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Originally Posted by Lightning Guy There are a number of top American aces who died, not from enemy action, but from flying accidents. Richard Bong, Thomas McGuire, Gerald R. Johnson, Danny Roberts, are just a few of these. Danny Roberts was especially tragic in my opinion. He was making a shard turn to stay on the tail of a Japanese fighter but his wingman was too slow reacting. The two fighters collided and both pilots were lost. |
The Thomas McGuire story is certainly not what it seems. They actually gave him a Medal of Honor for the poor decision making that resulted in the deaths of himself and one of those under his command. He almost got the whole flight (4) killed. The two survivors took battle damage. The sortie was apparently not officially authorized. It was a sortie to allow McGuire to pick the kills rather than have the flight destroy the enemy as efficiently and as safely as possible. You see, McGuire was only 2 kills from Richard Bong and he was already overdue to rotate State Side. The sortie was a "Glory Sortie" set up by McGuire, for McGuire.
Additionally, it was a sortie in poor visibility conditions and McGuires uncontroverted orders to "Hold the Drop Tanks" should have disqualified him from the Medal of Honor. Usually, you need to save the lives of your comrades to earn that medal, but sometimes the truth and morale aren't necessarily compatible. This is a fact in the U.S. Military, or any military for that matter. The U.S. Military doesn't have dibbs on lying. At least not in the WWII era.
But, I digress. Theres only one from McGuire's final sortie alive now. If anyone is really interested in how and why brave men die following are a couple links I'd recommend reading. Iraq should be proof enough that you can't trust the Pentagon.
What Really Happened to Tom McGuire?:
http://<a href="http://www.aerothent....htm</a><br />
Captain Weavers "Combat" Report:
http://<a href="http://www.wpafb.af....p/tmcr.htm</a>
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