It's not a tunnel that's needed. It's someone like Phil Maher, who could have "diplomatically" moved the item from Point "A" to Point "B" without overzealous scrutiny. I actually keep working on that problem, but from up here in Canada it's difficult. Once I get back to the hot-zone, opportunity might come knocking.

On the topic of Maher, he showed me a photo once of his P-51 in flight. He told me sadly that it was "the last photo taken of his P-51 'Muriel', and that it wasn't him flying it in the photo". From what I remember, he told me the plane was wrecked on landing back on Iwo. I believe the pilot was either uninjured, or at least not seriously injured but that the plane itself was instantly bulldozed to the side of the strip to make way for other planes coming in to land that were short on fuel. At least, that's how I remember him telling it.

Digging around over the last few days I stumbled upon the Home Page of the 78th Fighter Squadron "P-51's and Pilots of the 78th on Iwo Jima 1945 (by aircraft number and pilot)".

78th Fighter Squadron P-51's of WWII

Of interest (at least, to me) is a photo on the 3rd row down thus:


with the note underneath: 111 and 122, Muriel IV, V Phil Maher.

Looking two rows further down, there is this photo (which is the photo Maher showed me in his office):


with the notation: "122, Muriel V *Walt Kreimann"

If you scroll down to the bottom of the Home Page on the link, the asterick on the bottom of the page reads: "* 122 was Phil Maher's assigned aircraft (named after his wife) but it was Walt Kreimann who last flew it before it was lost in action."

All very interesting to me and I believe -- because I spoke so often of Phil Maher within this thread as well as Phil Roettinger (because at the end of the day, they were good friends) -- that this little addition about Maher and his plane isn't out of place here.