US Marines
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Flying legend Colonel Joe McPhail joined the US Marines in 1941 immediately before the attack on Pearl Harbor. McPhail served in the Marine Fighter Squadron VMF441 flying the Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat. He would later be assigned to the "Death Rattlers" VMF-323 as a F-4U Corsair pilot. The Death Rattlers were the most successful Marine Fighting Squadron in 1945 with 124 victories. During WWII Joe would fly 140 combat missions and is credited for shooting down a Nate and a Zero. He would later serve in the VMFA-214 "Black Sheep" fighter squadron during the Korean conflict. He would fly a total of 102 combat missions with two air-to-air victories later being awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and 11 air medals and the Navy Commendation medal.
It would take R.V. Burgin, who joined the Marine Corp in 1942, thirty years to speak about his experiences during WWII. He would serve in the 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division and would make his way through the Pacific fighting in some of the bloodiest battles of the war; Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa. He would be awarded the Bronze Star for his actions during the Battle of Okinawa, and a Purple Heart for sustaining wounds. Submission for being awarded the Silver Star for his actions on Peleliu, had been planned but Captain Haldane was killed before he was able to submit the paperwork. RV authored the book "Islands of the Damned" a memoir of his combat experiences and is portrayed in HBO miniseries, "The Pacific".
During WWII, Col. Dean Caswell, then a 1st Lt., served in the US Marine Corp Reserve as a pilot flying USMC Corsairs in the Marine Fighting Squadron VMF221. Caswell was attached to the USS Bunker Hill which sustained heavy damage due to an aerial battle with Japanese Kamikaze's. Caswell flew over 100 missions and became a WWII flying Marine Corp ACE having been credited with shooting down seven enemy aircraft in aerial combat in the Pacific theater. He would continue to serve during the Korean war and a portion of the Vietnam war.
Buster Fuqua followed in the footsteps of his two older brothers enlisting in the Marine Corp in 1942. The oldest of the three Fuqua brothers was in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the second oldest lived through the battle of Guadalcanal but not without a sacrifice being wounded ending his service in the Marines. Like many WWII veterans who saw the fiercest combat, it would also take Buster Fuqua 30 years to speak about his participation during WWII. Not one word would be uttered. As a Marine during WWII Buster would fight the sandy beaches throughout the Pacific alongside his brothers in arms and many times witness their deaths. By 1945 Buster's fate lay in invading Iwo Jima or Okinawa, his division was eventually assigned to invade Okinawa. Buster would survive 41 days into the 82 day long battle. On the 41st day of combat Buster and his team were hit by a mortar which landed near Buster's feet. That he survived was a miracle in itself considering that his wounds were life threatening exposing his internals, mangled leg and fingers and a sniper wound to the chest. Of his service Buster said, "We went in and gave it everything we had, we knew what our duty was to save this country."
