Intrepid's Fighting Squadron 18: Flying High with Harris' Hellcats

To answer this question, Intrepid’s Fighting Squadron 18 follows squadron members through training, into combat, and finally to the end of their harrowing stories—whether they took the return trip home or made the ultimate sacrifice. Drawing extensively on archival and family collections, author Mike Fink reveals the personalities of these men and the binding friendships they built. “Moe” Mollenhauer, Fighting 18’s youngest pilot, had a score to settle with the Japanese. Outspoken “Punchy” Mallory incredibly was reprimanded for shooting down enemy planes. And the squadron’s best-known figure, Cecil “Speedball” Harris, took the lead in preparing his peers for war before they took their place at the tip of the Navy’s spear. Intrepid’s Fighting Squadron 18 is as much about the bonds these young men formed as it is about Pacific War history.  

The men of Fighting 18 joined the Navy’s massive fast-carrier force in August 1944—just in time to participate in the last great air and sea battles in the Pacific. They were one of the first squadrons to engage Japan’s massive battleship force during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, racked up incredible scores and suffered devastating losses during the Formosa Air Battle, and bore witness to an unthinkable new weapon—the kamikaze suicide attack—as the war entered its desperate endgame. Ultimately, Intrepid’s Fighting Squadron 18 showcases the powerful impact of war on those who fight it and sheds light on the impact of those men on the war itself.