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Show SHOOTS DOWN 26 JAP PLANES i.-' " -"'" " v ' 5 p V - iiV'tl', . , . J l-in; ,.s l " i K'Y'M - - f k x , , j t " Ml ' " f"- ' ? , : ' ' . H Lx!iS- ..... , . tlinm juMfifiif Captain Joseph J. Foss Back in the United States is I Captain Joseph J. Foss, America's Ameri-ca's outstanding air hero, who I shot 26 Jap Zeros out of Guadalcanal's Guadal-canal's skies to become the onl" I U. S. airman to equal Captain Eddie Rickenbacker's World War 1 score. America's ace of sky aces, Marine Corps Captian JoseDh J. Foss, 27. was back m the United States this week. j ' The hero from Sioux Falls. S. D., is now receiving his country's paudits after blasting 26 Jap Zeros out of Guadlcanal's skies to duplicate Captain Eddie Rickenbacker's Ricken-backer's World War I siore. The Marine airman, in his first press conference since returning from the South Pacific, declared last week he would like to pav a "short visit to Tokyo" to help settle accounts for execution of United States airmen who Participated Par-ticipated in the Doolittle raid a year ago. The number one ace of the Pacific's aerial life-anddeath card game, who spent three and one-half one-half months in the Solomons' bullet-punctured clouds, s a j d in Washington, D. C: "Everyone's ambition is actually actual-ly get to Tokyo. Me too. Then maybe we could have a short talk about what happened." World War II's top American air hero already holds the Distinguished Dis-tinguished Flying Cross and has been recomended for the Con-gressionl Con-gressionl Metal of Honor, the highest honor this country can pay a war hero. This award is held by two other Marine airmen, Major John L. Smith and Major Robert Galer. Captain Foss, who first learned how to shoot by killing skunks in the South Dakota woods when a boy, first set down wheels of his Grumann Wildcat fighter on Guadalcanal Gua-dalcanal last October 9 Three and one half months later Captain Cap-tain Foss had 26 Jap planes to his credit out of 60 Japs knocked down by his squadron of galloping Graummans. The Marine ace protested what he called the "Idea a lot of people peo-ple have" that pilots are in a race to destroy enemy planes. and trying to make the largest individual indiv-idual score. The very heart of successful air combat, he said is teamwork like in a football game. The skv epic of Captain l oss began October 13 when he picked off his first Jap and his toll climbed climb-ed steadily. His biggest day was October 25, described as a grisly Sunday when the fate of American Ameri-can Marines stood in the balance on Guadalcanal. Two before lunch and three after lunch was his squardon's sccre was 1" Zeror and five bombers His plane was snot duwn m shark-infested waters November 7 some 30 miles from O-'-dalcanal. His foot caught under f'ie seat of his plane and the plan, sinking rapidlv, dragged him downward to a depth where the water pres-sre pres-sre felt like a crushing weight. He worked his foot free and his life jacket popped him to the surface sur-face like a cork. After swimming for an hour, he was picked up and rescued the next day after spreading spread-ing his parachute- so thet American Ameri-can planes co'ild spot him. A mosquito did what the entire Nipponese air force had been unable un-able to do. It invalided him with malaria, and after convalescing in Australia he returned to Ihe aerial warfront to knock down three more Jap planes to bring his score to 26. Twenty-three planes in 34 days of elapsed time stands as Captain Foss' score. Born and raised on a farm near Sioux Falls, N D., he attended Sioux Falls College md the University Un-iversity of South Dakota before being commissioned a Marine Corps Second Lieutenant at the Pensacola, Florida, flight school, . Twenty days after sailing for the Southwest Pacific he was married mar-ried to June Shakstad, a high school sweatheart, working as a dietitian in a Southern California clinic. |