Pacific Survivors
For America, WW II began and ended in the Pacific. From Pearl Harbor, the war moved quickly from island to island, many of these obscure volcanic atolls no one ever heard of: Guadalcanal, Rabaul, Emirau, Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and so many more. These idyllic islands, with their beautiful coral shores, palms, and tropical breezes, were a sharp contrast to the savage and sinister enemy that occupied them. They were also home to some of the most brutal land, sea, and air battles of the war. America called on a young generation of warriors to take on this enemy and so many answered. One of them was Captain John Morgan, and he wanted to fly. Our feature “Sole Survivors” chronicles the wartime adventures of John, who may be one of the only surviving PBJ Marine pilots still with us at 96 years of age. Doug DeCaster recently had the opportunity to sit down with John and get the story directly from him! Though not as prolific and glamorous as Corsairs and Hellcats, PBJ B-25s and their crews logged thousands of hours of critical missions during the Pacific Campaign. Equally as rare is the Commemorative Air Force’s NAA PBJ-1J Mitchell—the very same variant John flew during his tour—also featured in the article, its vintage beauty captured in the lens of John Dibbs’s camera. And in keeping with the survivor theme, we have a piece by General Charles Yeager on flying the P-51 in combat. At 97 years young, it’s hard to imagine anyone who has inspired more generations of young Americans to take to the skies and influenced the preservation of our invaluable warbirds as he has. He certainly has “The Right Stuff.” While mechanical warriors like the PBJ and Mustang will continue to be with us in one way or another, the day is approaching when the brave young men who sat at their controls and risked their lives for our freedom will be gone. We at Flight Journal salute and honor them.