Two 1946 Collier’s articles by Colonel Charles MacDonald recalling his unexpected brush with Charles Lindbergh in the far flung outposts of the Pacific, when “the Lone Eagle” was sent abroad as a technical observer for the United Aircraft Corporation to study the successes of the P-38 fighters on the Japanese Front. It was learned only after the war from this article that Lindbergh performed various tasks far beyond his pay grade:
“My God! He shouldn’t go on a combat mission, when did he fly the Atlantic? Must have been in 1927 and he was about twenty-five then. That would make him at least forty-two years old, and that’s too old for this kind of stuff.”
“In the days that followed, Lindbergh was indefatigable. He flew more missions than was normally expected of a regular combat pilot. He dive-bombed enemy positions, sank barges and patrolled our landing forces on Numfoor Island. He was shot at by almost every antiaircraft gun the Nips had in Western New Guinea.”
It was a sad day when Lindbergh found common-cause with European fascists – click here
to read about that period in his life…
