Pilot James Swett Became an Ace on His First Combat Mission

As a young second lieutenant in 1943, James Swett embarked on his first combat mission at the age of 22. Within 15 minutes, he was a fighter ace with seven enemy kills to his credit.

Swett arrived for duty in February 1943 at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands chain, as a pilot with Marine Fighting Squadron 221 (VMF-221). By early April, he had gone on patrol few times in his Grumman F4F Wildcat, but saw no action.

The DOD’s Katie Lange writes about what happened next.