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Extraneous -> RE: Next quiz (11/8/2011 4:16:14 PM)
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Thomas George Lanphier, Jr. (November 27, 1915 – November 26, 1987) was a Colonel and World War II fighter pilot who was first solely, then partially credited with shooting down the plane carrying Admiral Yamamoto, the commander in chief of the Japanese Imperial Navy.
Captain Lanphier’s wingman Leutenant Rex T. Barber shared credit for shooting down Yamamoto.
It was only after Lanphier's death that an organized campaign began to nullify his half-credit for the victory and award full credit to his wingman.
[:D] So either answer is correct or wrong. [:D]
Immediately on landing (his plane was so short on fuel that one engine quit during landing rollout) Lanphier again put in a claim for shooting down the bomber, relating that when he turned to engage the escort Zeroes he shot the wing off one, flipped upside down as he circled back towards the bombers, and saw the lead bomber turning a circle below him. He stated he came out of his turn at a right angle to the circling bomber and fired, blowing off its right wing. He stated that he witnessed Barber shoot down another bomber which also crashed in the jungle. Holmes put in a claim for the Betty that crashed into the water, so it was assumed that three bombers had been downed. The fifteen surviving pilots were not debriefed after the mission because this formal interrogation did not exist in the procedures on Guadalcanal at that time, and thus it was never formally established that no one else witnessed Lanphier's claim.
The crash site and body of Admiral Yamamoto were found the next day in the jungle north of the coastal site of the former Australian patrol post and Catholic mission of Buin (which was re-established, after the war, several kilometres inland) by a Japanese search and rescue party, led by Army engineer Lieutenant Hamasuna. According to Hamasuna, Yamamoto had been thrown clear of the plane's wreckage, his white-gloved hand grasping the hilt of his katana, still upright in his seat under a tree. Hamasuna said Yamamoto was instantly recognizable, head dipped down as if deep in thought. A post-mortem of the body disclosed that Yamamoto received two wounds, one to the back of his left shoulder and one to his left lower jaw that exited above his right eye. Whether the admiral initially survived the crash has been a matter of controversy in Japan.
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