John R. Bruning - Jungle Ace: The Story of One of the USAAFs Great Fighter Leaders, Col. Gerald R. Johnson

Potomacs
THE WARRIORS
Series

Acclaimed books about combatants throughout history who rose to the challenges of war. Other titles in the series:

Gods Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor
Gordon Prange, with Donald M. Goldstein & Katherine V. Dillon

The Pattons: A Personal History of an American Family
Robert H. Patton

The Rogues March: John Riley and the St. Patricks Battalion, 184648
Peter F. Stevens

Victory at Any Cost: The Genius of Viet Nams Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap
Cecil B. Currey

Women Warriors: A History
David E. Jones

Col. Gerald R. Johnson, the USAAFs

Top Fighter Leader of the Pacific War

JOHN R. BRUNING

First The Warriors edition published in 2003.

Copyright 2001 by Potomac Books, Inc.

Published in the United States by Potomac Books, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standards Institute Z39-48 Standard.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bruning, John R.

Jungle ace : Col. Gerald R. Johnson, the USAAFs top fighter leader of the Pacific War / John R. Bruning.1st The warriors ed.

p. cm. (The warriors)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-57488-694-8 (alk. paper)

1. Johnson, Gerald R., 19201945. 2. Fighter pilotsUnited StatesBiography. 3. World War, 19391945Aerial operations, American. 4. World War, 19391945CampaignsPacific Ocean. 5. United States. Army Air ForcesBiography. 6. Lightning (Fighter planes) I. Tide. II. Series.

UG626.2.J363B78 2003
940.544973092dc21
2003052226

Potomac Books
22841 Quicksilver Drive
Dulles, Virginia 20166

First Edition

10 98765432

For Jennifer, Barbara, Art, Bill, and Jerry

your faith kept me strong

(Office of the Chief Engieer, General Headquarters Army Forces, Pacific, Engineers of the Southwest Pacific, vol. 6, Airfield and Air Base Development [Washington, D.C. Government Printing Office], p. 12).

Let me introduce you to a very special man. Gerald Johnson rose from obscurity to become one of the great fighter leaders of the United States Army Air Force during World War II. All of twenty-four years, by 1945 he was an ace four times over, a full colonel in command of the hottest fighter group in the Pacific. He was a handsome, daredevil pilot who would try anything oncethen try it again just for the visceral thrill of cheating death. He was a great ace, an incredible marksman, and a brilliant tactician. He was also complex man who loved to rebel while, at the same time, respecting authority. When the Air Force vested with him authority and leadership, he grew into the role, though he still found time to bend the rules a bit and have a little fun. Johnson went through life with his hair perpetually on fire.

Yet, when he is remembered by his pilot peers, they do not dwell on his 265 combat missions, his galaxy of medals, or even his 24 air-to-air victories. What they remember is a superb leader of men, who inspired all around him in the midst of some of the toughest fighting of the war. They remember an easygoing man who could laugh at himself, who could be quick-tempered at times but always did the right thing in the end. They remember the puckish sense of humor that Johnson displayed every time he pulled off one of his legendary pranks. Most important of all, they remember a man who cared deeply about his men and made their welfare his absolute top priority. They remember a man who, despite three combat tours in some of the most rugged areas of the planet, never once lost a wingman.

I first learned of Gerald R. Johnson when I was a kid. My dad brought home a copy of Air Classics that contained an article about his exploits in New Guinea and the Philippines. I recall being very impressed, and I kept the article with me even after I went to school at the University of Oregon. Later, when I discovered I had inadvertently gone to Johnsons college alma mater, I knew I had to write about this remarkable man. Through graduate school and beyond, I researched and studied Johnsons life. After writing my Masters thesis on him, I grew determined to write someday a full-length biography that would do his life justice.

This book is the fulfillment of that dream. It could not have been done without the help of hundreds of peopleall of whom were more than happy to share with me their recollections of Johnson. I must thank especially the Johnson family for giving me open access to his letters, diaries, home movie footage, photo albums, and other memorabilia. To Generals John Henebry and Sandy McCorkle, Les Hardie, Wally Jordan, Carl Estes, Bill Runey, Bill Williams, Don Good, and Harry and Verla Huffman, I must say that this book could not have been completed without your recollections. There are many others who deserve thanks, including Jene McNeese, Marge Frazier, Clayton Barnes, Leslie Nelson, Bob Wood, Frank Beagle, Frank Holmes, and everyone from the 49th Fighter Group Association, Dave and Betty Knox, Ralph Wandrey, Albert Jacobs, George Alber, Ross Guiley, Erman Guistina, the Swift Family, Carl Martinez, historians Henry Sakaida, Dave Pluth, Jack Cook, and Eric Hammel and many, many more.

Special thanks are due to the folks at Brasseys. As always, Don McKeon has been both a teacher and a mentor. David Arthur did the lions share of the editorial work, and did a terrific job. Julie Wrinn handled the production work immediately after returning from maternity leave. Julie, I hope this project didnt keep you from your own little one too much!

I need to also thank my wife, Jennifer. We met the year before I started researching Johnson for my Masters thesis, and she has put up with my devotion to his story for almost a decade. At times, we have had more photographs of Johnson and the 49th Fighter Group in our house than we have had photos of our own families! Jen, thanks for being the wellspring of my inspiration. I think I definitely got the better half of our marriageyou. How do you put up with me? How many people get to say they married their one true love? Luck has favored the foolish in my case.

Though she cannot yet read these words, I have to thank my little girl, Renee. She was born two years ago, just as my first book was wrapped up. Since then, she has put up with me and my roller coaster profession and has already shown impulses to follow in her daddys footsteps. Like her old man, she has become obsessed with airplanes, and she constantly amazes my aviator friends by shouting out the names of the planes they flew during the war. Once, while visiting a local airport to see a B-24, she pointed up at the huge engine nacelle and blurted out Double Wasp, Daddy! A B-24 pilot happened to be walking by at that instant, and was utterly dumbfounded by her comment. A two-year-old girl who can identify engines in a sixty-year-old aircraft. Now, that is some kid! Renee, you are my centerdo not ever forget that.

More thanks are in order to a great group of people who have been as close as family to me over the years. Beth Gump, Jeff Hofstrand, Julie Coching, Dave Shen, Gary Wang, Debra Goldstein, Lori Miller, Alice Hart (wherever you are), Lis Shapiro, and Emily Pullinseven if some of us have lost touch, each one of you knows what you did for me during those crazy years in Saratoga. Pat Devaney, Stu Fonda, Kim Hiatt, JoLyn Taylor Rasmussen, Renee Van Hoeter, Colleen Welsh, Eric Stinemates, Tim Cushing, Nancy Anderson, and Professor Glenn Mayyou guys helped point a very confused young man in the right direction while at the University of Oregon. Whatever I have become is due in large part to your influence on me. An extra thought goes out to Susan and Jerry Taylor, whose home was the first into which I was welcomed after I came to the Pacific Northwest.