SOUTH PACIFIC WARRIOR

“We’d fly over the target, level, and the target would go under the wing. We’d be slowing down, and slowing down, pull up, and just do a wing over. Slightly beyond the target, pull over, and then come straight down. We had a gun sight, but [we’d] just line the target up on the seam of the cowling. We’d drop on straight down and pull out, and either hit the deck or pop up again and come back and strafe, depending on the opposition. Sometimes, if there was any gunfire, which I didn’t see much of, I’d stamp the rudder a little bit, left, right. You’d skid. Don’t keep the ball in the center was my tactic. They’d shoot to the right, and I’m going to the left.”

Unsung Heroes of the South Pacific Campaign

The 3rd Air Commando Group (ACG) was activated on May 1, 1944. Its training focused on a unique mission: to establish