re: #317 albusteve

32 missions earned you the DFC?…I did not know that…I thought it was awarded for valor

The logic was that surviving that much aerial combat was itself medal-worthy. Many did not. Dive Bombers had a higher casualty rate than most. They often had to avoid enemy fighters and then dive into the teeth of a ship’s AA fire to deliver their bomb. And while most IJN ships had relatively poor AA systems, the Nagatsuki class (which was active in the Solomons) had 8 very effective 3.9 Dual Purpose Guns (as well as 4 24-inch Long Lance torpedoes for use in a surface action).