It’s May 8, 1942. Cmdr. William Bowen Ault is flying in the Battle of Coral Sea aboard a Douglas SBD Dauntless aircraft as part of the USS Lexington Air Group.

With the loss of “Lady Lex” during the Japanese battle, Ault is in radio contact with USS Yorktown. What transpires next is documented by the U.S. Navy in a transcript:

Ault: Shall I circle. Do you want me to lose or gain altitude… about 20 minutes fuel left.

Yorktown: You are not on screen. Make land if you can acknowledge.

Ault: What is bearing and distance of nearest land? Can you give me that? Nearest land over 200 miles away. We can never make it.

Yorktown: You’re on your own. Good luck.

Ault: Please relay to 00V56 we got 1000-pound hit on flat top. Both wounded…2 or 3 times…arm and neck. Enemy fighters will fly to north.

Yorktown: I will relay your message

Ault: We got 1,000–pound bomb hit on flat top. First hit of group.

Yorktown: Wilco. How much fuel do you have remaining?

Ault: We have about 10 miles left before we have to go down. We’ll do our damndest.

Soon thereafter, communication is lost with the wounded Ault and he was listed as missing in action. He left behind a wife, two sons, a mother, two sisters, and a brother.

It’s been 67 years since Ault disappeared in combat, and his name has been echoed at NAS Whidbey Island since Sept. 25, 1943 when the Navy named their new land plane field in his memory.

One of the last known relatives of Ault to visit the air station was in September 1951, when Ault’s sister, Mrs. David B. (India) Reavis of Salem, Ore., called on former base Commanding Officer Capt. W. O. Gallery.

In a surprise visit July 21, 2009, Ault’s great niece, Laura J. Ault, came to the air station for the first time and brought never-before-seen pictures and newspaper clippings about her great uncle to share.

“My father Commander William Stevens Ault was the son of Byrd Ault, the brother of Commander William Bowen Ault,” Laura explained. Laura lives and works in Medford, Ore.  She is coordinator of the Business Technology Department and a full-time faculty member at Rogue Community College in Jackson County.

She said her father (now deceased) joined Ault’s widow Margaret and sons Robert and Bill at the commissioning of destroyer USS Ault (DD 698) on March 26, 1944. Laura’s own parents both met on active duty when her mother Dorothy was a Navy nurse.

Having received a base windshield tour from Public Affairs, Laura said, “My mother wondered if this base was still here and active; she certainly will be surprised to know it’s still a major military installation.”

“I have a strong appreciation, admiration and respect for our military and country,” said Laura when asked about her thoughts of NAS Whidbey Island observing its 67th birthday on Sept. 21. “It’s instilled in you when you have two parents in the military”

As a result of this visit, NAS Public Affairs was able to get in touch with Robert “Bo” Ault, Cmdr. William Ault’s son in Virginia, who said he’s looking forward to catching up on family news with Laura soon.