[FreedomPoster]

>>I've learned similar things about the air war over Guadalcanal in conversation with Joe Foss.

After Savo Island, the fact that Joe Foss and others maintained a fragile air superiority over Guadalcanal, from Henderson Field, was about all that stopped serious daytime naval bombardment of the Marines. The Marines were "lucky" that the Japanese capital ships would only run down the Slot for less-accurate night time bombardments.

[HiJinx]

That is so true. The reason air superiority was critical is that it gave US airmen the relative freedom to engage the Japanese warships, when they showed, without worrying too much about Japanese fighters.

There's another post running today about the Christmas Truce of 1914, and someone said that never happened again afterwards. Well, true, but not quite. Joe Foss and Saburo Sakai have met on several occasions since the war. Sakai likes to remind Joe that he shot Joe down, and Joe just responds with a friendly nod. They've been able to separate their war years from the rest of their lives, and are amicable to this day. Sadly, Joe's days are probably just about over.

HJ