Why is the shopping holiday after Thanksgiving called Black Friday?
The Black Friday I know occurred June 1, 1945. It was when the 7th Fighter Command lost 27 Mustangs (P-51Ds) and 25 highly trained pilots selected to escort AF B-29s on a bombing raid of Osaka, requiring 15 hours of flight time for the bombers and normally eight hours for the Mustangs. It was the worst loss of fighters on a single mission during WWII, none due to enemy action.All 144 Mustangs of the three Iwo-based groups, the 15th, 21st and 506th, were airborne for that mission. Despite warnings from the weathermen, the mission was wrongly flown as planned. Wrongly because the flight plan permitted no alternative to circumvent the stormy weather upon reaching that point midway to Japan. The pilot in command disregarded the enormity of his decision to fly all 144 Mustangs through that weather instead of aborting. The end result: the loss of 27 Mustangs and 25 pilots (MIA).I was one of the lucky ones who survived that mission. It's one I'll never forget.-- Edward J. Linfante, Maj. USAFR Ret., PantegoHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
