Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I te marama o Mei 1942, i tohua a Bellinger hei Kaihauturu, i nga rererangi paturuhi, i te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa i raro i a Admiral Chester Nimitz. I āwhina ia ki te whakamahere i te
I tukuna ia e Midway me Nimitz ki Washington, DC i te Hōngongoi 1942 ki te tuku i tana mahere whakariterite mo te rererangi Naval i te Moananui a Kiwa ki a Admiral Ernest J. King, te Tumuaki o nga Mahi Naval. I a ia i reira, i haere a Bellinger ki te tirotiro tinana i te Whare Hauora o Bethesda, i kitea he mate ngakau ngawari tana. I mutu tana mahi whawhai, ā, i whakahaua ia ki tētahi mahi iti ake te taumaha.