65th Anniversary of the Yamamoto Shootdown Mission

[embibb]

My father, Monroe Bibb, was a member of the 339th fulfilling the role as a construction contractor during the war. He became very active with the reunions in the late 80's and hosted the Nimitz Museum opening of the Yamamoto Mission dedication.
I had the opportunity to meet these incredible men including Mr. Rex Barber.
This mission was truly an amazing feat of planning, navigation and execution by all members.

I would love to hear from any of descendants of the Yamamoto mission...

eddie

 

[e4dorla]

Greetings,

My grandfather was a flight surgeon with the 67th Fighter Squadron during WWII. While growing up, my father and uncle would mention from time-to-time that my grandfather was part of the unit that shot down Yamamoto since they flew P38s.

Recently, I came across numerous B&W photos of my grandfather during WWII while he was stationed in the South Pacific. I've just started reading various accounts of the shoot down mission and never realized that there was so much controversy over who really shot down Yamamoto.

Another thing I've discovered while reading is that 67th FS isn't really mentioned during these accounts. Can someone help me understand whether or not the 67th was involved? I'd love to ask my grandfather, but he passed away in the late 1990s from Alzheimer's. The only reason I'm curious is that I'd like to be able to say with confidence that his unit was part of the mission now that I have these photos.

The handwriting on the photos is my grandfather's during the war as he was writing to my grandmother who was back in Texas. In the group photo below with the P38, my grandfather is in the first row, middle.

Thank you,

Derrick

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Hi e4dorla;

The 67th FS was never involved in the Yamamoto shoot down mission. The squadron that flew this mission was the 339th Fighter Squadron of the 347th Fighter Group, Thirteenth Air Force. Now the 67th FS WAS PART of the 347th Fighter Group, Thirteenth Air Force. Hope this helps.

 

[evangilder]

So technically, he was part of the unit, as he was in the Fighter Group, and I would assume that the flight surgeon dealt with the whole group, as opposed to just an individual squadron.

 

[model299]

Hi e4dorla. Just wanted to thank you for posting your grandfather's pictures. Great to look at.

 

[raumatibeach]

Awesome thread and great photos.
a few years back there was an article in the paper here that said Peter Jackson has the rights to film the story of HMNZS kiwi which was involved in this action, the codes they found on the sub they rammed gave them the location of Yamamoto.

Gordon Bridson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Japanese submarine I-1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia