In artist Jack Fellows’ painting, “Sakai-7 August 1942,” Japanese fighter ace Saburo Sakai flies toward the scene of aerial combat in the skies above Guadalcanal in the Solomons Islands.

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Zero Ace Over Guadalcanal

By Allyn Vannoy

Flight Petty Officer Saburo Sakai was anxious to engage the American carrier pilots for the first time, testing his skills against what he had been told were the best opponents he would come up against. Read more

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  • In this James Dietz painting, Foss’s Bluff Saves Guadalcanal, ground troops at Henderson Field thank squadron leader Joe Foss for his aerial heroics that saved the island airstrip. In October 1942, flying Wildcats, Foss, the leading Marine Corp fighter ace, and his men fought off a Japanese attack of 100 bombers by bluffing them into thinking there were more American planes than there actually were.

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