Norm Carlson Looks Back.. - World War II Hero
Tuesday, October 5, 2004 | Football
All of the University of Florida athletes who were killed in action in World War II were heroes. One of them, lst Lieutenant Walter (Tiger) Mayberry, is not well known in his hometown of Daytona Beach, but he was not only a shining light of courage by a Gator, he was a national hero.
Mayberry grew up in Daytona Beach. He lived at 801 North Beach, down the street from a small grocery store operated by his father, Tom. Mayberry came out of Daytona Beach Mainland High School, proclaimed as the finest athlete ever produced in Volusia County. He earned the name "Tiger" for his toughness and competitive spirit, and came back from a severe knee injury during his prep days . To this day there are many who believe he is still the best that area has seen.
Bennie Kahn, columnist for the Daytona Beach News Journal from the 1930s to 1960s, wrote that Mayberry was "an unforgettable football star, perhaps the best ever to graduate from Daytona Beach high schools"
Joe Nelson, legendary Daytona Beach sports figure who followed Mayberry at Mainland, stated in a News Journal column written by Ken Willis in 1999, that Mayberry "was probably the best football player, the best back that's every been in this area. He was just terrific."
He came to UF in 1934—freshmen were not eligible for the varsity then—and started for the Gators in 1935-36-37. He was virtually a one-man show on poor football teams of that period in Gainesville. Mayberry rewrote the school record books on offense, defense and as a punter, becoming Florida's first All-SEC player and serving as team captain in 1937.
Mayberry ranked in the top five in Florida history in total offense and rushing until the mid-1970s. He held the school record for pass interceptions for a career with 11 until it was broken by Bruce Bennett's 13 from 1963-65, and for interceptions in one season with six until it was broken in 1970 by John Clifford.
However, Mayberry intercepted six passes in 1937 when only 57 passes were attempted by Gator opponents that year. Now, 67 years after his career ended, Mayberry is still tied for sixth in career interceptions and tied for fifth in season interceptions. He still ranks in the top 50 in total offense.
He was also one of the leading punters in the nation, and Florida punted quite often back then. Newspaper accounts from that era repeatedly praised his ability to run on offense and punt the Gators out of trouble as the reasons why Florida either won games or managed to keep them close when overmatched. In the 1937 Georgia game, for example, he was the leading rusher and averaged over 50 yards per punt as the Gators broke and eight game winless streak against the Dawgs with a 6-0 victory.
When World War II started he entered the Marine Air Corps as a 2nd Lieutenant, earning his wings as a fighter pilot with Marine Fighting Squadron 123, which was organized at Camp Kearney, San Diego, California on September 7, 1942, and would go on to become one of the most famous outfits of the war in the Pacific Theater.
This squadron (VMF-123) entered the war on Feb. 2, 1943, based at Guadalcanal. In May, Lt. Mayberry was promoted to lst Lt., escorting bombers on runs over the Solomon Islands, and strafing Japanese ships and airfields. By August his unit became the first based at the recently captured Japanese airfield on Munda in the Solomon Islands.
In less than a month of action at Munda, Lt. Mayberry became a national hero, shooting down three Zeros in a dogfight of three Marine aircraft against 16 Japanese. He shot down another Zero on August 25, and was credited with three "probables" days before he was escorting B-24's on a strike on August 30. In a battle with six Zeros, he was shot down near Faury Island.. He was captured on Sept. 6 and sent to a POW camp at Rabaul in the southwestern Solomon Islands.
According to the News-Journal, Lt. Mayberry's action in downing the Japanese planes was credited with saving the life of Major Richard Baker, a 28-year ole Marine fighter pilot . "We were returning to our base at Munda after escorting some bombers over Vela La Vella, when six zeros jumped us," the major was quoted as saying. Major Baker added that after the Japanese had scattered , he radioed thanks to Lt. Mayberry, who called back soon that he was being compelled to make a water landing.
"When I called him back for a compass reading the Lieutenant replied 'well pal it doesn't make a hell of a lot of difference right here anyway. That was the last we ever heard for him."
It was the last anyone heard until the U.S. Navy announced on January 29, 1946 that Walter (Tiger) Mayberry was officially declared dead.
Mayberry actually died at some point between the time he was captured on September 6, 1943 and the end of the war. He was sent to Rabaul, the most infamous POW camp in the Pacific Theater.
In the book "The Siege of Rabaul" (Phalanx 1996), a list of prisoners of Rabaul includes the name of Lt. Walter Mayberry. He is listed as "murdered", as was former UF boxer Lt. Henry Keel, an Army Air Force bomber pilot who was shot down in March of 1942. The website, warbirdforum.com/prisoner.htm also lists the names of those who died at Rabaul.
First Lieutenant Walter (Tiger) Mayberry, Daytona Mainland H.S. and the University of Florida football great, but more importantly a national war hero who gave his life for his country, was buried on March 21, 1950 at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Loiuis, Mo.
Norm Carlson recently retired from the University Athletic Association after 40 years of service. Carlson serves as historian for Gator athletics and will contribute a regular column to gatorzone.com.
