Quote:
Originally Posted by jeanba
This is the history I have read most often in recent soruces and the most reliable too.
According to me, it is interesting to see how the legend evolved around the death of McGuire, and the tendancy that some persons have to say that
1st : he was not shot down
2nd : he was dogfighting an ace (and this was my question : none of the involved japanese pilot were "aces" as far as I could find).
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I suspect all this was for public comsumption at home . Mc Guire loss while
battling an "ace" was more palatable than admitting his loss at the hands
of an ( then ) anonymous Jap(anese ) pilot.
Even if we assume that he was not shot down , his was undeniably a battle casualty . Saying it was not , is the same as saying that a ground
trooper killed by a stone thrown up by an enemy shell blast is an accident
gian paolo