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<\/a><\/div>\nSanderson rose to the rank of Major General, a two-star post, in the Marine Corps and was a skilled, daring aviator.\u00a0 He was a trailblazer in perfecting a combat technique that would become crucial to modern warfare: \u00a0dive-bombing.\u00a0 In 1919, the United States was involved in a skirmish in Haiti when some Marines were trapped by the rebels they were fighting.\u00a0 Then-Lieutenant Sanderson was the commander of the 4th<\/sup> Squadron there.\u00a0 He realized the US forces in Haiti were in need of assistance from the air.<\/p>\n Dive-bombing was just the thing, invented by British forces during World War I, but plagued with problems of inaccuracy.\u00a0 Pilots were limited by an inability to clearly see their targets and properly aim their munitions.\u00a0 Aviators had to release their bombs while flying horizontally, using only their rear observers\u2019 directions and best guesses as to where the explosives would land, which Sanderson realized wouldn\u2019t work in the close confines American troops were dealing with in Haiti.<\/p>\n Clearly, new technology needed to be perfected.\u00a0 Sanderson was just the man for the job.\u00a0 He undertook several trial-and-error experiments before figuring out a technique that worked.\u00a0 He improvised a sight by mounting a carbine barrel, lined up with the plane\u2019s long axis, to the windshield of his aircraft, an unarmed training craft, called a Curtiss JN-4 or \u201cJenny.\u201d\u00a0 Through his experiments, Sanderson found that dropping his plane\u2019s nose and flying in at a 45\u00b0 angle, then considered steep, was the most effective course of action.\u00a0 He understood that the aircraft needed to dive toward the target in order to reduce the amount of time the bomb fell through the air.\u00a0 The distance a bomb had to fall was highly influential in the accuracy of the hit.\u00a0 The shorter the distance of the descent, the more precisely the bomb would hit the intended target.\u00a0 Once Sanderson figured out the ideal angle, he then strapped a bomb in a canvas bag to the belly of his plane and flew into combat to rescue the stranded American forces.\u00a0 He dropped the ordnance himself from approximately 250 feet and accurately hit his Haitian target, thus single-handedly liberating the trapped US troops.\u00a0 However, the nearly vertical ascent necessary for recovery from the dive almost caused his aircraft to disintegrate.\u00a0 Sanderson managed to avert crisis on this occasion, but it would not be the last time he experienced such dangerous flying conditions.<\/p>\n Sanderson\u2019s improvised dive-bombing technique was so effective that other pilots began utilizing his system.\u00a0 He was then tapped to teach it to other combat forces.\u00a0 The innovation in dive-bombing that Sanderson came up with greatly enhanced the ability of the US military to stage raids from the air.\u00a0 Sanderson\u2019s improvement would be pivotal when the US later intervened in Nicaragua.<\/p>\n Undoubtedly, Sanderson was an aviation pioneer.\u00a0 He was one of a group of several other crack fliers of his time.\u00a0 This was an era when Americans were fascinated with airplanes and flying, which gave rise to many exciting aviation demonstrations.\u00a0 One such event was the Pulitzer races, which took place from 1920-1925.\u00a0 Sanderson was one of the participants in the Pulitzer races.\u00a0 During this time, he experienced several more near-misses similar to the one he averted in Haiti.<\/p>\n These races were sponsored by Ralph Pulitzer, journalist and the son of Joseph Pulitzer, who established the Pulitzer Prizes.\u00a0 The contests were a chance for pilots to show off their maneuvering skills and their planes.\u00a0 Many of the aircraft were cutting-edge or even experimental.\u00a0 Aviators could exhibit their daring and demonstrate just how fast their planes could fly.\u00a0 Often, these fliers pushed the limits of their vessels\u2019 abilities, setting new speed records and, occasionally, crashing their aircraft or making emergency landings after pushing them to their limits.\u00a0 The pilots flew at such high, unheard-of speeds that many reported losing consciousness on turns because their planes weren\u2019t equipped to combat the extreme gravitational forces they were experiencing.\u00a0 Naturally, passing out in the cockpit led to a few mishaps.\u00a0 Sanderson was not immune.\u00a0 He won the prize for best air speed in a 1922 race, but lost another race he nearly won when he ran out of gas.\u00a0 The race required each pilot to make several laps of a course and then taxi on the water during certain passes.\u00a0 Sanderson had to drop out a mile from the finish due to his empty fuel tank.\u00a0 In the next race, in which Sanderson flew what was known as the \u201cNavy Mystery Plane,\u201d his engine failed and Sanderson was forced to drop out in the penultimate lap.\u00a0 He executed a somewhat controlled crash in a lake and then had to swim back to shore.\u00a0 In 1923, Sanderson flew in a race in which he crossed the finish line just as his fuel gauge read empty and landed in a haystack.\u00a0 His top speed during that event was just over 230 miles per hour.\u00a0 Participating in the races was only a small piece of Sanderson\u2019s remarkable life.<\/p>\n Sanderson spent his career in the Marine Corps and went on to serve in World War II.\u00a0 He became a part of history when the Japanese government surrendered Wake Island.\u00a0 Japan used Wake in part to launch the attack on Pearl Harbor.\u00a0 Some American forces were stationed there, but the Japanese took the island in late December of 1941.\u00a0 Later, Japan would use Wake Island as a command post and to launch further offenses on Hawaii.\u00a0 Throughout the war, the US repeatedly attempted to take back Wake Island.\u00a0 The Japanese finally relinquished Wake to the US on September 7, 1945.\u00a0 By that time, Sanderson was a Brigadier General, and the official to whom the Japanese surrendered the island.<\/p>\n Sanderson was born on July 22, 1895 in Shelton, WA.\u00a0 He died on June 11, 1976 in San Diego, CA.\u00a0 He was 80.\u00a0 Sanderson Field, an airport in Shelton, WA, formerly called Mason County Airport, was renamed for him in August of 1966.<\/p>\n \u201cLawson Sanderson: Early Aviation Pioneer\u201d is part of the \u201cSnapshots of History\u201d series that provides background info on select images from the <\/em>PhillyHistory.org database.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. \u201cAirpower and Restraint in Small Wars,\u201d Aerospace Power Journal<\/em>, Fall 2001 http:\/\/www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil\/airchronicles\/apj\/apj01\/fal01\/johnson.html<\/a><\/p>\n 2. \u201cArmy Flier Speeds 220 Miles an Hour,\u201d New York Times<\/em>, October 9, 1922, http:\/\/query.nytimes.com\/mem\/archive-free\/pdf?res=F20A15FB345411738DDDA00894D8415B828EF1D3<\/a><\/p>\n 3. \u201cDive bomber,\u201d Wikipedia article, http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dive_bomber<\/a><\/p>\n 4. \u201cLawson H. Sanderson,\u201d on Early Birds of Aviation, Inc.<\/em>, Ralph Cooper, http:\/\/earlyaviators.com\/esanders.htm<\/a><\/p>\n 5. \u201cThe Pulitzer Races,\u201d Lieutenant Colonel Robert H. Rankin, USMC, Proceedings Magazine<\/em>, the US Naval Institute, September 1959, Vol. 85\/9\/679, http:\/\/www.usni.org\/magazines\/proceedings\/1959-09\/pulitzer-races-1920-1925<\/a><\/p>\n 6. \u201cRalph Pulitzer,\u201d Wikipedia article, http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ralph_Pulitzer<\/a><\/p>\n 7. \u201cSanderson Field,\u201d Wikipedia article, http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sanderson_Field<\/a><\/p>\n