The Greatest Fighter Pilot in WW II???

[DJ_Dalton]

There are a number of top American aces who died, not from enemy action, but from flying accidents. Richard Bong, Thomas McGuire, Gerald R. Johnson, Danny Roberts, are just a few of these. Danny Roberts was especially tragic in my opinion. He was making a shard turn to stay on the tail of a Japanese fighter but his wingman was too slow reacting. The two fighters collided and both pilots were lost.

The Thomas McGuire story is certainly not what it seems. They actually gave him a Medal of Honor for the poor decision making that resulted in the deaths of himself and one of those under his command. He almost got the whole flight (4) killed. The two survivors took battle damage. The sortie was apparently not officially authorized. It was a sortie to allow McGuire to pick the kills rather than have the flight destroy the enemy as efficiently and as safely as possible. You see, McGuire was only 2 kills from Richard Bong and he was already overdue to rotate State Side. The sortie was a "Glory Sortie" set up by McGuire, for McGuire.

Additionally, it was a sortie in poor visibility conditions and McGuires uncontroverted orders to "Hold the Drop Tanks" should have disqualified him from the Medal of Honor. Usually, you need to save the lives of your comrades to earn that medal, but sometimes the truth and morale aren't necessarily compatible. This is a fact in the U.S. Military, or any military for that matter. The U.S. Military doesn't have dibbs on lying. At least not in the WWII era.

But, I digress. Theres only one from McGuire's final sortie alive now. If anyone is really interested in how and why brave men die following are a couple links I'd recommend reading. Iraq should be proof enough that you can't trust the Pentagon.

What Really Happened to Tom McGuire?: [url]http://www.aerothentic.com/history/articles/McGuire.htm
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Captain Weavers "Combat" Report: [url]http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/afp/tmcr.htm [/url]

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Yes mistakes kill people and that is true. But please tell me what the Pentagon has to do with this, as an Iraq veteran I would like to know what it has to do with WW2 fighter aces. I agree that poloticians can not be trusted but I dont see the relevance.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

it was an accident that started the great war, the group that assinated Frenz Ferdinand (the black hand), wouldn't have suceeded if the driver of the car he was in hadn't taken a wrong turn by accident, no assination, no WWI, no WWI no WWII............

 

[kiwimac]

This thread closed, New one opened. New one is NOT a poll thread.

Kiwimac

 

[kiwimac]

This thread is locked. Continued in new Thread as a non-polling thread.

Kiwimac