Using the parallel stories of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington and Joseph
"Smokey Joe" Foss, the two top-scoring US Marine Corps fighter aces of
all time, this fascinating new book explores US Marine Corps aviation
over the South Pacific.
*
America's Few* delves into the history of US Marine Corps aviation in
World War II, following the feats of the Corps' top-scoring aces in the
skies over Guadalcanal. Marine Corps aviation began in 1915, functioning
as a self-contained expeditionary force. During the interwar period, the
support of USMC amphibious operations became a key element of Marine
aviation doctrine, and the small force gradually grew. But in December
1941 came the rude awakening. Within hours of Pearl Harbor, heroic
Marine aviators were battling the Japanese over Wake Island.
In the South Pacific, the aviators of the US Marine Corps came out of
the shadows to establish themselves as an air force second to none. In
the summer of 1942, when Allied airpower was cobbled together into a
single unified entity - nicknamed "the Cactus Air Force" - Marine
Aviation dominated, and a Marine, Major General Roy Geiger, was its
commander. Of the twelve Allied fighter squadrons that were part of the
Cactus Air Force, eight were USMC squadrons. It was over Guadalcanal
that Joe Foss emerged as a symbol of Marine aviation. As commander of
VMF-121, he organized a group of fighter pilots that downed 72 enemy
aircraft; Foss himself reached a score of 26. Pappy Boyington,
meanwhile, had become a Marine aviator in 1935. Best known as the
commander of VMF-214, he came into his own in late 1943 and eventually
matched Foss's aerial victory score.
Through the parallel stories of these two top-scoring fighter aces, as
well as many other Marine aces, such as Ken Walsh (21 victories), Don
Aldrich (20), John L. Smith (19), Wilbur Thomas (18.5), and Marion Carl
(18.5), many of whom received the Medal of Honor, acclaimed aviation
historian Bill Yenne examines the development of US Marine Corps
aviation in the South Pacific.
