The Night Fighter Squadrons of Iwo Jima are possibly best known for the nose art applied to their aircraft, after all it was perhaps some of the best in the entire war. But, that does the men of the 348th, 349th and 6th Night Fighter Squadrons a disservice as there's far more that they deserve to be known and remembered for.
Lt. John “Ray” Johnson’s “Fighting Cocks” P-38L-1 Sep 1944 – Mar 1945
The 13th Air Force did not fight the most glamorous of wars, theirs' was a war of ground attack, relentlessly destroying Japanese ground forces and infrastructure. They fought, not from centralized bases closely tied together, but from island bases, spread hundreds of miles apart.
Col. James Beckwith’s 15th FG P-51D-25 Mustang “Squirt” at Iwo Jima, March-May 1944
Early on the morning of 7 April the 15th and 21st Groups were poised ready for the signal to start engines. The briefings of the day before and that morning had everyone eager to get the operation underway...
2nd Lt. John A. Weese’s USAAF P-47D-15-RE of 365th F/G, 386th F/S in June, 1944
"A short time later 2nd Lt. Weese reported that his engine was out and that he thought he could put his aircraft down behind friendly lines in the shallow water a little offshore Juno Beach. 1st Lt. Beaudrault reported that nothing more was heard from Wesse."
