Joe McPhail | Part 1 | WWII Corsair Pilot and USMC Veteran

Young McPhail spent his youth in Tyler, Texas. Between classes and jobs he learned to fly at the Tyler Pounds Regional Airport, cutting the skies, and his teeth, in a piper cub. His draw towards aviation grew and he set his sights on the next best opportunity, flying fighters in the United States Marine Corps.

He commissioned and went active duty 3 days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Quickly his unit was graduated and the fleet of Grumman F4F Wildcats deployed to the Pacific theatre where they waited out the nerve-wracking aerial Japanese bombardments. His second deployment to Okinawa, now outfitted with the state-of-the-art F4U Corsair, focused on air to ground support and aerial combat. He received two confirmed kills in that 10-month deployment.

In 1950, he was recalled and sent to North Korea to fight the Chinese and North Koreans in the unforgiving terrain of the Chosin Reservoir. He was awarded the distinguished flying cross and numerous air medals, and at 102 years old is the oldest living F4U Corsair pilot left.

This is Part 1 of his story.