P-51's on Iwo Jima (These are incredible pictures!!)

[moosedog]

A friend just sent me this link of WWll pictures of our guys at Iwo Jima.

Picasa Web Albums - Mark - Iwo Jima

[29aholic]

Very cool...thanks

[nicky4968]

Thank you.

[Rangerpat]

Great black and white photos, I really like the 65 years later color photos as a contrast. Thank you for sharing them on this forum.

[armenius]

What a thrill to see these photos!It is almost like finding Bigfoot.
But I have an interesting correction to one of the captions.My instructor in Primary Flight School flew P51's off Iwo.He told about a friend and I believe he had a picture.At any rate I was elated to see his friends P51.The caption reads "Drip & Dick".This is an error.!!!!
The pilots name was Richard Rainwater,and the name of the plane was....you guessed it!, "Drip'n Dick".What an unforgettable memory.
God Bless those guys!

[silentflyer]

Truly the Greatest Generation..

[Thuer]

I am impressed. I surly hope those times never come again.

[Vulcan Bob]

Thanks for shareing!

[ancient-one]

Those are really interesting pictures. Thanks very much for sharing. To me, the P-51 was one of the prettiest shaped aircraft ever made. They had a sound of their own and when one went over you didn't have to see it to know what it was.
When I worked on the flight line, we were required when doing a full power engine run, to cable the tail of the aircraft to an eye in the concrete. They had been known to jump the chocks, even with the brakes fully applied. They are still one of my favorite aircraft to see in flight. Did anyone ever see a P-82 Twin Mustang?

[45times6]

The P-51 has such great lines, and looks so sleek and lethal.

What struck me looking at these pictures, though, is the realization of how small those fighters were compared to modern fighter aircraft. They must have given a much more intimate experience of flying & fighting. I had the great privilege of meeting a gentleman who flew Hurricanes for the RAF during the Second World War, and he described the experience as being like "wearing" the plane... he said the aircraft was extremely responsive, and a joy to fly.

Thank God for those men. Thank you for sharing the link to those photos.

[Checkman]

Very interesting. We don't hear much about what happened on Iwo Jima after the battle ended.

[doc540]

Take note of those post-battle photos.

The former Marine who used to do my taxes lives just one block away and fought the final, hand-to-hand battle on Iwo Jima.

You can find evidence of the battle in these rare pictures of the night attack when we lost many, many P-51 pilots who were asleep in their tents.


Pfc Ray Hudson was 19 years old, and on a good day could still remember the battle.

Each year on Feb. 19 I went over to visit him, take him a thank you card, and honor him for his service.

He passed away last year.

R.I.P.

Semper Fi

[Cyrano]

Brave men. Very brave indeed.

[LouisianaJoe]

I was born on May 12, 1945. These pictures were taken just before and just after my birth.

Great photos!

[Class III]

Originally Posted by ancient-one

Did anyone ever see a P-82 Twin Mustang?

Graydon, I had the plesure of having a customer a few years ago who was a P51/P82 pilot. He showed me his personal photo album of he and his squadron flying the last of the P82's from Anchorage, AK to a bone yard in AZ. According to him he has the distinction of the last takeoff and the last landing of a P82 before they where chopped up for scrap. He also had some pictures of the P51 he was flying when he had the unfortunate meeting of plane and schrapnel. He said he went from 180 lbs in late 1944 to 120 lbs at the time of his POW camp liberation.

Thank you for your service,

Class III

[Fishslayer]

Thanks for sharing.

There are a pair of Mustangs that occasionally fly over Ramona. What a sound! Beautiful aircraft as well.

[BigBill]

Thank's for the pics. My father in law was in the seabee's over there in WW2 we seen him on the history channel now were trying to find that DVD. I purchased them all and have to watch them all now. His name is even listed as one who was interviewed. He passed away in the 50's so the family would like to have a living piece of him. He was in the support group.

[GaryS]

From those photos and captions, it's apparent that not all of the danger of flying missions came from the enemy. Accidents killed a lot of fine young men too.

[The Highlander]

Thank you sir. I appreciate seeing this glimpse into history. A reminder of what our armed forces of the past went through, and what our armed forces of today face. Each time I see photos such as these, I am humbled.

[deanodog]

May GOD bless those brave men. Thanks for the pictures.

[Straightshooter2]

Thanks for those pictures. I've always thought that the P-51 Mustang and the F-4 Phantom were the two baddest looking aircraft of all time. Both of them just looked mean even when sitting still on the deck.

In 1967, when I first started working for Delta, there was an outfit in the corner of the Atlanta airport called Mustangs Unlimited. Their specialty was restoration and maintenance of P-51's. At any one time, they usually had 4 or 5 P-51's sitting out on their ramp area. We would occasionally ride over on bag tugs just to look at the aircraft they were working on.

There used to be a guy south of Atlanta (I think he was in Griffin) that flew a restored P-51 he named (with permission) Glamorous Glennis. I seem to recall reading that ChucK Yeager would come visit occasionally so he could fly the aircraft.

CW

[inspcalahan]

fantastic story telling photos! Thanks so much for posting that.

[chez323]

way cool, thanks for sharing!

[LVSteve]

Originally Posted by GaryS

From those photos and captions, it's apparent that not all of the danger of flying missions came from the enemy. Accidents killed a lot of fine young men too.

I was also struck by that thought. The P-51 was a good airplane in combat but it was also "hot" and fragile under certain circumstances. It was not very stable when fully laden with fuel and the undercarriage was not especially robust. Add in the ersatz runways they were using and pilot fatigue on their return and the chance of accidents was pretty high.

[Peter M. Eick]

Fascinating pictures. As a geologist I especially enjoyed the 60 year differences. Interesting to see how geology works so slowly.

[Shooting Padre]

The contrast of the B&W print and current color print of the same beach is a stark image of how the scars of battle fade with the years. We must never let the memory of those who fought the good fight upon this and other battle fields fade from our memories as well. These photos are a grand testament of the sacrifice made for our freedom. Thank God for all those who have served in this great nation's times of need.

[guy22]

In 1982 I was flying to Frankfurt. It was a long night flight. I was sitting next to a nice looking older guy. We got to talking. He was flying with his wife, Two grown sons, and their wifes, and Four Grandkids. They had just spent a week at Disney World on his dime. They were going home to Germany.
As we drank free booze and the night wore on. He started talking about the USA. How he liked it etc.

Then the started talking about flying and how he once had been an Experte at it. He showed me his fake leg, and said that he had lost the real thing in 1944 in a British Bombing raid on his airfield. He flew the Messerschmitt Bf 109.
He talked about what a great plane it was, but how the man/experence made all the difference in combat. He said he shot down many planes in Poland, and Russia. It was fasinating to hear from the "German" side.
He spent two years in an American Camp after the war(learned American/English). He was released and finally started a BMW Dealership.

That flight will stick in my mind forever.

These guys are almost all gone. But what they lived though is a learning event.

Guy22

[Cyrano]

Guy 22: not to far from me is Deming, NM. Many of the prisoners went out to local farms to work during the war. A surprising number of them return from time to time, to reunite with the American friends they made then.

[armenius]

For those who enjoyed the P 51's I would recommend going to the site for "Truck Busters From Dogpatch" and read about the 18 Fighter Bomber Wing which flew P 51's in Korea.My instructor was recalled and flew again.The book about the 18 is the the most complete record of a combat unit ever written.You must check it out!

[Rule3]

Simply amazing! I see it is a older post but Thank You!

[cmort666]

Originally Posted by LVSteve

I was also struck by that thought. The P-51 was a good airplane in combat but it was also "hot" and fragile under certain circumstances. It was not very stable when fully laden with fuel and the undercarriage was not especially robust. Add in the ersatz runways they were using and pilot fatigue on their return and the chance of accidents was pretty high.

I'm part way through a book on the airwar in the Pacific called "Fire in the Sky" (not the alien abduction story).

One of the interesting points the author brings up is the administrative and logistical chaos which was the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. They lost quite a few planes to accidents occurring between the revetments and the runway. It seems that unlike us, they didn't bother to pave that part of the field and it wasn't unusual for their planes to bust the gear before they even hit takeoff speed.

Also, the author relates stories of great masses of inoperable Japanese aircraft at forward bases we captured. It was typical to see two aircraft within walking distance with easily fixable issues where it would have only taken the cross-leveling of serviceable parts to bring at least one of them back into flyable condition.

[V-35]

What Great Pictures of the Greatest Airplane and of the people of The Greatest Generation. Thanks so much for posting them. You really made my day.


In my opinion, the P-51 is the most beautiful and best sounding airplanes ever built. I always thought the I was born about 20 years too late because I always wanted to be a P-51 pilot but they weren't training any more P-51 pilots when I went into the Air Force in 1957.

I did get my pilots license in 1964 after leaving the Air Force. After logging almost 6000 hrs. in single engine airplanes since 1964, our 3 sons gave me the best gift that I have ever received last year. One hour of flying an AT-6 & one hour in the TF-51 Mustang 'Crazy Horse' at Stallion 51 Corp., in Kissammee Fl. 'Crazy Horse' is a P-51 that has two fully functional cockpits so I was able to be, as the FAA says "The sole manipulator of the controls" (Until the instructor says "I've got it"). Aerobatics in that thing was everybit as good as I had always inagined it would be I was even allowed to land it twice, (with him talking me through it). No one would ever beleive that except that I have it on DVD. What a sweet flying aircraft that is.

I still envy those kids (yes, they were kids) of 'The Greatest Generation' who got to sweep the BF-109's & Zerros out of the sky. They were a breed that I doubt that this country can ever produce again.


Art