Lonnie Ortega Aviation Art

Frame Size: 26"x 29" ~

Cut-signature's adhered to 5 ace playing cards signed in ink by:

Col. John W. Mitchell, Col. Rex T. Barber and Lt. Col. Besby F. Holmes,

Lt. Col. Douglas S. Canning, Lt. Col. Louis R. Kittel. Comes with COA.

Operation Vengeance

by Craig Tinder

On 18 April 1943, after flying over 400 miles of open ocean, obscured by the early morning mist, a squadron of P-38G Lightnings from the 339th Fighter Squadron reached a designated intercept point over Bougainville Island. Their mission was to ambush a flight of Japanese Betty bombers. Leading the group was Lt. Rex Barber, piloting his P-38G "Miss Virginia." Their target was no ordinary formation—one of the bombers was transporting Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind behind Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.

The P-38s, utilizing their long-range capabilities, approached undetected. Lt. Barber engaged the Betty bombers, and both aircraft were successfully shot down, killing Yamamoto and key members of his staff. The mission, codenamed "Operation Vengeance," left Japan reeling from the loss of its most skilled naval strategist. Yamamoto’s death dealt a heavy blow to Japanese morale and significantly altered the course of the Pacific War.