One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
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1943<br />
April 18: In P–38 aircraft over Bougainville, 1st Lt. Rex T. Barber and Capt.<br />
Thomas G. Lanphier, Jr., intercepted and shot down a Japanese<br />
bomber carrying Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, the Japanese <strong>of</strong>ficer who<br />
had planned the attacks on Pearl Harbor and Midway. <strong>The</strong> interception,<br />
meticulously planned and executed on the first anniversary <strong>of</strong><br />
the Doolittle raid, deprived the Japanese <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> their most brilliant<br />
naval <strong>of</strong>ficers. Maj. John W. Mitchell led the flight <strong>of</strong> 16 P–38s in which<br />
Barber and Lanphier flew.<br />
48<br />
Maj. Gen. Claire Chennault, commander<br />
<strong>of</strong> Fourteenth <strong>Air</strong> Force in<br />
1943<br />
<strong>The</strong> raid to intercept and shoot down Admiral Yamamoto used the<br />
P–38 Lightning aircraft, which was also flown by the two top U.S.<br />
aces.