69 Henderson DD785

USS HENDERSON DD-785 refueling from USS MIDWAY off the California coast in Feb. 1958.
The HENDERSON, commissioned on 04 August 1945, was a GEARING class destroyer named
after US Marine Major Lofton Henderson who was the CO of Marine Dive Bomber Squadron
241, (VMSB-241), stationed on Midway Island when WWII began. Major Henderson was the
first Marine pilot killed in action in WWII when his squadron engaged the Japanese fleet that
was attacking Midway Island during the battle of Midway June 4-6, 1942. In that action he
won the Navy Cross for his gallantry. After 28 years with the fleet, the USS Henderson was
transferred to Long Beach, CA as a Naval Reserve Training ship replacing the ARNOLD J.
ISBELL DD-869 which was struck then transferred to the Greek Navy. Major Henderson was
first honored when the US Marines landed on Guadalcanal in 1942 and captured a partially
finished airstrip naming it Henderson Field in his memory.