Hometown: Fort Worth, TX
Branch: U.S. Army (Air Forces)
Unit: 374th Bombardment Squadron, 308th Bombardment Group, 14th Air Force
Military Honors: Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: October 26, 1944 - KIA near Tungchen, China, South China Sea 
Age: 28
Conflict: World War II, 1939-1945

Horace Carswell Jr. was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and was an outstanding football, baseball, and basketball athlete for North Side High School. He graduated in 1934 and attended nearby Texas A&M University for a year, where he majored in agriculture and was assigned to the cavalry for a required Military Science course.

Disappointed in not making the football team, Carswell transferred to Texas Christian University (TCU) in his hometown of Fort Worth. To pay his way through school, he worked at a local department store.

At TCU, he was able to satisfy his love for sports by playing both football and baseball for the Horned Frogs. On the football team, Carswell’s teammates included two quarterbacks who would go on to national fame: NFL Hall-of-Famer Sammy Bough and Heisman Trophy winner Davey O’Brien.

Shortly after graduating from TCU in August of 1939 with a Physical Education degree, Carswell traveled the short distance to Dallas, enlisting as a cadet in the Army Air Corps on March 26 of 1940. He was sent to Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma for training as a pilot, then to San Antonio’s Primary Flying School at Randolph Field and Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field.

Horace Carswell Jr. earned his wings and was commissioned as an Air Corps Reserve second lieutenant on November 16, 1940. His first assignment was as a flying instructor—first at Randolph Field in San Antonio, then at Goodfellow Field in San Angelo, Texas. While stationed in San Angelo, Carswell married Virginia Ede, whom he’d met while at TCU. The couple soon welcomed a son, Robert Ede Carswell.

According to the Texas State Historical Association, Carswell’s military career saw multiple moves and promotions in a short 2-year period in the middle of World War II (1939-1945):

In 1942 Carswell saw assignments with the Sixty-second Squadron, Thirty-ninth Bombardment Group in Tucson, Arizona, and then to Biggs Army Air Field near El Paso, where he served as a flight commander and received a promotion to captain. Transferred to the Army air base at Clovis, New Mexico, in January 1943, he served as squadron commander, group commander, and deputy group commander in the 356th Bombardment Squadron, 302nd Bombardment Group. On November 1, 1943, Captain Carswell was assigned to Langley Field in Virginia. Promoted to major on April 23, 1944, Carswell also departed that day for his next assignment with the 374th Bombardment Squadron, 308th Bombardment Group in Chengkung, China.

By October 1944, Maj. Carswell had three months of combat experience with the 374th Bomber Squadron. On October 15, he and his B-24 Liberator crew sank two enemy warships during a night sweep mission over the South China Sea.

On the 26th of October, he and his crew were on a similar mission when they encountered a convoy of 14 Japanese ships, including two escort destroyers. Carswell piloted the B-24, damaging one of the destroyers on his first bombing run. Taken by surprise, the enemy ships were unable to return fire.

Carswell and his crew left the area but circled around after a half hour for a second bombing run. This time the Japanese were ready. Despite the heavy anti-aircraft fire, Carswell and his crew managed two direct bomb hits on a Japanese tanker. But the return fire took out two of Carswell’s four engines, damaged a third, and ripped through the aircraft.

Somehow, Maj. Carswell managed to get the severely damaged aircraft over the Chinese coast. He maintained altitude long enough to order his crew to bail out. All parachuted to safety—except for one crew member whose parachute was ripped apart by the anti-aircraft flak. Rather than bailing out himself, Carswell stayed with the aircraft, sacrificing himself in an attempted crash landing.

For his courage and selfless devotion to his crew, Horace S. Carswell Jr. was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. His citation reads:

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to Major (Air Corps) Horace Seaver Carswell, Jr. (ASN: 0-399757), United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in action as Pilot of a B-24 bomber from the 374th Bombardment Squadron, 308th Bombardment Group (H), Fourteenth Air Force, in a one-plane strike against a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea on the night of 26 October 1944. Taking the enemy force of twelve ships escorted by at least two destroyers by surprise, he made one bombing run at 600 feet, scoring a near miss on one warship and escaping without drawing fire. He circled and, fully realizing that the convoy was thoroughly alerted and would meet his next attack with a barrage of anti-aircraft fire, began a second low-level run which culminated in two direct hits on a large tanker. A hail of steel from Japanese guns riddled the bomber, knocking out two engines, damaging a third, crippling the hydraulic system, puncturing one gasoline tank, ripping uncounted holes in the aircraft, and wounding the copilot; but by magnificent display of flying skill, Major Carswell controlled the plane’s plunge toward the sea and carefully forced it into a halting climb in the direction of the China shore. On reaching land, where it would have been possible to abandon the staggering bomber, one of the crew discovered that his parachute had been ripped by flak and rendered useless; the pilot, hoping to cross mountainous terrain and reach a base, continued onward until the third engine failed. He ordered the crew to bail out while he struggled to maintain altitude, and, refusing to save himself, chose to remain with his comrade and attempt a crash landing. He died when the airplane struck a mountainside and burned. With consummate gallantry and intrepidity, Major Carswell gave his life in a supreme effort to save all members of his crew. His sacrifice. far beyond that required of him, was in keeping with the traditional bravery of America’s war heroes.

In 1948, in recognition of Maj. Carswell’s service and sacrifice, the Carswell Air Force Base in his hometown of Fort Worth was named in his honor.

Sources
Card Photo: University of Texas Arlington Libraries, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection
Texas State Historical Association: Carswell, Horace S., Jr. (1916-1944)
Air Force Historical Support Division: Carswell—Maj Horace Seaver Carswell Jr.
The Historical Marker Database: Horace Seaver Carswell, Jr.
Honor States: Horace Seaver Carswell Jr
Congressional Medal of Honor Society: Horace Seaver Carswell Jr.
Military Times—Hall of Valor Project: Horace Seaver Carswell
Hometown by Handlebar: Major Horace Seaver Carswell: The Face Behind the Base
Burial Site: Find a Grave