F6F-5 "Death N' Destruction”
Unit: VF-83, US Navy
Serial: 115
CV-9 USS Essex, May 1945.
Shared by a few pilots, namely Ensigns Donald McPherson, Bill Kingston Jr. and Navy Cross winner Lyttleton Ward. With one previous kill, Ward downed four enemy planes in one day in May 1945 to make ace. McPherson and Kingston also finished the war as aces.
Photo by Jeff Micko