Name/Title
Air Medal and Temporary Citation Awarded to Elisha "Smokey" Stover For Air Combat above the Solomon Islands on October 15, 1942Scope and Content
Temporary Citation given to Lt (jg) E.T. Stover for meritorious achievement on October 15, 1942, while engaged with an enemy float plane in combat, Elisha "Smokey" Stover skillfully clipped the wing of the opposing plane with his own. This caused the Imperial Japanese plane to crash while leaving his own plane intact. For his actions, Smokey Stover was awarded the Air Medal.Context
Elisha Terrill "Smokey" Stover was a F4F Wildcat pilot with VF-8 on the USS Hornet (CV-8) and VF-5 aboard the USS Saratoga (CV-3) and later at Guadalcanal in 1942 where he downed 4 Japanese planes earning the Air Medal. Transferred aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-10) as a Fighter Director Officer in CIC in 1944, he appeared in scenes of "The Fighting Lady" and later returned to flight status with VF-5 when he was shot down over Truk Atoll on February 16, 1944.Collection
Smokey Stover CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2023.63Acquisition Method
Found in CollectionUpdate Date
October 1, 2026