Bob Just

This short paragraph is taken from The Navy Reader, published in 1943. The story is entitled "Life and Death of the U.S.S. Yorktown." In the battle, the Lexington is struck mortally while her pilots are still returning from a mission during World War II.

May, 1942

"The Yorktown had been hit and the Lexington was sinking…There were heroes both among the fliers and the crew. When the gun mount on an SBD broke, a radioman shot down a Jap fighter by letting the gun rest on the side of the plane. Then there was Bill Ott of the Lexington. On the way back, Ott was attacked by Japs and shot up. Running out of gas, he called the Yorktown, said he could fly only fifteen minutes more. His radioman was dead, and he himself had only one good arm and one good leg. Finally, his last report came, "I am out of gas. That is all. Good luck and God be with you…" That night, after dark, the Lexington sank."

God bless you Bill Ott. Your cool courage in the final moment before your death almost 60 years ago is an example to us all.