Richard Halsey Best (1910 - 2001)

Born 24 Mar 1910 in Bayonne, Hudson, New Jersey, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Doris Avis (Albro) Best — married 24 Jun 1932 (to Jan 1966) in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Died 28 Oct 2001 at age 91 in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Dean Anderson [send private message]

Biography

Lieutenant Commander Richard Best served in the United States Navy in World War II
Service started: 1928
Unit(s): USS Enterprise (CV-6)
Service ended: 1944

Richard Best is Notable.

Family

Richard Halsey Best was born on March 24, 1910 in Bayonne, New Jersey, to Frank Ellsworth Best and Euretta L. Halsey. His grandparents were Richard James Best and Mary Ora Butler of New York, and William H. Halsey and Gusta Love of New Jersey. Richard married Doris Avis Albro (November 21, 1914 - December 6, 1968) on June 24, 1932 in Washington, D.C and they divorced on January 24, 1966. Richard Halsey Best was married and had a daughter (Barbara Ann Llewellyn), a son (Richard Halsey Best II), a grandson, and a step-daughter (Amy Best).

Military Career

Richard Halsey Best was a dive bomber pilot and squadron commander in the United States Navy during World War II. Stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, Richard Halsey Best led his dive bomber squadron at the 1942 Battle of Midway, sinking two Japanese aircraft carriers in one day, before being medically retired that same year due to damaging his lungs breathing bad oxygen during the battle. After the battle, Richard Halsey Best was awarded the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Navy Cross Citation

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander Richard Halsey Best (NSN: 0-71601), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Dive Bomber and Squadron Commander in Bombing Squadron SIX (VB-6), attached to the U.S.S. ENTERPRISE (CV-6), during the "Air Battle of Midway," against enemy Japanese forces on 4 - 6 June 1942.

Defying extreme danger from concentrated anti-aircraft barrage and powerful fighter opposition, Lieutenant Commander Best, with bold determination and courageous zeal, led his squadron in dive-bombing assaults against Japanese naval units.

Flying at a distance from his own forces which rendered return unlikely because of probable fuel exhaustion, he pressed home his attacks with extreme disregard for his own personal safety.

His gallant intrepidity and loyal devotion to duty contributed greatly to the success of our forces and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

4 June 1942, was the last day Richard Halsey Best flew for the U.S. Navy. Just after he landed on Enterprise, he began to cough up blood. Over the next twenty-four hours, his hemoptysis (coughing up blood) continued. He became acutely ill with a temperature of 103 °F (39 °C), and was admitted to Pearl Harbor Hospital.

Back in Pearl Harbor, Best was examined by the flight surgeon. During the morning flight on June 4 flying at 20,000 ft (6,100 m) several VB-6 pilots encountered difficulties with oxygen supply, so Best gave the order to reduce the altitude to 15,000 ft (4,600 m). The oxygen rebreather of Best's SBD had become heated during the unusually long search on the morning mission on June 4. The material used in the rebreather to remove exhaled carbon dioxide was sodium hydroxide. If the device containing this material were abnormally heated, it could release caustic soda fumes through the pilot's oxygen mask; consequently Best had inhaled caustic fumes. Sometime in the past, Best had contracted latent tuberculosis, which remained in his lungs in an inactive state for years. The inhaled caustic fumes caused an aspiration pneumonia and eroded away a tuberculosis granuloma, transforming the inactive form of the organism into an active form, resulting in the progression from latent TB infection to TB disease.

Best was transferred from Pearl Harbor Hospital to Fitzsimons General Hospital in Aurora, Colorado, where he received proper treatment for his tuberculosis. Best was hospitalized in Fitzsimons Hospital until September 1943. He retired from the U.S. Navy in 1944 with a 100% disability.

Before Richard Halsey Best's death in 2001, Admiral Thomas Moorer and Vice Admiral William Houser spearheaded an unsuccessful effort to get Richard Halsey Best the Medal of Honor.

Civilian

After his retirement from the Navy, Best moved to Santa Monica, California, where he lived for the rest of his life. After discharge from the hospital, Best worked in a small research division of the Douglas Aircraft Corporation. This division became part of the Rand Corporation in December 1948, where Best headed the security department until his retirement in March 1975. Best wrote the preface to the manual of Battlehawks 1942 flight simulation video game released in 1988 by LucasFilm Games.

Death

He died on 28 October 2001 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 54. Richard Halsey Best was 91 years old when he died.

Movie "Midway"

Richard Halsey Best was portrayed in the 2019 film Midway by actor Ed Skrein.

On October 28, 2019, during events surrounding the movie’s premiere, actor Ed Skrein visited Best’s grave, accompanied by fellow star Luke Kleintank and a handful of studio employees. Skrein wanted to pay his respects to the man he had studied and portrayed in the movie, the real-life hero of Midway.

Sources

"United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VTHF-868 : 26 July 2019), Richard H Best, Election Precinct 1, Escambia, Florida, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 17-6, sheet 30B, line 47, family , Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 585.

"Arizona, Payson, Obituaries, 1948-2008", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2W7-V59M : 25 October 2019), Richard H Best, 2001.

See also:

• Wikipedia: Richard Halsey Best
• Wikidata: Item Q7326223, en:Wikipedia
• Find A Grave: Memorial #8791567
• https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Blog/Post/10258/Battle-of-Midway-Hero-Rests-at-ANC?fbclid=IwAR0k_rqxLdRKAfo-YKaYxWWy2GK3_ntMiZieaoP8-6CiqAkzzpEZc_gny-g
• https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/19777
• https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-profiles/best-vb-6.html
• https://peoplepill.com/people/richard-halsey-best/