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[[strikethrough]] declare the airfield on that island to be neutralized. I'm proud to think that my crew members and I had something to do with the softening process. Perhaps partly through our Groups efforts the last islands in the Solomons Group [[strikethrough]] is [[/strikethrough]] are in American hands. [[/strikethrough]]

I think the most thrilling things I saw was just a couple of weeks before I left. I watched a P-38 fighter shoot down two Jap Zeroes in less than a minute.

I later talked to This boy who shot down the[[strikethrough]]s[[/strikethrough]] two Zeroes, and lated [[later]] learned that he had a chaed [[chased]] [[strikethrough]] another [[/strikethrough]] a third 75 miles up the channel and got that one, too. He was only 20 years old, and this was his first week in combat.

It is interesting to watch the other boys when a fight like this is going on at night. They [[strikethrough]] all stand at the edge of their foxholes and watch [[/strikethrough]] watch from their foxholes as the searchlights try to find the enemy planes. When one is caught by the beam they cheer and offer all sorts of encouragement to the fighter who is up there. Then while the American plane makes a pass at the Zero they are completely quiet, except for the sharp intake of breath as he comes upon the Jap. When the Jap goes down they yell and cheer just as they used to do at football games back in college.

[[strikethrough]] I am happy that the people back home are buying bonds, helping these boys still left down there, carrying on in the manner in which our Group always performed. [[/strikethrough]]

I'm no longer with a tactical Group, but am now connected [[strikethrough]]t[[/strikethrough]] with the Ferrying Division of the Air Transport Command. But if you people will keep on buying the material we will fly it down to them, making it just that much easier for those boys.