page_title: Robert E. Galer
section_title: World War II and after
hierarchical_section_title: Robert E. Galer / Marine Corps career / World War II and after
caption_attribution_description: English: Grumman F3F-2, BuNo 0976, ditched by 1st Lt. Robert Galer, 29 August 1940, after engine failure due to fuel pump problems off California, discovered 1988, retrieved 1991 and restored by the San Diego Aerospace Museum, on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, FL. Photographed 28 June 2014.
context_page_description: Brigadier General Robert Edward Galer was a naval aviator in the United States Marine Corps who received the Medal of Honor for heroism in aerial combat during the Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II. He went on to command Marine Aircraft Group 12 during the Korean War and retired a few years after in 1957.
context_section_description: First Lieutenant Galer returned to the continental United States in June 1940 and in July reported to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing in San Diego, California, and was assigned to Marine Fighting Squadron 2 (VMF-2). On 29 August 1940, Galer ditched Grumman F3F-2, BuNo 0976, c/n 374, off the coast of San Diego while attempting a landing on the USS Saratoga (CV-3). (The fighter was rediscovered by a navy submarine in June 1988 and recovered on 5 April 1991. It was restored at the San Diego Aerospace Museum). In January 1941, he was ordered to Hawaii and promoted to captain in March 1941. Galer was serving at the Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, Oahu, with Marine Fighting Squadron 211 (VMF-211) when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
  In May 1942, Galer assumed command of Marine Fighting Squadron 224 (VMF-224) and on 30 August 1942 led the squadron to Guadalcanal, where they became part of the Cactus Air Force. It was while in command of VMF-224 that Galer would be credited with 11 confirmed victories and be awarded the Medal of Honor and a rare British Distinguished Flying Cross for the same acts of heroism.
  Following the presentation of the Medal of Honor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House on 24 March 1943, Major Galer was ordered to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, where he served as assistant operations officer. He was grounded because his superiors did not want to risk losing a Medal of Honor recipient; he had been shot down three times during the war (and once more in the Korean War). Shortly after being promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in November 1943, he was ordered to return to the Hawaiian Islands, where he became chief of staff, Marine Air, Hawaiian Area.
  In May 1944, Lieutenant Colonel Galer was named as operations officer, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. He served as an observer during the Palau Islands and Iwo Jima campaigns while on temporary duty from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. His next assignment found him as training officer of Provisional Air Support Command, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific.
  He again returned to the United States in June 1945 and reported to the Marine Barracks, Naval Air Training Base, Corpus Christi, Texas, in July as officer in charge of a cadet regiment. He remained in that capacity until August 1947, at which time he was assigned as a student at the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia.
  In June 1948, he reported to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, where he served as operations and training officer. He joined Headquarters Squadron-2 at that station in April 1949 and was transferred on 26 April 1950 to the Naval Air Station San Diego, California. He served there as Marine planning officer and, later, as assistant chief of staff for plans, on the staff of the commander, air force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. During his assignment, he was promoted to colonel in March 1951.
caption: Grumman F3F-2, BuNo 0976, restored and displayed at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, Florida, after 50 years in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. It is marked as it was when ditched by 1st Lt. Galer.
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