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| I got a chance to join my Grandfather and other World War 2 veterans
of the 318th Fighter Group. The group consisted of the 19th, 73rd, and 333rd squadrons of P47
Thunderbolts. I learned that members of the 318th shot down the first and last planes of the war.
Their greated impact were when they were based in Saipan and Ie Shima where they protected the B29's
that were bombing Japan. |
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| Logos of the 19th Fighter Squadron (left) from World War 1 and the
333rd Fighter Squadron (right) from 2008 |
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| My grandfather trained in B10's like this. |
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| He also trained in the B18's like this. Just before the war, the
B18 was state of the art and some flew recon missions during the war. |
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| The modern day 333rd Fighter Squadron trains pilots to fly F15's
like this one. We were honored to have them join us. |
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| Although this isn't all of the remaining members of the 318th, there
aren't many left. Some were unable to join us because of health reasons. |
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| The 333rd Fighter Squadron, new and old. |
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| They have a lot to live up to. "Boom Boom", "Ca$h", "Padre", and "Twister". |
