Date of birth:

September 13th, 1916 (Oakmont, Pennsylvania, U.S.)

Date of death:

September 13th, 1951 (Elsberry, Missouri, U.S.)

Service number:

NSN: 0-116528

Nationality:

American

00.04.1941: seaman 2nd class, Navy’s flight training program, Navy Reserve
00.00.1942-00.00.1944: squadron engineering officer, Fighting Squadron 19, Air Group 19, Pacific campaign
00.07.1944-00.10.1944: pilot, Grumman F6F Hellcat, 46 combat missions, squadron 19, USS Lexington (CV-16) and shot down four Japanese aircrafts and hit a Japanese aircraft carrier with a bomb during the Battle of Leyte Gulf
00.01.1945-00.11.1945: assigned to Fighter-Bomber Squadron 150, training as engineering officer, in the new Vought F4U-4 and aboard the newly commissioned USS Lake Champlain (CV-39)
00.00.1946: aeronautical engineer, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
00.00.1947: test pilot, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, FH-1 Phantom then F2H Banshee then XF-85 Goblin and one of the lead pilots for McDonnell’s XF-88 program, F-101 Voodoo
00.01.1948: flew the North American FJ-1 Fury
13.09.1951: killed during a test flight over rural Missouri, 60 miles northwest of St. Louis on his 35th birthday to investigate elevator-related issues, metal fatigue caused the tail section of the F2H-2 he was flying to fail, and then come apart in the air
00.12.2020: awraded the Conspicuous Service Cross (New York) by the Governor of the State of New York for his service during World War II, upon initiative by South Park High School.

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

1941

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Lieutenant

Unit:

Bombing Squadron 19 (VB-19), U.S.S. Lexington (CV-16), U.S. Navy

Awarded on:

October 25th, 1944

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Edwin Foresman Schoch (NSN: 0-116528), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Scout Dive Bomber in Bombing Squadron NINETEEN (VB-19) attached to the U.S.S. LEXINGTON (CV-16), while assigned to strike major Japanese Fleet Units on 25 October 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in the Philippine Islands. Lieutenant Schoch aggressively and skillfully dove through intense anti-aircraft fire to strafe and accurately bomb a battleship. Severe damage was inflicted on the battleship and it slowed perceptibly after this attack. His courage and skill were at all times in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Commander 1st Carrier Task Force: Serial 0765 (October 30, 1944) for placing a semi-armor-piercing bomb aboard the Japanese light carrier Zuiho on October 25, 1944, helping to sink that ship during the Battle of Leyte Gulf

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Unit:

Fighting Squadron 19

Awarded on:

1944

with oak leaf

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

October 24th, 1944

with oak leaf for shooting down three Japanese fighter planes in a single day, October 24, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf

• Photo 1:
• - Recipients of The Navy Cross, 1916 - Present, by C. Douglas Sterner