Along with many first blows of war, the U.S. was given its first individual heroes last week. They were flyers.
If heroism can be compared, the most illustrious of America's first heroes was Captain Colin Purdie Kelly Jr. His citation was recorded in a single pregnant sentence of a communiqué issued by General Douglas MacArthur: "General MacArthur announced with great sorrow the death of Captain Colin P. Kelly Jr.. who so distinguished himself by scoring three direct hits on the Japanese capital battleship Haruna, leaving her in flames and in distress."
Pilot Kelly...
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