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Sources: Armytimes.com and USAFM fact sheet.
"December 7, 1941 was a pretty bleak day but we did get in a few licks. One person who did so was Phil Rasmussen, an Army Air Corps second lieutenant assigned to the 46th Pursuit Squadron at Wheeler Field on the island of Oahu during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. He was one of the few American pilots to get into the air that day.
He had just woken up when the attack began. Still wearing his purple pajamas, Rasmussen sped toward the flight line. At the flight line, all of the aircraft were destroyed or burning except for a few P-36 Hawks. Rasmussen jumped in one and taxied to a revetment at the edge of the airfield, where he joined three other pilots also preparing undamaged P-36 fighters. The pilots took off under fire, and were directed by radio toward Kaneohe Bay where they engaged 11 Japanese fighters in battle.
After shooting down one Japanese aircraft, Rasmussen was attacked by two Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighters. Gunfire and 20mm cannon shells shattered the canopy, destroyed the radio and severed the P-36's hydraulic lines and rudder cable. Rasmussen sought refuge in nearby cloud cover and began flying back toward Wheeler Field. He landed the P-36 without brakes, rudder or tailwheel, and with more than 500 bullet holes.
Second Lt. Philip M. Rasmussen, a young American pilot stationed at Wheeler Field, was wearing purple pajamas when he awoke to hear the attack beginning.
āI saw our planes burning at Wheeler Field,ā Rasmussen said in a 2002 interview. āBut I also saw several P-36s that were intact.ā
āWe climbed to 9,000 feet and spotted Japanese āValā dive bombers,ā Rasmussen said. āWe dived to attack them.ā
Rasmussen and three other P-36 pilots tore into a Japanese formation. Though his P-36 was slower than any of the Japanese aircraft, 1st Lt. Lewis M. Sanders got behind one of the raiders and shot it down. Second Lt. Gordon H. Sterling Jr. also shot down a Japanese aircraft but was shot down over water and drowned after getting out of his aircraft.
In his cockpit, Rasmussen charged his guns only to have the machine guns start firing on their own. While he struggled to stop them, a Japanese aircraft passed directly in front of him, flew into his bursts of gunfire and exploded.
Shaking off two Zeros on his tail, Rasmussen got his guns under control, raked another Japanese aircraft with gunfire, then felt himself taking hits from a Japanese fighter.
āThere was a lot of noise. He shot my canopy off,ā Rasmussen said. He lost control of the P-36 as it tumbled into clouds, its hydraulic lines severed and tail wheel shot off.
Rasmussen did not know it yet, but two cannon shells had buried themselves in a radio behind his pilotās seat. The bulky radio saved his life.
For his actions, Rasmussen received the Silver Star. He survived the war, shooting down a second Japanese aircraft in 1943. He retired from the Air Force in 1965 as a Lieutenant Colonel. His feat lives on at the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, where a pajama-clad mannequin scrambles into a P-36 cockpit at a display detailing his story."
"December 7, 1941 was a pretty bleak day but we did get in a few licks. One person who did so was Phil Rasmussen, an Army Air Corps second lieutenant assigned to the 46th Pursuit Squadron at Wheeler Field on the island of Oahu during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. He was one of the few American pilots to get into the air that day.
He had just woken up when the attack began. Still wearing his purple pajamas, Rasmussen sped toward the flight line. At the flight line, all of the aircraft were destroyed or burning except for a few P-36 Hawks. Rasmussen jumped in one and taxied to a revetment at the edge of the airfield, where he joined three other pilots also preparing undamaged P-36 fighters. The pilots took off under fire, and were directed by radio toward Kaneohe Bay where they engaged 11 Japanese fighters in battle.
After shooting down one Japanese aircraft, Rasmussen was attacked by two Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighters. Gunfire and 20mm cannon shells shattered the canopy, destroyed the radio and severed the P-36's hydraulic lines and rudder cable. Rasmussen sought refuge in nearby cloud cover and began flying back toward Wheeler Field. He landed the P-36 without brakes, rudder or tailwheel, and with more than 500 bullet holes.
Second Lt. Philip M. Rasmussen, a young American pilot stationed at Wheeler Field, was wearing purple pajamas when he awoke to hear the attack beginning.
āI saw our planes burning at Wheeler Field,ā Rasmussen said in a 2002 interview. āBut I also saw several P-36s that were intact.ā
āWe climbed to 9,000 feet and spotted Japanese āValā dive bombers,ā Rasmussen said. āWe dived to attack them.ā
Rasmussen and three other P-36 pilots tore into a Japanese formation. Though his P-36 was slower than any of the Japanese aircraft, 1st Lt. Lewis M. Sanders got behind one of the raiders and shot it down. Second Lt. Gordon H. Sterling Jr. also shot down a Japanese aircraft but was shot down over water and drowned after getting out of his aircraft.
In his cockpit, Rasmussen charged his guns only to have the machine guns start firing on their own. While he struggled to stop them, a Japanese aircraft passed directly in front of him, flew into his bursts of gunfire and exploded.
Shaking off two Zeros on his tail, Rasmussen got his guns under control, raked another Japanese aircraft with gunfire, then felt himself taking hits from a Japanese fighter.
āThere was a lot of noise. He shot my canopy off,ā Rasmussen said. He lost control of the P-36 as it tumbled into clouds, its hydraulic lines severed and tail wheel shot off.
Rasmussen did not know it yet, but two cannon shells had buried themselves in a radio behind his pilotās seat. The bulky radio saved his life.
For his actions, Rasmussen received the Silver Star. He survived the war, shooting down a second Japanese aircraft in 1943. He retired from the Air Force in 1965 as a Lieutenant Colonel. His feat lives on at the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, where a pajama-clad mannequin scrambles into a P-36 cockpit at a display detailing his story."
