George H. W. Bush

=== World War II ===
[[File:George H.W. Bush seated in a Grumman TBM Avenger, circa 1944 (H069-13).jpg|left|thumb|upright|Bush in his Grumman TBF Avenger aboard USS ''San Jacinto'' in 1944]]

On his 18th birthday, immediately after graduating from Phillips Academy, he enlisted in the [[United States Navy]] as a [[naval aviator (United States)|naval aviator]].<ref name=GHWBlifebefore/> After a period of training, he was commissioned as an ensign in the Naval Reserve at [[Naval Air Station Corpus Christi]] on June 9, 1943, becoming one of the youngest pilots in the Navy.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|p=54}}{{efn|For decades, Bush was considered the youngest aviator in the U.S. Navy during his period of service,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Boyd |first1=Gerald M. |title=A Victor Free to Set His Own Course |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/09/us/1988-elections-man-george-herbert-walker-bush-victor-free-set-his-own-course.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 9, 1988}}</ref> but such claims are now regarded as speculation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Siegel |first1=Rachel |title=For George H.W. Bush, Pearl Harbor changed everything, and World War II made him a hero |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2018/12/01/george-hw-bush-pearl-harbor-changed-everything-world-war-ii-made-him-hero/?noredirect=on |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> His official Navy biography called him "the youngest" in 2001,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq10-1.htm |title=Lieutenant Junior Grade George Bush, USNR |date=April 6, 2001 |publisher=Naval Historical Center |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20100410115448/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq10-1.htm |archive-date=April 10, 2010 }}</ref> but by 2018 the Navy biography described him as "one of the youngest".<ref name="navy">{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-b/bush-george-h-w.html |title=George Herbert Walker Bush |date=December 1, 2018 |access-date=December 2, 2018 |publisher=Navy History and Heritage Command}}</ref>}} Beginning in 1944, Bush served in the Pacific theater, where he flew a [[Grumman TBF Avenger]], a [[torpedo bomber]] capable of taking off from aircraft carriers.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=56–57}} His squadron was assigned to the {{USS|San Jacinto|CVL-30|6}} as a member of Air Group 51, where his lanky physique earned him the nickname "Skin".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.pilotonline.com/military/article_ce04e725-0849-5d16-943a-dcf32f729af0.html |title=San Jacinto veterans reunite, recall serving with Bush |last=Adams |first=Kathy |date=January 10, 2009 |work=The Virginian-Pilot |publisher=Landmark Communications |access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref>

Bush flew his first combat mission in May 1944, bombing Japanese-held [[Wake Island]],{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=57–59}} and was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) on August 1, 1944. During an attack on a Japanese installation in [[Chichijima]], Bush's aircraft successfully attacked several targets but was downed by enemy fire.<ref name="navy" /> Though both of Bush's fellow crew members died, Bush successfully bailed out from the aircraft and was rescued by the submarine {{USS|Finback|SS-230|6}}.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=60–63}}{{efn|Bush's fellow crew members for the mission were William G. White and John Delaney. According to the accounts of an American pilot and a Japanese individual, another parachute from Bush's aircraft opened, but the bodies of White and Delaney were never recovered.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=60–63}}}} Several of the aviators shot down during the attack were captured and executed, and their livers were [[Chichijima incident|cannibalized by their captors]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=James | author-link = James Bradley (American author)|title=Flyboys: A True Story of Courage |date=2003 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |isbn=978-0-316-10584-2|title-link=Flyboys: A True Story of Courage }}</ref> Bush's survival after such a close brush with death shaped him profoundly, leading him to ask, "Why had I been spared and what did God have for me?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/the-faith-of-george-h-w-bush.html|title=The Faith of George HW Bush|website=The Christian Post|date=June 26, 2017}}</ref> He was later awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] for his role in the mission.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|p=66}}

Bush returned to ''San Jacinto'' in November 1944, participating in operations in the Philippines. In early 1945, he was assigned to a new combat squadron, VT-153, where he trained to participate in an [[Operation Downfall|invasion of mainland Japan]]. Between March and May 1945, he trained in [[Auburn, Maine]], where he and Barbara lived in a small apartment.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Washuk |first=Bonnie |date=December 1, 2018 |title=George H.W. Bush called Lewiston-Auburn home during WWII |work=[[Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine)|Sun Journal]] |url=https://www.sunjournal.com/2018/12/01/george-h-w-bushs-ties-to-lewiston-auburn/ |access-date=May 31, 2023}}</ref> On September 2, 1945, before any invasion took place, Japan formally surrendered following the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]].{{sfn|Meacham|2015|p=69}} Bush was released from active duty that same month but was not formally discharged from the Navy until October 1955, when he had reached the rank of lieutenant.<ref name="navy" /> By the end of his period of active service, Bush had flown 58 missions, completed 128 carrier landings, and recorded 1228 hours of flight time.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|p=70}}