Navy pilot John Leppla was credited with shooting down five Japanese aircraft in aerial combat before he was shot down and ...

At Midway, the Dauntless was credited with sinking or mortally wounding each of the four Japanese aircraft carriers involved in the battle.

Meanwhile, hard on O’Hare’s heels in Lexington lore was a Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless team whose activities seemed just as much devoted to fighters as to dive bombers. John Arthur Leppla was born ...