A reception will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday in Oak Harbor in honor of retired Navy Capt. Lee Paul Mankin, 90, who died following a brief illness last month at his winter home in Indian Wells, Calif.
Mankin, who was born in Mammoth Springs, Alaska, enlisted in the Navy in 1937, at age 17. His first assignment was as a radioman on the USS California. He was accepted for flight training in Pensacola, Fla. and earned his wings in Feb., 1942.
So it was that at age 21, Mankin shot down his first Japanese plane during his first day of combat on Aug. 7, 1942. He and five other pilots, part of VF-5, the only fully enlisted fighting squadron, encountered 23 twin-engine Japanese bombers being escorted by 10 Zero fighters, on their way to Guadalcanal. Mankin saw a bomber by itself and took a shot. He was one of only three F4F Wildcat pilots to return that day.
Mankin was the Navy’s only enlisted Fighter Ace in World War II, having shot down five enemy planes. He described the moment several years ago in an interview with the Whidbey News-Times. Mankin said he was so close to the Japanese plane he could see the pilot in the cockpit — the one time he almost lost his concentration during a dog fight.
“I hesitated for a second because I realized I was aiming at a man,” Mankin said. “Before I couldn’t see the people, just the planes.”
The Ace went on to receive a commission and retired 21 years later as a captain. He moved to Westport, Wash., where he operated a charter fishing boat. He and his first wife, Kathleen, moved to Oak Harbor in 1982.
Not only was Mankin a well-known figure in the community, his stories are the stuff of legends.
He is featured at the American Fighting Aces Museum in San Antonio, Texas and an interview conducted by the Museum of Flight in Palm Springs, Calif., is now in the Library of Congress.
Mankin is survived by his second wife, Nada, of Indian Wells, Calif., his five children, six grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.
The reception in his honor will take place at the family home at 1031 SW Fleet St., Oak Harbor.
