en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Vengeance
1 correction found
Lanphier lost his "ace" status as his total number of air-to-air kills dropped from five to four.
This is contradicted by Air Force-derived ace records, which still list Thomas G. Lanphier Jr. with 5.5 official aerial victory credits, not four.
Full reasoning
Air Force-derived reference works do not show Thomas G. Lanphier Jr. dropping below ace status.
- A 2016 Air Force Magazine ace list states that it relies on the USAF’s official accounting of air-to-air aerial victory credits, maintained by the Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA). In that list, “Lanphier, Capt. Thomas G. Jr.” is listed with 5.5 credits, which is above the five-credit threshold for ace status.
- AFHRA historian Daniel L. Haulman wrote in 2023 that AFHRA maintains the official victory-credit records and that, in the Yamamoto case, Thomas Lanphier and Rex Barber each received half a credit for the downing of Yamamoto’s aircraft.
- Smithsonian’s Air & Space magazine separately quoted Haulman saying he was not aware of any Air Force/Army Air Forces member who had been officially listed with at least five credits and then reduced below five, removing ace status.
So the statement that Lanphier’s total dropped from five to four and that he therefore lost his ace status conflicts with the Air Force-derived records cited above.
4 sources
- Airforce Magazine_May 2016 Issue, page 123
Army Air Forces Aces of World War II ... Lanphier, Capt. Thomas G. Jr. ... 5.5
- Airforce Magazine_May 2016 Issue, page 118
By tradition, anyone with five official aerial victory credits is an ace. In compiling this list ... Air Force Magazine relies on USAF's official accounting of air-to-air aerial victory credits, which is the responsibility of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- Credit Where It's Due | Air & Space Forces Magazine
The Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., has maintained the official aerial victory credits ... Thomas Lanphier and Rex Barber each received half a credit for shooting down the aircraft bearing Japan's Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto.
- What does it take to become an "ace"?
As for whether any pilots have lost their "ace" status-the answer is no, according to Daniel Haulman ... "I am not aware of any case in which an Air Force (or Army Air Forces) member who was listed by the Air Force with at least five aerial victory credits had his total officially reduced to less than five, removing his ace status."