US Navy Ensign Joseph Owen McCall was born in New Orleans, LA on February 12, 1923, the son of Harley Granville McCall (1894-1969) and Marie Irene Dupre (1903-). His father was originally from Escambia County, Florida where his family were farmers. Joseph's grandfather, Samuel Alexander McCall (1829-1926) was a Confederate veteran who migrated to Pensacola in 1890 and settled in the farming community of Klondyke. He had enlisted in Lenore, Caldwell County, North Carolina on 7-1-1861 in Company “D” of the 1st North Carolina Infantry Regiment. He was wounded during the battle of Rapidan on 11-27-1863 after being shot through the left thigh and through the breast. He was disabled to the point that after his recovery he was assigned to duty in the southern hospital in Raleigh, NC until the end of the war. He would marry Mary (Marie) Moore Withers (1853-1943) in Montgomery County, Tennessee on June 8, 1879. Mary held the distinction of having entertained one of President Abraham Lincoln's bridesmaids, was a descendant of President William Henry Harrison, and had a grandfather who was a Colonel in the War of 1812.
As for Harley, he would move his family to New Orleans leaving behind his parents, two sisters Mrs. Mae E. Hall (1883-1972) and Mrs. Lilian Fillingham, plus others. He was a WWI veteran and would retire as an engineer with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company before passing away in 1969.
In the meantime, Joseph graduated from high school in New Orleans and then enrolled in LSU and attended for two years. He left college to enlist in the US Navy flight program and was sent to Chapel Hill, NC for preflight training. From there he went to Chicago and then to Corpus Christie, TX. Finally he arrived in Jacksonville for carrier certification and formation flying orientation before being sent to the USS Yorktown in the South Pacific.
The Navy had decided that the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam would be attacked and captured in order to provide airfields whereby they could bomb the Japanese homelands. The new B-29 bombers were capable of flying there and back and delivering heavy payloads on the enemy factories producing war materials. Saipan fell on July 9 with Tinian shortly afterwards and now it was Guam's turn.
On the morning of July 15th, Joseph and his gunner Frank J. Metzenbauer (from Wisconsin) took off from the USS Yorktown in their Helldiver dive bomber. In the midst of the bombers from other carriers they headed for the nearby island of Rota. There, Joseph placed three of his bombs in the middle of a Japanese airfield. To protect the July 21st landing on Guam, all threats of an enemy air strike had to be eliminated. Then a short flight to Guam where Joseph flew through tremendous antiaircraft fire at low altitude to place a bomb in the middle of an enemy ammunition dump. As he flew off, he was hit and crashed into the sea off Adelup Point. Both men were killed as they sank to the bottom in their aircraft. Both families were notified that their loved ones were missing in action, but little hope was provided as to their fate. On July 19, 1945, both were declared dead after one year and one day per the Navy's policy.
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