To The Men Who Flew The P-51 Mustang

Seventy-Five years ago today, the P-51 Mustang took flight. Including variants, 15,568 were built. They became dominant during the air wars of World War II. They proved useful for many years to come, finally being phased out by the US in 1968. They would be used by other nations as recent as 1984.

As important as the aircraft were, it is the men who climbed into the cockpits of them that truly made them into what they were. These pilots, during World War II claimed 4950 enemy aircraft downed. Doolittle's "fight them wherever you find them" style of fighting, as opposed to the primarily defensive strategy used up until then was a major factor in this.

Adolf Galland, A Luftwaffe General and ace noted that when the US turned from a defensive to an offensive air power, Germany lost the air war. Hermann Goring, commander of the Luftwaffe said, "When I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the jig was up".

These men of the Mustangs, the men of the 375th Fighter Group, which scored 565 air-to-air combat victories; the men of the 354th Fighter Group, which scored 664 victories; The men of the 332nd Fighter Group, the Tuskegee Airmen; or individuals like Lt, Chuck Yeager, Lt Hubert Zemke or Major George Preddy, all who had some incredible accomplishments in Mustangs, all of these men, and many more are what made the Mustang as formidable as it was.

We salute all of those who worked on the production and the upkeep of these planes, all of those who were parts of flight crews that prepared them for missions and got them into the air safely, all of those who flew them into battle, many who did not return. All of you, over the course of many years, poured everything you had into ensuring the missions were complete and everyone made it home. You changed the course of history for the better.

 Korean War

 Red Tail

 World War II

Tuskegee Airmen

My sons in front of "Betty Jane"