Most people remember him as the guy who presided over the end of the Cold War or the president who puked in the Japanese Prime Minister's lap. But long before the suits and the CIA and the White House, George H.W. Bush was just a scared 20-year-old kid in a cockpit. Honestly, when you look at the George HW Bush WW2 record, it’s kinda wild how close we came to never knowing he existed.
He wasn't some back-line officer. He was a torpedo bomber pilot. That’s arguably one of the most dangerous jobs the Navy had in 1944. You're flying a bulky TBM Avenger, trying to drop ordnance on targets while every anti-aircraft gun on the ground is screaming at you.
That Chichi Jima Mission Changed Everything
It was September 2, 1944. Bush was flying off the USS San Jacinto. The mission was pretty straightforward: knock out a radio station on Chichi Jima, a small island in the Bonin chain. It was part of the lead-up to the invasion of Iwo Jima.
He didn't miss. Even with the engine on fire and the cockpit filling with thick, oily smoke, he stayed on target. He dropped his bombs. He hit the radio station. But the plane was toast.
The Bailout
You've gotta imagine the chaos. He’s yelling at his crew, William "Del" Delaney and John "Leo" Moore, to get out. Bush jumped. He hit his head on the tail of the plane as he fell, which ripped his parachute slightly and sent him into a terrifyingly fast descent.
He smashed into the water. He was alone.
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He found a small inflatable life raft and started paddling like hell. Why? Because the Japanese boats were already coming out from the shore to get him. He was barely a few miles off the coast. If he’d been captured, his story would have ended there, and it would have been gruesome. We now know from historical records and the work of authors like James Bradley in Flyboys that the American POWs captured on Chichi Jima during that time faced horrific fates, including execution and even ritualistic cannibalism by their captors.
Bush didn't know the full extent of that horror then, but he knew he didn't want to be caught.
The Finback Save
Just as things were looking truly bleak, a periscope popped out of the water. It was the USS Finback, a lifeguard submarine. They saw him. They hauled him up.
There's actually a famous grainy video of this. You see this skinny, exhausted kid being pulled onto the deck of a sub. He’s shivering. He looks completely spent. He spent the next month on that submarine, helping rescue other downed pilots. It’s one of those moments in history that feels like a movie script, but it was just a Tuesday in the Pacific for these guys.
Why the George HW Bush WW2 Story Still Matters
We talk about the "Greatest Generation" a lot. It’s become a bit of a cliché. But for Bush, the war wasn't a talking point. It was a weight. He was the only one who made it out of his plane that day. Delaney and Moore died.
For the rest of his life, he reportedly asked himself why he was spared. He carried that survivor's guilt into his political career. It shaped his foreign policy. When you're the guy who’s been shot down and rescued by a submarine, you probably look at "red lines" and "military interventions" through a slightly different lens than someone who only saw the war from a briefing room.
He wasn't a "hawk" in the way some people think. He was a guy who knew exactly what it cost to send 20-year-olds into a cockpit.
The Stats and the Reality
- Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade.
- Flight Hours: Over 1,200.
- Carrier Landings: 58.
- Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals.
But stats don't tell you about the smell of the ocean or the sound of flak hitting the fuselage. Bush was one of the youngest naval aviators in history. He joined up on his 18th birthday, right after Pearl Harbor. He could have gone to Yale. He could have stayed in high society. He chose the cockpit of an Avenger instead.
What Most People Get Wrong
People think his service was just a "resume builder." It wasn't. It was gritty. The TBM Avenger was a beast of an aircraft, but it was also a "flying coffin" if things went wrong. It was heavy, slow, and a massive target for Japanese Zeros.
Also, the rescue wasn't a sure thing. The Finback had to surface in enemy-controlled waters. They risked the entire crew of the sub to save one pilot. That’s the kind of stuff that builds a lifelong loyalty to the military.
The Aftermath of Chichi Jima
When Bush finally got back home, he didn't boast. He got married to Barbara, went to Yale, and started a life. But the George HW Bush WW2 experience stayed right there under the surface. It’s why he was so focused on international alliances. He understood that the world is a dangerous place and you need friends—and sometimes a submarine—to get you through it.
He flew 58 combat missions. Most pilots didn't make it through half that.
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The fact that he survived and eventually became the leader of the free world is a statistical anomaly. If the wind had been blowing a different way, or if the Finback had been a mile further out, the entire trajectory of the late 20th century would have looked different. No 1990 Gulf War. No end of the Cold War the way we saw it. No Reagan-Bush era.
Actionable Insights from a Naval Hero
History isn't just about dates. It's about the character forged in the middle of a crisis. If you want to really understand the man, look at his flight logs, not just his polling numbers.
- Research the "Flyboys" of Chichi Jima: To understand the stakes Bush faced, read up on the other eight airmen who were captured during those raids. It provides a chilling context to his narrow escape.
- Visit the National Museum of the Pacific War: Located in Fredericksburg, Texas, it houses a TBM Avenger and offers an incredible look at the environment Bush operated in.
- Watch the Finback footage: Search for the actual 1944 rescue footage. Seeing the future president as a soaking wet, terrified young man humanizes the office in a way words can't.
- Analyze the Survivor's Guilt: Read Bush’s personal letters from the era. They reveal a man who felt a deep obligation to live a life worth the sacrifice of the two crewmen he lost.
History turns on tiny hinges. A burning engine, a ripped parachute, and a submarine periscope. That's the real story of the man who would eventually sit in the Oval Office. He wasn't just a politician; he was a survivor who never forgot the guys who didn't get to paddle away from the island.