The Dark Side Of Fame - Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr.

Of all the World War II aces, Thomas B. McGuire, Jr. stands out of the crowd for one reason: he openly lusted for the fame that would come with being a leading ace, and thereby the best pilot. In the American and British air forces, there is a tradition of modesty regarding this goal. No one will ever accuse a man like Chuck Yeager of lack of ego, but it is kept in public check behind an "aw shucks, I was just doin' the job" attitude. McGuire's lust for fame and glory would make him America's Number Two ace of all time, with 38 victories behind the 40 of his great rival, Richard I. Bong, but it would also insure he could never become Number One. Perhaps this is the poetic justice of the universe at work.

After service in the Alaska Air Command during the Aleutian fighting, McGuire arrived in Australia in March, 1943, assigned to the 49th Fighter Group, which at that time was the leading fighter unit fighting in New Guinea. Before he could fly in combat with them, he was assigned to the newly-created 475th Fighter Group.

A word needs to be said here about the 475th Fighter Group: in 1943, the Allied forces fighting in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) were at the end of a very long supply line, and not at the top of the priority list back home. General George Kenney, commander of the 5th U.S. Army Air Force - the American air commander in SWPA - wanted the P-38 "Lightning", which had the range to take the war to the enemy at Rabaul and the north coast of New Guinea, and the performance to outfight the opponents it would find. He began to get P-38s in December 1942, but by the Summer of 1943 had only been able to get enough "Lightnings" to equip three squadrons - one in the 80th Fighter Group, one in the 35th, and one in the 49th.

In June 1943, General Kenney managed to obtain enough new P-38s to form an entire group (48 aircraft with 4 spares). He ransacked 5th Fighter Command for the best pilots available, and transferred them to the new unit, the 475th Fighter Group, which would be commanded by Lt. Col. Charles H. McDonald. Proving leadership means "follow me," McDonald would go on to score 27 victories and become the 3rd ranking USAAF ace in the Pacific War. The 475th was one of only two USAAF Fighter Groups to be created in an overseas combat zone; the 4th Fighter Group - the former RAF Eagle Squadrons - being the other in the ETO. The 475th went on to become the top-scoring Fighter Group, with three of the five top-scoring USAAF aces of the Pacific War.

When the unit went into combat in New Guinea in August 1943, McGuire distinguished himself as he quickly became an ace, scoring a triple on 18 August, and a double on 21 August. By mid-October 1943, his score was 18, including another triple on 12 October. On this day, he also found out what it was like to be on the receiving end when he was shot down by a "Zeke"; wounded in this action, he was sidelined until December 1943.

Here is McGuire's combat report from 17 October 1943, describing this dramatic event:

The first half of 1944 saw McGuire's score slowly rise as targets became increasingly scarce over New Guinea. Personally, he only saw one rival: Richard Ira Bong, the first American to become an ace in the P-38, whose score was always just a few ahead of his. McGuire became commanding officer of the 431st Fighter Squadron during this time.

In August 1944 they were joined by the great Charles A. Lindbergh, who would fly with them for two months. Lindberg had resigned his Army commission when he was a leader in the America First movement, fighting to keep America out of the war. When the war came, he volunteered for service but President Roosevelt refused to let the Army accept him, due to his political activities. Undeterred, Lindbergh became a technical representative for United Aircraft and went to the Pacific to teach what he know of flying long distances over open ocean to the young pilots flying combat. By the time he arrived at the 475th, Lindbergh had flown "Corsairs" with the Marine units in the Marshall Islands. He taught cruise control and the proper way to trim an airplane for long distance flight, and by so doing extended the P-38's range by 45 percent with no extra fuel. It is not well known that on a mission to Peleliu in September 1944 with both Colonel McDonald and McGuire, Lindbergh shot down two Japanese planes. These were never officially credited - though they are part of the Group's total - due to his civilian status.

The unit moved up to Morotai - an island group between New Guniea and the Philippines - in begin of October 1944. In the witness relation, Colonel Sam W. van der Weide (USAF, Retired): "I was a member of the ground forces who made the D-Day landing on Morotai Island 15 September 1944 and was an active participant in the construction of the 'Wama' fighter strips and the two 'Pitoe' bomber strips. It was 1 October 1944 before the first planes landed on 'Wama' and those were B-24's returning from Borneo strikes. On the afternoon of 4 October 1944 a squadron of P-38's and four P-61's arrived."

The 475th transferred to Tacloban on Leyte Island a week after the October 24, 1944 invasion of the Philippines, and McGuire led the first flight to go up from Morotai. As he was on final approach to landing, two "Oscars" swept over the field in a strafing attack. McGuire quickly raised gear and flaps, poured on the coal and shot down both directly over the field, an amazing feat in the big heavy "Lightning". He landed to discover he and the other 475th pilots were to hand over their airplanes to the 49th Fighter Group (Bong's unit), to make up for attrition. McGuire is reported to have been "fit to be tied" as he watched P-38 #131, "Pudgy IV," towed across the muddy field to the 49th's dispersal.

McGuire made up for that as soon as he could climb into "Pudgy V." By 13 December 1944, his score was 31. That was the week Bong scored his 40th and was removed from operations by General Kenney to go home to the U.S.A. and be awarded the Medal of Honor. On Christmas Day, McGuire scored victories 37 and 38 - putting him only two behind Bong - and was grounded by General Kenney until Bong could get home and receive his hero's welcome.

Allowed back in the air on January 7, 1945, McGuire was out for blood. Leading a flight of 4, he spotted a lone "Zero" low over the jungle of Negros Island. He had always preached never to get low, slow and heavy with the P-38, but this time he didn't let go his drop tanks. He saw the "Zero" as an easy kill, and with it and one more he would tie Bong. He made the fatal decision to keep his tanks, make the bounce, and continue the hunt.

Unfortunately for McGuire, the pilot he attacked was NAP 1/c Soichi Sugita, at that time the top-scoring surviving IJN ace with 80-odd kills scored over Rabaul, a master at the controls of a "Zero". In the ensuing fight, Sugita managed to shoot down one of McGuire's wingmen, and severely damage the other two. He then went after McGuire. Low over the jungle, heavy with fuel, McGuire stalled out trying to get away from Sugita and crashed to his death, a pointed example of the dark side of the lust for fame and glory.

The USAAF couldn't admit the truth about the real nature of their Number Two ace. The official account of McGuire's demise has his flight attacked by a lone Zero, which shot down his junior wingman and damaged the other two, who only escaped with their lives when McGuire came to their rescue and tangled with the "Zero", only to stall over the jungle and crash. For this selfless act, "above and beyond the call of duty," McGuire was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey is named in his honor.

Written by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver .


Major Thomas McGuire next to his P-38 "Pudgy (V)"
Place of birth	Ridgewood, New Jersey
Place of death	KIA at Negros Island
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army Air Corps
Years of service	1941-1945
Rank	Major
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Medal of Honor Distinguished Service Cross Silver Star (3) Distinguished Flying Cross (6) Purple Heart (3)

Major Thomas Buchanan McGuire Jr. (August 1, 1920 - January 7, 1945) was the second highest scoring American ace during World War II, whose memory was preserved by the naming of McGuire Air Force Base in Burlington County, New Jersey.

His Life

McGuire was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, on August 1, 1920. He and his mother moved to Sebring, Florida in the late 1920s and McGuire graduated from Sebring High School in 1938. He enrolled at Georgia Tech and joined Beta Theta Pi but left after his third year to join the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941, reporting to a contract flying school in Corsicana, Texas, as an aviation cadet. Later, he got his wings after finishing his flight training at Randolph Field, Texas.

His First Combat

During World War II, his first combat assignment was flying patrols over the Aleutian Islands and Alaska flying the P-39 Airacobra while assigned to the 54th Fighter Group. While scoring no aerial victories in the Aleutians, McGuire was able to hone his natural and instinctive gifts as a pilot. Returning to the United States in December 1942, he married Marilynn Giesler, a student at Incarnate Word College in San Antonio, Texas. In February 1943 he reported to Orange County Airport, California for transition training in the P-38 Lightning. In March 1943, he was sent to the South Pacific as a P-38 Lightning pilot with the 49th Fighter Group, Fifth AirMajor Richard Bong's Force.

Five months later, the 5th Air Force decided to create an entire group, the 475th Fighter Group, of P-38 fighters, at the behest of its commander, the legendary Lt Gen George Kenney. Because he was a natural leader and experienced pilot, McGuire was among those chosen to form the new group. He was assigned to the 431st Fighter Squadron. On August 18, 1943, McGuire was part of a group flying top cover for bombers striking at Wewak, New Guinea. Nearing their target, the fighters were attacked by Japanese aircraft. During the battle, McGuire shot down two Ki-43 "Oscars" and one Ki-61 "Tony." On the following day, near the same location, he downed two more Oscars. This established him as an air ace in two days, after undergoing a frustrating year of apprenticeship with no opportunities to engage the enemy.

McGuire's career nearly came to an end on 17 October 1943 when he scrambled from Dubodura, New Guinea to intercept approaching Japanese bombers being escorted by Zero fighters over Oro Bay, New Guinea. During the ensuing dogfight McGuire observed at least seven Japanese Zero fighters attacking a lone P-38 that was trailing smoke. Without hesitation McGuire dove into the seven enemy fighters and quickly shot down three. Unfortunately the remaining four Zeros were able to attack McGuire and severely damage his aircraft. With his controls shot out McGuire decided to bail out but as he exited the plane he found his parachute harness had snagged on something in the cockpit. From 12,000 feet to 5,000 feet McGuire struggled to free himself from the stricken plane. Finally he was able to free himself and deploy his parachute only 1,000 feet from certain death. Fortunately he landed safely in the water and was rescued by a PT boat. He suffered a 7.7mm bullet wound to his wrist and numerous other injuries including some broken ribs. He spent six weeks in the hospital before he returned to his unit. For his actions on this day he was awarded a Silver Star and a Purple Heart.

His Career

McGuire's skill at maneuvering the large twin-engined P-38 was legendary, and he eventually became one of the top scoring airmen in Air Force history. Had it not been for periodic illnesses and heavy administrative duties as Commander, 431st Fighter Squadron, McGuire would surely have become the United States’ leading ace. Charles Lindbergh bunked with him and flew as his wingman on a few highly unusual if unauthorized missions. Visitors recalled McGuire ordering Lindbergh around, telling him to run errands as though he were a servant. Lindbergh was sent home after a kill in the P-38 because the Army did not want to risk losing the famous pilot in a war he was not even supposed to be in. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, on the other hand, was supportive of Lindbergh's efforts and impressed with his innovations. McGuire even wrote a highly prized book on combat tactics for the entire 5th Air Force. On December 25-26 1944, McGuire reached the zenith of his career, downing at least seven Japanese fighter aircraft over two days over Luzon, Philippines. He was two victories away from Major Richard Bong's, the USAAF’s all-time aerial victory leader. However, after cheating death many times on his way to 38 aerial victories, McGuire’s tremendous achievements soon came to a close.

His Final Mission

On January 7, 1945, McGuire was leading a group of four P-38s (he leading the flight, others being Major Jack Rittmayer (four victories), captain Edwin Weaver (two victories) and Lieutenant Douglas Thropp (one victory), during a fighter sweep over northern Negros Island in the central Philippines. Their aim was to gain victories; McGuire wanted desperately to pass Major Richard Bong's score of 40 kills. After descending through cloud cover, McGuire’s flight orbited a Japanese airfield at Fabrica then proceeded to a second Japanese airstrip at Manapla. As they approached Manapla (also referred to as Carolina Airfield) they were confronted by a lone Ki-43 “Oscar” which immediately engaged McGuire's fight. Flying in the number three position Lt. Doug Thropp observed the lone bogie trying to attack him in a head on pass. Lt. Thropp instinctively broke hard left in an attempt to thwart the bogie's attack. The bogie turned with Thropp and fell into a trail position on him while firing on Thropp. Major Rittmayer, flying as Thropp's wingman, turned sharply towards the bogie and began firing on him. Meanwhile Major McGuire saw that the bogie was being engaged by Rittmayer and turned away from the dogfight to face an imminent threat to the flight from the opposite direction. Unfortunately for Major McGuire and his flight, the pilot of the lone Japanese aircraft, Warrant Officer Akira Sugimoto, was an instructor pilot with thousands of hours in that type of aircraft, broke away from Thropp and Rittmayer and reversed his turn to find McGuire and his wingman Ed Weaver directly in front of him. Sugimoto was easily able to catch up to McGuire and Weaver and attack them from behind. As Sugimoto approached Weaver from behind Weaver radioed that the bogie was now attacking him and cut to the inside of the turn to give Sugimoto a more difficult shot. McGuire seeing that his wingman was being threatened eased up on his turn rate in an effort to draw the boggie off of his wingman and onto himself. Sugimoto took the bait and switched his attack to McGuire. As Sugimoto approached from behind Major McGuire attempted to thwart Sugimotos attack by rapidly increasing his turn rate. Regretably this extremely dangerous maneuver, performed at only 300 feet above the ground, caused Major McGuire to stall his P-38 which then snap rolled to an inverted position then pitched down and crashed into the ground. He was killed on impact. At the start of the dogfight McGuire radioed everyone to keep their auxiliary fuel tanks as they would be needed to reach their main objective later in the sweep. Many of McGuire's fellow P-38 pilots believe this order, contrary to standard operating procedures, was the direct cause of McGuire's death.

Less than a minute later another Japanese aircraft, a Ki-84 “Frank” piloted by Technical Sergeant Mizunori Fukuda, appeared on the scene from a nearby airstrip, and attacked Major Jack Rittmayer in a head on pass. His P-38 disintegrated from cannon shots and he himself was killed. Only Weaver returned unscathed; Thropp's plane was badly damaged in the action and trailed smoke from one engine.

The crash was witnessed by Filipinos who immediately rushed to the scene and secured his remains so they would not fall into the hands of the Japanese. In 1947 his remains were recovered by the US Army and returned to the United States. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

External links

McGuire Air Force Base Website fact sheet

McGuire fact sheet from the National Museum of the USAF (includes MOH citation)

248th Hiko Sentai: A Japanese "Hard Luck" Fighter Unit {Copyrighted - for reference only}

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