This is the first episode of the story of Don McPherson - an F6F Hellcat ace from Fighter Squadron 83, flying off of the USS Essex in 1945 at the Battle of Okinawa. This was made using the World War II flight simulator War Thunder - Download free here: playwt.link/tj3 Hope you enjoy! Please like, comment, and subscribe. #WW2 #WWIIHistory #WarThunder
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Don is a very dear friend and goes to my church. He is the most humble man I know and never tells his story to brag. Thank you so much for sharing his story and giving everyone a chance to visualize what he went through.
Don Knotts ?
Very cool that he has lived so long. I looked him up. He is 102!
BS
@@sally-sp8ee no, Don Macpherson
@@sally-sp8eeThere are 16mil veterans in the United States. Veterans are everywhere in America.
Historical notes: Everything should be pretty accurate here! Only notes: This is not a Taylorcraft shown in training, but the closest aircraft I had available to use. Also, Don, being in the Navy used various Hellcats throughout his missions. However, for clarity - he will be flying Hellcat 115 throughout this series just for clarity! Part 2 coming soon! Thanks for watching :)
What is that aircraft? Looks like a PZL but I can’t place it.
It looks french, what is it?
Taylorcraft is pretty much a Piper Cub without flaps... Surely you had an O-59 model available.
I really enjoy your work. Thank you and Aloha!
Did not know folks had TV's in 1945. Great video.
Thank you for your service, courage and sacrifice for our country ❤️🇺🇸
The Grumman Hellcat is a lovely US navy aircraft even the British FAA pilots love the Hellcat too during the Europe and the pacific campaign I can’t wait for part 2 story.
Thanks!!
British pilots likes the F4U too.
My father instructed rockets at Ream Field. His last tour was on the Lexington and VF-20. So was Alex Vraciu. The fleet was hammered by Kamikazes. Dad and Alex in the new model -5s approached via the treetops and destroyed a Kamikaze airbase. The model 5 had hydraulic controls for easier handling--compared to wires in the -3. The F6F was a forgiving warbird and stable at landing approach--compared to the F4U, which had a tendency to snap roll, thus the term "Marine Killer."
Thanks for this. My great uncle, George McKibben, flew an Avenger off the Essex during this period as part of VT-4.
It was a pleasure and an honor flying with you on this one. Thank you for beinging these stories to us and immortalizing the brave heroes of yesteryear. Stay awesome TJ
Is this a mod of Warthunder or something? Because the game I knew as WT was nothing like what we see in those videos. Can you please explain?
@hariszark7396 tj and his team make are just absolute legends that make wt look great
@@mgweible8162 sorry my friend but this answer doesn't help me. Can you explain more about WT please? The game I know is a 3rd person arcade air combat with skirmishes of different random aircrafts in some fixed maps. How did he make the missions he wants and have all those animations and different views of everything? Is there a mission generator or something that I have missed?
@hariszark7396 yes, custom matches are an option now with a whole slew of options to make it exactly what you want it to be. Multiple perspectives to fly from are avaliable as well. The missions were coordinated by tj through a twitch stream we all join and fly with him. I'd recommend joining his discord server as there are members there much better versed in war thunder than I
You can fly inside the cockpit! Also turn up graphics settings. We also do a lot of post production shots using replays that make it look this good.
Looking forward to part 2. The Hellcat is one of my favorite airplanes from WW2. Great story.
Mine too. They are an absolute flying tank, when it comes to taking fire.
Best fighter of WW2, because of what it empowered Naval Aviators to do.
That was such a close call... engine quit and got hit losing rudder!
As a testament to the durability of the Essex class carriers none were sunk in combat during the war despite many ships of the class having suffered major damage and of the ones that entered service during the war only two (USS Franklin and USS Bunker Hill) were decommissioned after the war due to severe battle damage.
I love to hear these old warriors talk
This story is amazing, the extra effort and resources that you've been putting into your content hasn't gone unnoticed TJ, thank you!
Thanks so much!!
Many thanks - wonderful to hear Don's story. He recounts it like most of us would for a trip to the supermarket. He's undoubtedly one of America's heroes. Best wishes from London UK.
Thank you for finding these incredible stories and sharing them with the world! It’s great to be a part of recreating these missions.
Thanks for the help!!
My great-uncle Don was an F6F Hellcat plane captain and trained folks on maintaining them.
Great video, as always! Don is a great storyteller, as well! Thank you, Don, for your service!
Another great video TJ you never let us down. Thanks for all the hard work and time you put into making these incredible videos for us. Pleas " Keep 'Em Flyin"
Outstanding! Your videos are getting better and better! Can hardly wait 'till the next one.
Super. cant wait to see the rest. Great old calm man. Been there done that and lived to tell his story.
I love your historical videos and well researched commentary. Much appreciated and Mahalo.
Fantastic story and another great video. My Dad was in VF-82 flying off of the Bennington in a Hellcat. He often talked about fighting when they were anchored off of Ulithi Atoll. Brings back a lot of memories.
Consider writing down your recollections. Otherwise the stories will be lost.
@@paulmanson253 I actually have been doing that. Also very blessed by the fact that my Dad kept a detailed journal and also sat down and did 2 different oral history’s some years ago.
@@Atpost334 So much the better. My own father was a navigator in the RCN. Like many vets,he never spoke of things. Oh,lighting a pipe on an open bridge in the North Atlantic,breakfast of canned tomatoes and bacon,but put the rest into silence. So detailed stuff such as you have is literally priceless.
My father was also in vf82 on the Bennington. I have his flight log from that time. Eugene K Harvey.
Wonderful video as always! Fascinating story with awesome visuals as well (we all love Sparky)
@tj3 Thank you for another great one!
00:43 Pilot Don McFearson was fearsonless and showed know fearson as he flew his F6F against the enemy.
A mix of original wartime footage on an old TV (yes there were B & W TV's in the 40's ) and modern animation from Warthunder-- it's great to see this !!!
Your stuff just keeps getting better. I am glad I have been with you for several years now. You have come a long way. Good job!
Thank you!
Great stuff. Amazing stories, next level graphics, very creative presentation of the newsreel and combat footage. Thank you. Terrific stuff. :-)
Absolutely great...thanks...that filled a big gap in my knowledge.🇨🇦✌️Looking forward to more.
Wow! Top shelf reporting/production and interview once again, TJ! Jim C.
Thanks Jim!
The animations in your videos are the best I have seen- well done!
great Storie as usual the hellcat is definitely one of my favourite ww2 planes now 👍keep up the amazing videos 😀
Really great videos, content, and presentation! Thank you!
thank you for your service sir...love from england
Great interview. Thanks.
These men are quiet heroes. My grandfather earned a battlefield commission to Cornel in Battle of Manila leading an assault team against a 5 inch Japanese naval gun, taking the gun and turning on the enemy. You would never know it because he never spoke about it but I have his Silver Star with a V for Valor for that action.
Great job, TJ.
Thank you for your videos, absolutely amazing, very informative and they just draw you in. Great job man and if you have a team great work from them. But if it’s just you….wow amazing job keep it up
Thanks a ton!!
Great work, thank you.
'Vandal Havoc!'..... Brilliant as usual...ta chap!✌️
Wow! Whoever created these graphics is fabuous! Well done on the entire vid!
A great story. I have so much respect for these old-timers and what they went through in WW2.
This is awesome! I'm obsessed with ww2 arial stuff.
I was on the edge of my seat..! Great story.
Thanks for watching!
F6F HELLCAT- GREAT PLANE. DON MCPHERSON- GREATER MAN! THX FOR VIDEO.
Good work covering this.
Thank you!
I absolutely LOVE your documentary videos. So well produced, but, God help me, I just LOVE IT! 😼🇺🇸
F6F is one of my favorite propeller driven warplanes. F4U, P-51 and the P-38 were a close second. Thanks for your videos. RT
I agree!!!
P 47 razor back
Been waiting for this!
Woooo!
Top notch editing sparky
Amazing editing.
Great video. One of the best channels for content.
Thank you!!
Great story by a humble hero.
In a shoebox in my grandma's closet were photos of my grandfather and his friends on Ulithi. He was with the seabees and they built a park on one of the islands with baseball fields and bbq pits even a swimming pier with a diving board. Today I keep the pictures in my cabinet in the living room
Great video❤❤❤
Great Video!
I saw one of those hellcats start up and idle over at Cheetle airport in California. I was probably 100 feet away man that thing was loud. I thought I open head hot rock was wild. Everyone of those airplanes were open headers😅😅😅
Sorry, Chino airport
From what I have heard , when air forces started doing night ops one of the factors they had to deal with was loss of night vision caused by the open flame coming out of the exhaust. Can remember hearing that one of the first things visible on a plane was the exhaust flame
Good job on the video. 👍🇺🇸
Excellent!
youtube is not posting your video's in my nots So i really look for your very excellent videos......Thanks very much for this video... Old F-4 2 Shoe🇺🇸
Thank you for your service and sacrifice. A True Warrior and Patriot!
Great video...👍
Another amazing download!!!!!
Great video
An old friend, I worked with 30ish years ago, served on a cruiser during this battle and some others. He died a few years ago, sad loss.
The plane taking off of CV 18 was USS WASP that my Dad served on as a Aviation metalsmith 1st class he lost a lot of friends on the Franklin
What a pleasant surprise to see Don's video. He contributed memories to "August 1945: When the Shooting Stopped." A rare perspective by the time I wrote the book. As others have noted, the video's completely weird contraption at 3:30 onward defies comprehension. CGI options for U.S. trainers of the era appear online including the Stearman PT-17 (Navy N2S). Around 18 and 20 minutes: CGI carriers are Saratoga and Enterprise; definitely not Essex class. However: Certainly looking forward to Part 2.
First, I have to thank those serving and who have served our country. I remember as a child my father, a US Army Captain at the time, and I went to a military aircraft salvage yard. I wanted to take everything there home with me. I can still recall the sight of all types of aircraft lined up in rows just like the automobile salvage yards, it was incredible!
I had an uncle aboard the Essex. He was only seventeen when assigned to the ship. A few days after his first Kamikaze attack (or maybe it was the first air attack during his duty), he noticed what looked like gray hairs beginning to push through his scalp. By the time the war ended and he was discharged, the hair on his entire head was solid gray. He was handsome, he was funny and a great singer. God bless all the pilots and seamen aboard the USS Essex. I thank them for their sacrifice, their devotion to duty, and the extreme nature of their service.
Great video. Historical footnote: The news clips were actually from movie newsreels. Television didn't appear until the 1950s.
I really like these interviews. Because we all know that sooner than later ... There will be no more. And it will all just be history.
At 20:05 in the video another ship can be seen to the left in the distance smoking heavily beyond the Franklin. This could be the Wasp which was also hit in the same manner as the Franklin, a lone dive bomber out of low overcast and within minutes of the Franklin being hit. My dad was on Wasp at this time. He was a dive bomber pilot in Carrier Air Group 86. 175 or so were killed. He had his first combat mission the day before, March 18, hitting the air base at Kanoya on Kyushu. I am looking at the mission map he was issued that day which he had on that flight with his penciled in marks showing assembly areas and attack route. Glad he saved this stuff. Hope his grear great grand kids and beyond appreiciate It.
Excellent.
My Dad's Squadron VMF213 went over on Essex, from Ulithi, the Brass liked to use F4U against kamikaze.
And here I thought the Corsair was the Sweetheart of Okinawa 🤣🤣🤣
Salute!!!
This confirms that war thunder is a good game even for videos. Loved flying with you during this video.
Thanks for the help!!
Will you be making any can you survive videos soon? I really enjoyed them!
Soon!
Thank you!@@TJ3
Dang. This guy was Cool Hand Luke if there ever was one. "Oh, the engine's out, but I'll just pump gas with the auxiliary pump and get it going. No problem at all."
Awesome!!
It is gentleman like these who represent what being a true bad ass is really about. Heroes in every sense of the word.
Many Japanese Aces met their end thinking the new Hellcat was the under powered Wildcat. A tacit the Japanese would utilize is having a Wildcat chase them straight up, then stall and the Zero would swoop down for a easy kill but then to sell a Hellcat gaining as they turned down and be ripped to shreds but it's 6 -50 cals.. The Hellcat had the highest kill ratio at 19 to1. The Corsair had a 11 to 1 Kill ratio. The hellcat downed 5,156 enemy aircraft in just two years, accounting for 75 percent of the Navy's aerial victories during the war.
I knew a veteran who was on Iwo Jima, he told me a couple of stories about it. I don't remember if he was one of the group raising the flag or was just present for it, but he was on the summit when it was raised after capturing the island. He told me of the two closest times he knows of for sure that he was to getting killed, once while they were pushing forward a bullet ricocheted off the side of his helmet. The other was a little more sobering, he was in a mortar crater using it as a foxhole with a squad of other guys. They had been in there for several minutes before he had a feeling of he had to move, he ignored it for several minutes before he finally broke and started running, he made it about 10 steps before a mortar landed in the hole and killed everyone in it, and knocking him off his feet. Luckily he wasn't injured and managed to scramble into another hole before getting shot. He was lucky enough to make it through the fight for the island mostly uninjured. He also mentioned that the closest depiction of how bad the war was in a movie was Saving Private Ryan. The D-Day scene was too much for him, he had to get up and leave the theater because it brought back unpleasant memories. I wish I had spent more time talking with him, but he moved back to California several months after our last conversation, sadly he's since passed away.
One gramps a Seabee, another B 17's ETO, one RCAC, RAF, and USAAC, one mabe AVG or Tigers, an Uncle on the Mighty Mo, others oilers, Gramma and other Uncle was Air Powers RnD developments Burbank, Palmdale, and Long Beach. RIP GREATEST!
I had an uncle who was on the Franklin. He survived but I never heard him talk about it
This is a very late war story. The F6F was a great plane and we Americans had tons of them and tons of pilots against a collapsing Japanese Empire. The Japanese had some pretty good fighters (Army and Navy) but their training programs were severely lacking. Add to this the huge and increasing fuel problems across the entire Japanese military and the fact that Japan at the time was a fourth rate industrial power. A small correction for the editors. Kyushu IS a part of mainland Japan. My was father in the USMC and made four landings on Japanese controlled islands in the Central Pacific as a member of the 4th Marine Division. Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. Luckily he was never badly wounded and made it back home intact.
Nice
They had no television in 1941 1942. One of the first television and brodcast station was in 1942 (?)- 1944 in Paris France in a hospital for german soldiers.
Oh my gosh my grandfather Kenneth green mcdonald died on the uss Franklin on March 19th. He was asleep in the barracks after a long night on battle duty. He was killed when the second bomb hit the deck causing the massive destruction taken by the Franklin.
He was a mechanic aboard the Franklin. Thank you for covering this.
I'm blanking on the fellows name right now, but in1985 while a student at Kent State University here in Ohio I was ground crew at Andrew Patton field where the university ran their flight school. In consequence of the flight school, we had a semi-resident FAA examiner on the field most days who had been a flight instructor during WWII, and most days we could get him to share some stories with us. He told us an almost identical story about spin training a cadet in a Piper Cub, when coming into the second rotation of the students spin, they were treated to an awful bang! Our examiner immediately looked left and right because he thought one of the wings had departed. Nope, correct number of wings .... looking straight ahead he finally saw a crack in the front windscreen from top to bottom. An uneventful landing followed and I'm pretty sure that's the first time I heard the expression "my ass was taking bites out of the seat cushion".
Showed up this time.
I'm starting to suspect Mr. McPherson really appreciated the Hellcat's 2000HP!
Overall well done, however, as a historical note, why portray a newsreel that was released for theatrical viewing on a late fifties/early sixties TV that was not yet invented during the war?
8:48 What are those structures between the funnels, with the four round heads on top?
It's funny, this B&W TV presentation... because nobody had TVs during the war.
"Stroke of treachery" sounds like metal band or an S&M movie.
What is the parasol aircraft in which Don is talking to his instructor during a spin? Looks like a French Loire, a single seater and not a two seat trainer 🤷♀🤷♀
Hi tj im only 11years old and i love your vlogs always form the Philippines
Thanks so much for watching!!
As much as of these documentary on World War II whether it's naval infantry or air 16 minutes into this 25 minute video and I'm bored to tears When is the action going to start?
The visuals are awesome, how’d you get them?
With War Thunder! Link is in description :)
Grummen always been a good aviation company the Hellcat ànd the Tomcat were the best
hi good video
Thanks!!