak that was poisoning his lungs, and still dove straight at the Japanese carrier Akagi because he believed hesitation would cost the Pacific.
He should not have been in the air.
The faulty oxygen system had already burned his lungs, leaving him coughing and struggling for breath. Other pilots urged him to stand down, to let someone else take the mission.
He refused.
Best led Bombing Squadron Six into the sky anyway.
They climbed to altitude and looked down at a fleet unlike anything they had faced before. The scale of it was overwhelming, but he held his formation steady, focused on the task ahead.
Midway unfolded in chaos.
Planes were shot down, formations scattered, and the sky filled with fire and confusion. Through it all, Best kept control, guiding his squadron toward the target.
At eight thousand feet, he made his move.
He rolled into a dive so steep it felt like falling.
Wind tore at the aircraft, the carrier below rushing up to meet him, growing sharper with every second.
He chose his target carefully.
A single point near the center of the Akagi.
He released one bomb.
It struck with precision.
The explosion ripped through the deck, igniting fuel and triggering a chain reaction that disabled one of Japan’s most powerful carriers.
Best pulled out of the dive at the last moment.
Flames reached up toward his plane as he escaped, unaware of the full impact of what he had just done.
But the day was not over.
Hours later, still weak and struggling to breathe, he flew again.
This time the target was the carrier Hiryu—the last remaining threat.
He descended through heavy anti-aircraft fire.
Despite the chaos around him, he held his line, steady and controlled, focused entirely on the moment.
Then he released another bomb.
It hit.
The final carrier was crippled.
By the end of the day, Best could barely stand.
The damage to his lungs was severe, the result of toxic exposure that would end his flying career and nearly take his life.
Recovery was long and uncertain.
He spent months in hospitals, his body weakened, his future forever changed.
Yet he never questioned his choice.
Historians would later recognize the significance of those moments.
Two strikes, delivered under extreme conditions, helped shift the course of the Pacific war.
Best did not rely on strength alone.
He relied on precision.
On focus.
On the refusal to step back when everything demanded he step forward.
Because in that moment, hesitation was not an option.
