A pair of P-26s (seen left and right in the background) stand guard over the incinerated P-40s of the 18th Pursuit Group littering the flightline at Wheeler Field. 

As the jet aged dawned other USAAF squadrons were transitioning from props to “stovepipes” (as the jet engine was commonly called), the 92nd in Hawaii was defending the islands with the tried and true P-47 Thunderbolt. In fact, the “Jug” provided Hawaii’s air defense until well into the 1950s. This is not at all surprising: jets were needed in Korea, and besides, were someone to launch an aerial attack on Hawaii, it could not have been with jets (there were as yet no Soviet jet bombers, and the MiG-15 posed no threat to far-off Hawaii).

…having a fighter plane to call your own. Major General William Kepner was no exception; as boss of the 8th Fighter Command, he got around in style in his P-47 (42-26637) nicknamed “Kokomo”. Here we see it wears the name of an additional city, “Buffalo”. Or, perhaps, it is referring to the animal of the same name. Before the war, Kepner was more associated with balloons & such rather than fighter aircraft. He held six ratings, most rather quaint: command pilot, combat observer, senior balloon pilot, zeppelin pilot, semirigid pilot, and metal-clad airship pilot.

The color photo is courtesy of Bob Livingstone from the sunburnt country, the Land Down Under.

Pekoa Airfield, New Hebrides Islands, in the autumn of 1942. A duo of B-17Es of the 26th Bomb Squadron, 11th Bomb Group, await another mission. Note the wing and nose antenna of the SCR-521 radar.

Ground crew reinstall a critical airframe component – the rear half of the aircraft. One can still see on the national insignia that its red center was painted over.

The 26th Bomb Squadron scoreboard and Roll of Honor.

This came with the photos: a hand-drawn version of the same scoreboard. The stars denote action at Hickam Field (the 26th was there December 7), Midway, and the Solomon Islands.

Bearing the light blue markings of the “friendly forces” during the maneuvers, this P-40 of Hamilton Field’s 77th Pursuit Squadron readies for another mission against the bad guys of the red force.

One of the “bad guys” – a P-38 of Selfridge Field’s 27th Pursuit Squadron.

It is late November, 1941, and the men of Hickam Field’s 50th Reconnaissance Squadron pose for a photo to send home for Christmas.

These men could not possibly imagine that even as they smiled at the camera, plans were already underway for their demise. Nor could they imagine that some of them have less than two weeks to live. For those who do survive, it will be an event that will mark them for the rest of their lives.

One man who lived through the attack was PFC William P. Stroud Jr. (4th row, 4th from right in the group photo). A flight engineer in the 50th Recon Sq., Stroud was in the barracks when the attack began. (That barracks, just across the street from the flightline and hangars, bears to this day the scars of the attack.) Despite the madness of that morning, William Stroud kept his cool. Knowing where he was needed most, he raced across the street to the flaming flightline to lend assistance. The squadron’s aircraft were already destroyed, so he grabbed a rifle to get in the fight. And a fighter he was. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Stroud won his pilot’s wings, flew B-24s, and in his numerous combat missions earned the Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross. 

Stroud, soon to be tested in battle, was identified in the group photo by his granddaughter, and it is a pleasure to single out and salute such a courageous young man.

It is well that we remember both those who lived and those who lost their lives that fateful morning. As the original owner of this photograph indicates with his annotations, some would not survive December 7th, but they were never forgotten by those who did. 

~”They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: 

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.” ~

Campbell with his trusty P-38, “Old Rusty” (42-104114).

July, 1943. Fresh from the sands of North Africa where it served with the 17th Bomb Group, “Hell Cat”, a B-26B (41-17903), had just completed 50 missions and was on a War Bond tour when she was captured for posterity. Of course, a very pretty young lady “happened” to stop for a look. The navigator of this bird was Hank Potter, one of the Doolittle Raiders.

Unfortunately, the name of this crew remains a mystery. I tried every photo editing trick I have ever heard of to read the name tags on their A-2 jackets but I could get just one: top photo, kneeling 2nd from right “Davis”, one of the gunners. More research required.