NAVAL AIR STATION OCEANA, Va. — I wasn't sure what to think when the lieutenant carried the heavy, glass-enclosed box over to me. At first glance, it seemed the men and women of Strike Fighter Squadron 103 were getting into the Halloween spirit a bit early. But what I saw inside the box was no trick. I was staring at what is said to be the bones of a now legendary sailor, Ensign Jack Ernie.
Ernie was a pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron Seventeen, known then as the Jolly Rogers. On April 1, 1945, during the invasion of Okinawa, Ernie was flying over Japan when his aircraft began to have engine trouble. Two enemy fighters shot his Corsair, crippling his ability to return fire.
Ernie fought valiantly, fending off one enemy fighter before being overcome by the second. As his Corsair plummeted earthward, he made two transmissions; "Skipper, I can't get out!" followed by a short pause and then, "Remember me with the Jolly Rogers!"
Nearly 80 years later, sailors assigned to the current-day VFA-103, based at Naval Air Station Oceana carry on the Jolly Rogers name. Those sailors also carry Ensign Jack Ernie's memory everywhere they go, figuratively and literally. According to the Navy:
"His remains were not recovered until many years later. In 1959, the story of Ensign Ernie was revealed by Jack's family and, upon their suggestion and consent, his skull and femurs were encases in glass and presented to the squadron, thereby fulfilling Jack's last request of being "remembered with the Jolly Rogers."
As I toured the hangar and ready room, sailors showed me exactly how Ensign Ernie is remembered every day. His name is a permanent fixture on the VFA-103 officer's precedence list and social roster. His glass-encased skull and femurs remain on display in the squadron spaces and at all command functions.
"Our newest pilot carries him around everywhere," explains Lt. Caleb Powell. "We go to baseball games, do squadron outings, and then he brings him home at night, every single night."
VFA-103 is News 3's Squadron of the Month for September 2023. Click the video player above to watch highlights from my recent visit to the squadron, including an interview with the Jolly Rogers' commanding officer about his crew's mission in the skies.
