P-39 AIRACOBRA BROOKLYN BUM

LT. PETER MCDERMOTT, 82ND TAC RECON SQUADRON, 71ST TAC RECON GROUP

“I was known as a wise guy from New York, and being Irish, I was used to getting into scrapes. That’s why I felt right at home in the cockpit of a fighter. When I was assigned my P-39 in New Guinea, I wanted to honor my parents back home, who were both huge Brooklyn ‘Bum’ Dodger baseball fans. The Airacobra served me well, and the nose art was a good-luck charm as I completed 134 combat missions without a scratch. Not bad for a bum from Brooklyn.”