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  • First AAF Ace of WWII

    Lt. Boyd D. "Buzz" Wagner, commanding officer of the 17th Pursuit Squadron in the Philippines, was the first AAF ace of World War II. Flying against overwhelming odds, he was one of the handful of American fighter pilots who engaged vastly superior numbers of Japanese aircraft as the enemy overran

  • Zeamer and the "Eager Beavers"

    Tenacity over Bougainville"Jay Zeamer and his crew performed a mission that still stands out in my mind as an epic of courage unequaled in the annals of air warfare."- Gen. George Kenney, 5th Air Force Commander Capt. Jay Zeamer's remarkable crew was the most highly-decorated aircrew in history.

  • Royce Special Mission to Mindanao

    The Royce special mission back to the Philippines consisted of 10 B-25s and three B-17s, which took off from Darwin, Australia, on April 11, 1942, for the 1,500 mile flight to Mindanao. After arriving at their forward airfields, the planes flew bombing missions against Japanese ships, airfields and

  • Java

    While still conducting their conquest of the Philippines, the Japanese began an offensive against the Netherlands East Indies. As they progressed southward, the United States attempted to assist the Dutch and sent to Java all the AAF airplanes it could muster. The AAF carried out bombing attacks

  • Retreat in the Pacific

    Following the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese turned their attention to the Southwest Pacific. For the next five months they were to sweep the Allies before them with alarming ease.Their first objective was the Philippine Islands, which they attacked from the air on Dec. 8, 1941 (Philippines time)

  • Corregidor

    During the first day of hostilities in the Philippines, the AAF lost more than half of its planes as a result of Japanese bombing and strafing attacks and aerial combat. Many AAF personnel no longer needed to maintain airplanes were transferred to ground units and were eventually captured or killed

  • Tuxedo Trousers

    Tuxedo trousers worn by the donor, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Harry W. Brown, when he was one of the few USAAF pilots in Hawaii to take off to engage attacking Japanese planes.Click here to return to the Pearl Harbor Overview.

  • Col. Lew Sanders A-2 Jacket

     This is the A-2 flying jacket worn by the donor, Col. (Ret.) Lew Sanders, when he reportedly became the first person in U.S. uniform to shoot down an enemy aircraft in World War II. Flying a P-36 of the 46th Fighter Squadron, he was one of a handful of USAAF pilots to get off the ground during the

  • Lt. Philip Rasmussen and His P-36A

    A Day that Will Live in InfamyThe Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, completely surprised American forces. Japanese carrier-borne bombers and fighters devastated the Army Air Forces, Navy and Marine installations on the island of Oahu. The attack killed or

  • Day of Infamy: The Pearl Harbor Attack

    At 7:55 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, a Japanese force of 183 airplanes attacked U.S. military and naval facilities on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands without warning. For 30 minutes, dive bombers, level bombers and torpedo planes struck airfields and naval vessels.After a 15-minute lull, a second wave