Last WW2 Ace

[lemondana]

For those of you that are interested in WW2 history, the last American WW2 ace passed away a few days ago. He was from my hometown of Adams Nebraska and one of his sons was my classmate thru school. His name was Don McPherson and he was a Navy ace aboard the USS Essex. He flew a F6F Hellcat. He was 103 years old. There are several You Tube videos that interview him and kind of replay his story. The Fagan's Fighter's Museum in Minnesota painted their Hellcat in his colors and are dedicating their event this weekend to him. They are also supposed to do a flyover at his burial at the cemetery on Tuesday. His Obit is on the Griffith-Hovendick funeral home website in Beatrice NE. Sadly these WW2 veterans are getting fewer every day. They were truly the greatest generation. I knew this man fairly well, everyone knew him. Any questions, I'll try to answer them. The website is www.ghchapel.com.

 

[MMissile]

RIP, good sir.

 

[JDMopar]

R.I.P. Mr. McPherson. Thank you for your exemplary service. Special and personal thanks if you flew cover for any B-24 Bomber group that my Dad's plane was in.

 

[diymirage]

R.I.P. Mr. McPherson. Thank you for your exemplary service. Special and personal thanks if you flew cover for any B-24 Bomber group that my Dad's plane was in.

And special thanks if he flew missions over my home country (though I thought the hellcats were mostly in the Pacific theater)

 

[lemondana]

I think I remember him saying one of the primary missions was to destroy the kamikaze planes from hitting their ships and aircraft carriers. He said the Japanese were getting desperate at the end of the war and were sending up any old POS crates that would fly. He said they would load them with gas or explosives or whatever they had. Google his name now and there is a lot more information coming out now.

 

[lemondana]

I'm sorry that I didn't specify South Pacific. Watch the You Tube videos- well worth it. F6F Hellcat Don McPherson.