"It was sort of an impromptu affair."
Captain Thomas G. Lanphier Jr., Army air hero (TIME, May 31), was shop-talking, with the professional airman's elaborate understatement, about one of the strangest engagements of this or any wara battle in which U.S. fighter planes sank a Japanese destroyer by gunfire.
"We came out of the floatplane base on Poporang Islandthere were six of us, five P-38s and one Vought Corsairand we spotted the destroyer. It turned broadside to me. We were firing our four .50-caliber machine guns and one cannon.
"There were Japs jumping overboard everywhere. It took a couple of runs to clear...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
