For 30 hours he clung to a cushion and life raft and watched the battle that turned the tide in the Pacific for the U.S. "I was right in the middle of three carriers, and I saw our bombers coming in on them," recalls Gay, the only survivor among 30 men in the famed Torpedo Squadron 8. He lost 28 pounds and considerable blood from his wounds before he was rescued by a Navy patrol plane.
"When I was sent back to the States, Admiral Nimitz [commander of the Pacific Fleet] told me that wherever possible I should tell the story of how we were underequipped and fighting with World War I torpedoes—outdated in every way. I told people that," says Gay.
Now, 34 years later, Gay, 59, is once again traveling the U.S. and telling war stories. This time it is to promote a new "Sensurround" movie, Midway, starring Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda. Before it opens nationally on June 18, Gay and Kevin Dobson, the actor who portrays him, will visit 12 cities.
Last June Gay was asked to be an adviser on the film. "I 'advised' the makeup people where the bullet holes should go in my left sleeve, arm and hand," says Gay. "I felt real funny trying to tell somebody else how to be me, but Kevin did a good job of it. When he was ready to go into the Pacific I persuaded him to wear a wet suit. He argued that I wasn't wearing one when I went in, but he was glad later. It was colder than hell."
The movie was shot on location at the Naval Air Training Command Base in Pensacola, Fla., at sea aboard the U.S.S. Lexington, at several other military installations in California and at Universal Studios.
The first time Gay and Tess, his wife of 30 years, saw the film, they were overwhelmed by the special Sensurround sound track. "It really gave me a thump," Gay says. "It sounded like the bombs were on my head. My wife said, 'Are we going to have to sit through two hours of this?' I said, 'That's what war is like.' "
The Gays live in Naples, Fla. in a house, with swimming pool, that overlooks the Naples Country Club. A senior TWA captain until his retirement a year ago, Gay commuted to Kennedy Airport from Tampa when he was on duty. "What with winter, the fuel crisis and traffic problems, I used to beat the New York-based crew members to the airport," he claims.
When he retired, Mrs. Gay bought her husband a set of power tools which he has been too busy to unpack. He has been writing articles for airline and military magazines and is learning to play golf. Gay insists he doesn't miss flying, but adds, "I've always been kind of mad that I was too old to try for a walk on the moon."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
