Flight Journal

THE FIRST U.S. AERIAL VICTORY

EDITOR’S NOTE: The question of which pilot scored the first American victory of World War II may never be known with any certainty because of the lack of official claim confirmation of 2nd Lt. John Dains’s actions. But we present the facts, as they are now known, below.

Soryu’s air group commander, Lt. Takashige Egusa, was in the lead to attack the ships. He personally chose to

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