Alex Vraciu passed away on January 29th, though his death does not seem to have been widely reported until this weekend.
Mr. Vraciu shot down 19 Japanese planes in eight months, and destroyed another 21 planes on the ground.
Mr. Vraciu (which rhymes with cashew) accomplished his most spectacular feat in the South Pacific when he shot down six dive bombers within eight minutes in what became known as the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot” in the Philippine Sea. He called it “a once-in-a-lifetime fighter pilot’s dream.”
More:
Mr. Vraciu achieved his pace-setting six kills under harrowing conditions on June 19, 1944, as Japanese planes attacked a task force of American carriers and battleships. His plane’s folding wings were mistakenly unlocked, and a malfunctioning engine was spewing oil on his windshield and preventing him from climbing above 20,000 feet. Still, he downed the dive bombers firing only 360 of the 2,400 bullets in his arsenal.
This entry was posted on Monday, February 9th, 2015 at 8:35 am and is filed under Clippings, History, Obits, Planes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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