Apr 28, 2023 | Artifact - WW II
Eight months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, American forces engaged in the first major amphibious invasion of World War II, attacking the Japanese-occupied island of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific Ocean on August 7, 1942. Air, sea, and ground combat with the...
Apr 28, 2023 | Artifact - Korean War
Jesse Leroy Brown (1926-1950) of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was the first African American aviator in the United States Navy. During the Korean War, Ensign Brown flew support missions with Fighter Squadron 32 from the aircraft carrier USS Leyte (CV-32). On December 4,...
Apr 28, 2023 | Artifact - WW II
Attached to the US Army Air Forces, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) was a women’s pilot organization during World War II. Members of the WASP were the first women to fly American military aircraft. The female pilots flew noncombat stateside missions,...
Apr 28, 2023 | Artifact - Vietnam War
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas E. Collins, III, of Utica, Mississippi, served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. While flying a combat mission on October 18, 1965, his F-4C Phantom II fighter-bomber was hit by ground fire over North Vietnam. Forced to eject at low...
Apr 28, 2023 | Artifact - WW II
Captain Arnold Everett “Vince” Vinson (1918-1943), of Monticello, Mississippi, served as commanding officer of the 2nd Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Group, during World War II. He participated in aerial combat missions as a Spitfire pilot in the Mediterranean...
