Gary Vacin
The secret mission to shoot down Japanese Admiral Yamamoto during World War II will be the topic of a presentation to the Sun Lakes Aero Club on Monday, February 19, at the Sun Lakes Country Club Navajo Room. The event begins with coffee and camaraderie at 6:30 p.m., followed by the presentation at 7:00 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
Noted World War II historian Herb Zinn will give a PowerPoint presentation describing how a group of 16 U.S. Army Air Forces P-38 fighters flew more than 400 miles on April 18, 1943, to ambush Admiral Yamamoto as he flew to an airfield in the Solomon Islands. They sent the Japanese command fleet commander-in-chief to a fiery grave in the jungles of Bougainville. The U.S. had exacted revenge against the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack and one of the Japanese Navy’s highest-ranking officers. Yamamoto was one of the most hated men in America. Not only had he planned the attack on Pearl Harbor, almost as galling, he had reportedly bragged that he was “looking forward to dictating peace to the U.S. in the White House.”
Now in its 22nd year, the Sun Lakes Aero Club sponsors programs the third Monday of each month, November through April, at the Sun Lakes Country Club. The programs are open to all Sun Lakes residents and others interested in aviation. More information on the club is available from Cannon Hill, 509-539-7857, or Gary Vacin, 480-298-7017, or at the club’s website, www.sunlakesaeroclub.org.