AMERICA'S FEW: Marine Aces of the South Pacific

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Delves into the history and development of US Marine Corps aviation in World War II, following the feats of the Corps' top-scoring aces in the skies over Guadalcanal.

In the South Pacific, the aviators of the US Marine Corps came out of the shadows to establish themselves as an air force second to none. In the summer of 1942, when Allied airpower was cobbled together into a single unified entity - nicknamed 'the Cactus Air Force' - Marine Aviation dominated, and a Marine, Major General Roy Geiger, was its commander.

Of the twelve Allied fighter squadrons that were part of the Cactus Air Force, eight were USMC squadrons. It was over Guadalcanal that Joe Foss emerged as a symbol of Marine aviation. As commander of VMF-121, he organized a group of fighter pilots that downed 72 enemy aircraft; Foss himself reached a score of 26. Pappy Boyington, meanwhile, had become a Marine aviator in 1935. Best known as the commander of VMF-214, he came into his own in late 1943 and eventually matched Foss's aerial victory score. Includes parallel stories of many other Marine aces, such as Ken Walsh (21 victories), Don Aldrich (20), John L. Smith (19), Wilbur Thomas (18.5), and Marion Carl (18.5).