Joseph Jacob Foss (April 17, 1915 – January 1, 2003) was a United States Marine Corps major and a leading Marine fighter ace in World War II. He received the Medal of Honor in recognition of his role in air combat during the Guadalcanal Campaign. In postwar years, he was an Air National Guard brigadier general, served as the 20th Governor of South Dakota (1955–1959), president of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and the first commissioner of the American Football League. He also was a television broadcaster.
Early years
Foss was born in an unelectrified farmhouse near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the oldest son of Mary Esther (née Lacey) and Frank Ole Foss. He was of Norwegian and Scottish descent.[2] At age 12, he visited an airfield in Renner to see Charles Lindbergh on tour with his aircraft, the Spirit of St. Louis. Four years later, he and his father paid $1.50 apiece to take their first aircraft ride in a Ford Trimotor at Black Hills Airport with a famed South Dakota aviator, Clyde Ice.[3]
In March 1933, while coming back from the fields during a storm, his father was killed when he drove over a downed electrical cable and was electrocuted as he stepped out of his automobile.[4] Young Foss, not yet 18 years old, pitched in with his mother and brother Cliff to continue running the family farm.[5] Farming was made difficult by dust storms, which over the next two years took its toll on crops and livestock.[citation needed]
After watching a Marine Corps aerial team, led by Capt. Clayton Jerome, perform aerobatics in open-cockpit biplanes, he was determined to become a Marine aviator.[6] Foss worked at a service station to pay for books and college tuition, and to begin flight lessons from Roy Lanning, at the Sioux Skyway Airfield in 1938, scraping up $65 to pay for the instruction.
His younger brother took over the management of the farm and allowed Foss to go back to school and graduate from Washington High School in Sioux Falls. He graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1939 with a degree in business administration.[7]
While at USD, Foss and other like-minded students convinced authorities to set up a CAA flying course at the university; he built up 100 flight hours by graduation.[5] Foss paid his way through university by “bussing” tables. He joined the Sigma chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and excelled at sports in USD, fighting on the college boxing team, participating as a member of the track team and as a second-string guard on the football team.[5][8]
Foss served as a Private in the 147th Field Artillery Regiment, Sioux Falls, South Dakota National Guard from 1939 to 1940. By 1940, armed with a pilot certificate and a college degree, Foss hitchhiked to Minneapolis to enlist in the Marine Corps Reserves, in order to join the Naval Aviation Cadet program to become a Naval Aviator.[5]
Military career
Effort to become a fighter pilot[edit]
Foss was accepted by the Marine Corps for flight school and commissioning. After graduation from flight school at NAS Pensacola, Florida he was designated a Naval Aviator and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, in the Marine Corps. He was then assigned as a “plowback” instructor at Pensacola teaching navy, Marine, and coast guard students to be Naval Aviators. At 27 years of age, he was considered too old to be a fighter pilot, and was instead sent to the Navy School of Photography. Upon completion of his initial assignment, he was transferred to Marine Photographic Squadron 1 (VMO-1) stationed at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California. Dissatisfied with his role in photographic reconnaissance, Foss made repeated requests to be transferred to a fighter qualification program. He checked out in Grumman F4F Wildcats while still assigned to VMO-1, logging over 150 flight hours in June and July, 1942, and was eventually transferred to Marine Fighting Squadron 121 VMF-121 as the executive officer.[Note 1] While stateside, Foss married his high school sweetheart, June Shakstad in 1942.[9]
Guadalcanal Flying Ace[edit]
In October 1942, VMF-121 pilots and aircraft were sent to Guadalcanal as part of Operation Watchtower to relieve VMF-223, which had been fighting for control of the air over the island since mid-August.[10] On October 9, Foss and his group were catapult launched off the USS Copahee escort carrier and flew 350 miles (560 km) north to reach Guadalcanal.[11] The air group, code named “Cactus”, based at Henderson Field became known as the Cactus Air Force, and their presence played a pivotal role in the Battle of Guadalcanal.[12] Foss soon gained a reputation for aggressive close-in fighter tactics and uncanny gunnery skills.[13][Note 2] Foss shot down a Japanese Zero on his first combat mission on October 13, but his own F4F Wildcat was shot up as well, and with a dead engine and three more Zeros on his tail, he landed at full speed, with no flaps and minimal control on Henderson Field, barely missing a grove of palm trees.[14] On 7 November his Wildcat was again hit, and he survived a ditching in the sea off the island of Malaita.[15]
As lead pilot in his flight of eight Wildcats, the group soon became known as “Foss’s Flying Circus”, with two sections Foss nicknamed “Farm Boys” and “City Slickers.”[13] In December 1942, Foss contracted malaria. He was sent to Sydney, Australia for rehabilitation, where he met Australian ace Clive “Killer” Caldwell and delivered some lectures on operational flying to RAF pilots, newly assigned to the theater.[9] On January 1, 1943, Foss returned to Guadalcanal, to continue combat operations which lasted until February 9, 1943, although the Japanese attacks had waned from the height of the November 1942 crisis.[18] In three months of sustained combat, Foss’s Flying Circus had shot down 72 Japanese aircraft, including 26 credited to him.[19] Upon matching the record of 26 kills held by America’s top World War I ace, Eddie Rickenbacker, Foss was accorded the honor of becoming America’s first “ace-of-aces” in World War II.[20] One of the Japanese he shot down was ace Kaname Harada, who became a peace activist and met Foss many years later.[21]
Foss returned to the United States in March 1943. On May 18, 1943, Foss received the Medal of Honor from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.[19] The White House ceremony was featured in Life magazine, with the reluctant Captain Foss appearing on the magazine’s cover.[22] He then was asked to participate in a war bond tour that stretched into 1944.[18]
Return to combat[edit]
In February 1944, Foss returned to the Pacific theater to lead VMF-115, flying the F4U Corsair. VMF-115 was based in the combat zone around Emirau, St. Mathias Group in 1944. It was during this second tour that Foss met and became friends with fellow Marine fighter ace Marion Carl. He also had an opportunity to meet and fly with his boyhood idol, Charles Lindbergh, who was on assignment touring the South Pacific as an aviation consultant. After eight months of operational flying but no opportunities to increase his wartime score, Foss finished his combat service as one of America’s top scoring pilots.[23]
Foss again contracted malaria, and was sent home to the Klamath Falls, Oregon Rehabilitation Center. [Note 3]In February 1945, he became operations and training officer at the Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara, California.[25][Note 4]
Postwar[edit]
Air National Guard[edit]
In August 1945, Foss was released to inactive duty and opened Joe Foss Flying Service, charter flying service and flight instruction school in Sioux Falls, that eventually grew into a 35-aircraft operation. With a friend, Duane “Duke” Corning, he later owned a Packard car dealership in the town.[26]
In October 1945, Foss was ordered to appear at Navy Day ceremonies in four cities there and was finally relieved from active duty in December 1945 but was retained in the Marine Corps Reserve on inactive duty until 1947. In 1946, Foss was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the South Dakota Air National Guard and instructed to form the South Dakota Air National Guard, becoming the commanding officer for the Guard’s 175th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. During the unit’s formative years, Foss was actively involved in administration and flying with the squadron, even becoming a member of their North American P-51 Mustang air demonstration team.[27] During the Korean War, Foss, then a colonel, was called to active duty with the United States Air Force, relinquishing command of the 175th Squadron, and served as a Director of Operations and Training for the Central Air Defense Command; he eventually reached the rank of brigadier general.[28]
Political career[edit]
Campaigning from the cockpit of a light aircraft, Foss served two elected terms as a Republican representative in the South Dakota legislature and, beginning in 1955, at age 39, as the state’s youngest governor.[29] During his tenure as governor, he accompanied Tom Brokaw, then a high school student and Governor of South Dakota American Legion Boys State, to New York City for a joint appearance on Two for the Money, a television game show, which featured Foss because of his wartime celebrity. [Note 5] Foss had previously appeared on the long-running game show What’s My Line on May 1, 1955. [Note 6]
In 1958, Foss unsuccessfully sought a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, having been defeated by another wartime pilot hero, the Democrat George McGovern. Foss tried to re-enter politics in 1962 in a campaign to succeed Sen. Francis Case, who died in office. Foss and several other contenders lost to Joseph H. Bottum, who filled out Case’s term.[citation needed]
Later careers[edit]
American Football League[edit]
After serving as governor, Foss spent a short time working for Raven Industries before becoming the first Commissioner of the newly created American Football League in 1959. He oversaw the emergence of the league as the genesis of modern professional football. During the next seven years, Foss helped expand the league and made lucrative television deals, including the initial five-year, $10.6 million contract with ABC in 1960 to broadcast AFL games. The next contract was also for five years, but with NBC for a substantially greater $36 million, starting in 1965.[30][31]
Foss stepped aside as commissioner in April 1966,[32] two months before the historic agreement that led to the merger of AFL and NFL and the creation of the Super Bowl.[33] Al Davis succeeded him,[34] but disagreed with the merger and resigned after 3+1⁄2 months. Milt Woodard, the assistant commissioner under Foss, was named to the new office of president of the AFL in July and served through the league’s final season in 1969.[35]
Television career[edit]
Drawing on a lifelong love of hunting and the outdoors, Foss hosted ABC television‘s The American Sportsman from 1964 to 1967, which took him around the world for hunting and fishing excursions. He then hosted and produced his own syndicated outdoors TV series, The Outdoorsman: Joe Foss, from 1967 to 1974. In 1972, he also began a six-year stint as Director of Public Affairs for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.[33]
National Rifle Association[edit]
Starting in 1988, Foss was elected to two consecutive one-year terms as president of the National Rifle Association of America.[6] In his later years he maintained a rigorous speaking schedule and spoke out for conservative causes on what he considered a weakening of gun owners’ rights. He was portrayed on the cover of the 29 January 1990 issue of Time Magazine wearing his trademark Stetson hat and holding a revolver.[36]
Philanthropy[edit]
.jpg)
Foss, who had a daughter with cerebral palsy, served as President of the National Society of Crippled Children and Adults.[33] Foss’s other charities included the Easter Seals campaign, Campus Crusade for Christ, and an Arizona program for disadvantaged youths.
The Joe Foss Institute[edit]
In 2001, Foss and his second wife, “Didi,”[Note 7] founded the Joe Foss Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The institute works with veterans and educators around the United States to educate the nation’s youth on history and civics, and to inspire them to become informed and engaged citizens.[38] Through classroom presentations, curriculum and scholarships, the Joe Foss Institute has served more than 1.35 million children, as of June 2014, nationwide. Currently, the institute offers three primary programs; Veterans Inspiring Patriotism (VIP), You are America Civics Series and scholarship contests which run year-round. Foss did many of these school visits himself, speaking to children of all ages about service, responsibility, patriotism, integrity and commitment.[39]
Other honors and recognition[edit]
Foss co-authored or was the subject of three books including the wartime Joe Foss: Flying Marine (with Walter Simmons); Top Guns (with Matthew Brennan); and A Proud American by his wife, Donna Wild Foss. Foss also provided the foreword to Above and Beyond: the Aviation Medals of Honor by Barrett Tillman, and was profiled in Tom Brokaw’s 1998 book about World War II and its warriors, The Greatest Generation. Brokaw characterized Foss: “He had a hero’s swagger but a winning smile to go with his plain talk and movie-star looks. Joe Foss was larger than life, and his heroics in the skies over the Pacific were just the beginning of a journey that would take him to places far from that farm with no electricity and not much hope north of Sioux Falls.”[40]Brave Eagle, a 1955 postwar effort to film a story of Foss’s life, starring his friend, John Wayne, fell through in 1956 when Foss refused to allow the producers to add a fictitious love story.[24] American Ace: The Joe Foss Story was an award-winning, hour-length television documentary, produced by the South Dakota Public Broadcasting, first aired in fall 2006.[3]
Foss was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1984.[41] He also was a president and board chairman of the Air Force Association and as a Director of the United States Air Force Academy.[33] In 2000, he served as a consultant on the popular computer game Combat Flight Simulator 2 by Microsoft.[42] A complete listing of Foss’s affiliations and honors is given at The Joe Foss Institute.[43]
Later years[edit]
 |
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2016)
|
On January 11, 2002, Foss, then 86, was in the news when he was detained by security at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. He was scheduled to deliver an address at the National Rifle Association and speak to a class at the United States Military Academy at West Point. A search necessitated by his pacemaker precluding a metal detector screening had led to the discovery of the star-shaped Medal of Honor, along with a clearly marked dummy-bullet keychain, a second replica bullet and a small nail file (with MOH insignia).
The incident caused a furor with both media and public support given to Foss. Newsman Jack Cafferty noted that airport security personnel demonstrated poor judgment in not recognizing the Medal of Honor and in demanding to confiscate and destroy the medal and related memorabilia. He eventually lost a souvenir replica bullet, but was able to retain his Medal of Honor and commemorative nail file, by shipping it back to himself.[44]
“I wasn’t upset for me … I was upset for the Medal of Honor, that they just didn’t know what it even was. It represents all of the guys who lost their lives – the guys who never came back. Everyone who put their lives on the line for their country. You’re supposed to know what the Medal of Honor is”, he said.[45] The incident led to a national debate about post 9/11 airport security practices and their ramifications on the average citizen.[46]
Death[edit]
Foss suffered a stroke in October 2002 when he bled from a cerebral aneurysm. He died three months later on New Year’s Day, 2003, never having regained consciousness, in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he and his wife had made their home in later years.[47][48] Vice President Dick Cheney, retired Lt. Colonel Oliver North and South Dakota native and NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw were among those who attended with North delivering the eulogy.
Actor Charlton Heston gave a brief tribute to his old friend. Foss was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 7A, Lot 162 on January 21, 2003.[49] Family, friends, military personnel and dignitaries remembered him fondly at a service in Arlington and at an earlier “Memorial Service for an American Patriot” in the old chapel at nearby Fort Myer.
Memorials[edit]
A number of institutions and locations have been named in honor of Foss, including Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Joe Foss Field, the Joe Foss Field Air National Guard Station in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the Joe Foss Field at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport [Note 8] [Note 9], Joe Foss High School also in Sioux Falls, and the State Building in Pierre, South Dakota. A larger-than-life bronze statue of Foss stands in the lobby of the Sioux Falls Regional Airport.[50]
The Joe Foss Shooting Complex in Buckeye, Arizona, is also named in his honor.[51] A private road in Scottsdale, Arizona, owned by General Dynamics, was renamed “Joe Foss Way” and dedicated on May 20, 2003.[52]
In 1984, Foss was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. [53]
Foss was inducted into the Naval Aviation Hall of Honor at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, in 1994.[54]
Aerial victories[edit]
.jpg)
The Marine Corps credits Foss with 26 air victories, and Marine ace Robert M. Hanson with 25 victories. However, the Marine Corps credits Marine ace Gregory “Pappy” Boyington with 28 American victories. This is due to Boyington’s (22 Marine victories) wartime claim of 6 victories scored while serving with the Flying Tigers (American Volunteer Group-AVG) in China at the beginning of World War II, prior to him rejoining the Marine Corps;[55]
AVG records show that Boyington was paid for 3.5 enemy aircraft destroyed (2-air, 1.5-ground).[56] The American Fighter Aces Association credits Boyington with 24 victories (22 with the Marine Corps and 2 with the AVG).
| Date | Total | Aircraft Types Claimed |
|---|---|---|
| October 13, 1942 | 1 | A6M Allied reporting name: “Zeke” destroyed (Cactus) |
| October 14, 1942 | 1 | A6M “Zeke” destroyed (Cactus) |
| October 18, 1942 | 3 | 2 A6M “Zekes” and 1 G4M “Betty” destroyed (Cactus) |
| October 20, 1942 | 2 | A6M “Zekes” destroyed (Cactus) |
| October 23, 1942 | 4 | A6M “Zekes” destroyed (Cactus) |
| October 25, 1942 | 2 | A6M “Zekes” destroyed (Cactus) |
| October 25, 1942 | 3 | A6M “Zekes” destroyed (Cactus) |
| November 7, 1942 | 3 | 1 A6M2-N “Rufe” and 2 F1M2 “Petes” destroyed (Cactus), but was shot down by the rear gunner of a Pete he shot down. Postwar records show the Japanese lost only one Pete that day.[57] |
| November 12, 1942 | 3 | 2 G4M “Bettys” and 1 A6M Zero destroyed (Cactus) |
| November 15, 1942 | 1 | E13A “Jake” destroyed (Cactus) |
| January 15, 1943 | 3 | A6M “Zekes” destroyed (Cactus)[58] |
| 26 |
Military awards[edit]
Foss’s military decorations and awards include:
 |
|||
 |
|||
  |
|||
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
.jpg){kind=small} |
 |
|
| United States Air Force Command Pilot Badge[59] | |||||||||||||
| Naval Aviator Badge | |||||||||||||
| Medal of Honor | Distinguished Flying Cross | ||||||||||||
| Air Medal w/ two 5⁄16” Gold Star |
Combat Action Ribbon | Air Force Presidential Unit Citation w/ one bronze oak leaf cluster |
|||||||||||
| Navy Presidential Unit Citation w/ one 3⁄16” Bronze Star |
American Defense Service Medal | American Campaign Medal | |||||||||||
| Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ two 3⁄16” Bronze Stars |
World War II Victory Medal | National Defense Service Medal w/ one 3⁄16” Bronze Star |
|||||||||||
| Air Force Longevity Service Award w/ one bronze oak leaf cluster |
Armed Forces Reserve Medal silver hourglass device |
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon | |||||||||||
Medal of Honor citation[edit]
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR to
CAPTAIN JOSEPH J. FOSS
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE
for service as set forth in the following CITATION:For outstanding heroism and courage above and beyond the call of duty as Executive Officer of a Marine Fighting Squadron, at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Engaging in almost daily combat with the enemy from October 9 to November 19, 1942, Captain Foss personally shot down 23 Japanese aircraft and damaged others so severely that their destruction was extremely probable. In addition, during this period, he successfully led a large number of escort missions, skillfully covering reconnaissance, bombing and photographic planes as well as surface craft. On January 15, 1943, he added three more enemy aircraft to his already brilliant successes for a record of aerial combat achievement unsurpassed in this war. Boldly searching out an approaching enemy force on January 25, Captain Foss led his eight F4F Marine planes and four Army P-38s into action and, undaunted by tremendously superior numbers, intercepted and struck with such force that four Japanese fighters were shot down and the bombers were turned back without releasing a single bomb. His remarkable flying skill, inspiring leadership and indomitable fighting spirit were distinctive factors in the defense of strategic American positions on Guadalcanal.
See also[edit]
- List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II
- American Football League players, coaches and contributors
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Although only 27, his squadron mates gave him the unflattering nickname of “Old Foos.”[1]
- ^ To preserve the scarce ammunition at Henderson, Foss removed one machine gun from each wing and relied on his “ability to shoot.” At least four engagements were broken off when Foss ran out of ammunition.[9]
- ^ Foss had lost considerable weight during 20 bouts of malaria until successful treatment in the United States brought him back to health. He only weighed 140 lbs when he entered rehabilitation.[24]
- ^ Foss gained fame in the service and later, in civilian life, as a “cigar-smoking”, Stetson hatted, larger-than-life boisterous character.[6]
- ^ Both Brokaw and Foss each won $612.
- ^ Foss signed in using his middle name, Jacob, in a further effort to stump the panel. It was revealed through the panel’s questioning that Foss had been in Las Vegas attending a demonstration at the Nevada Test Site where he met What’s My Line host John Daly.
- ^ Foss married Donna Wild Foss, known as “Didi” in 1967.[37]
- ^ A larger-than-life bronze statue of Foss is in the lobby of the Sioux Falls Regional Airport.[50]
- ^ Joe Foss Field Air National Guard Station is located at Sioux Falls Regional Airport.[28]
Citations[edit]
- ^ Jump up to:a b Miller 1969, p. 115
- ^ “Joe Foss Obituary”. The Telegraph. January 3, 2003. Archived from the original on January 14, 2011.
- ^ Jump up to:a b “American Ace: The Joe Foss Story.” Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine South Dakota Public Broadcasting, 2011. Retrieved: August 4, 2011.
- ^ Bauer January 1990, p. 20.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d Sims 1969, p. 32.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c “Joseph Jacob Foss”. Historical Militaria. 1 January 2003. Archived from the original on March 4, 2003. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
- ^ “WWII ace Joe Foss dies at 87: Medal of Honor recipient led a storied life”. The Arizona Republic. January 2, 2003.
- ^ “Medal of Honor recipients” Archived 2009-07-08 at the Wayback Machine, nicindy.org; accessed August 3, 2011.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Bauer March 1990, p. 40.
- ^ Jackson 1978, p. 128.
- ^ Yenne 2009, p. 100
- ^ Miller 1969, p. xi.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Loomis 1961, p. 94.
- ^ Tillman 1995, p. 30.
- ^ Foss’s flight on that memorable day is documented in Edward H. Sims‘ book Greatest Fighter Missions, as the third chapter of that compilation.
- ^ Brummell, Clyde Verlon (2005). Beyond a Dream. Portland, Oregon: Gann Publishing Co. pp. (from inside front cover).
… drawn by the Disney Studios (…) is exemplary of the squadron itself, and the cigar pays tribute to Major Joe Foss’ ever-present ‘stogie’ (…) the name was chosen by popular vote.
- ^ “Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum”. www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Bauer May 1990, p. 80.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Shores 1975, p. 61.
- ^ Gurney 1982, p. 117.
- ^ Roberts, Sam (5 May 2016). “Kaname Harada, Pearl Harbor Fighter Pilot and, Later, a Pacifist, Dies at 99”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016.
- ^ “Joseph Foss – Life Magazine Cover”[permanent dead link] Life magazine, June 7, 1943 via life.com. Retrieved: August 3, 2011.
- ^ “The Story of Joe’s Jokers.” The Joe Foss Institute. Retrieved: August 4, 2011.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Bauer May 1990, p. 82.
- ^ “Brigadier General Joseph Jacob Foss, ANG (Deceased).”[permanent dead link] usmc.mil. Retrieved: August 3, 2011.
- ^ Brokaw 1998, p. 119.
- ^ “114th Fighter Wing, South Dakota Air National Guard.” South Dakota Department of the Military and Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved: August 4, 2011.
- ^ Jump up to:a b “Joe Foss” Century of Flight, 2003. Retrieved: August 4, 2011.
- ^ Miller 1969, p. 212.
- ^ “AFL, NBC ink pact”, Eugene Register-Guard, January 29, 1964, p. 3B.
- ^ “American Football League may be expanded in 1966.” Nashua Telegraph, May 23, 1964, p. 8.
- ^ “Foss quits $50,000 post as AFL czar.” Milwaukee Sentinel, April 8, 1966, pg. 2, part 2.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d Bernstein, Adam. “WWII Ace, SD Gov. Joe Foss Dies; Also Headed Football League, NRA.”[dead link] Washington Post, January 3, 2003. Retrieved: February 22, 2016.
- ^ “Appoint Davis as AFL czar”, Milwaukee Sentinel, April 9, 1966, pg. 1, part 2.
- ^ “Woodard in, Davis out in AFL”, Milwaukee Sentinel, July 26, 1966, pg. 2, part 2.
- ^ “TIME Magazine Cover: Joe Foss”. TIME. July 29, 1990. Archived from the original on October 25, 2007. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
- ^ Harriman, Peter. “S.D. loses legend, American hero.” Argus Leader, January 2, 2003. Retrieved: August 3. 2011.
- ^ D’Amico, Diane. “Education Writer.” Press of Atlantic City, December 10, 2010. Retrieved: February 22, 2016.
- ^ “Home: The Joe FossInstitute.” The Joe Foss Institute. Retrieved: August 4, 2011.
- ^ Brokaw 1998, p. 115.
- ^ “Enshrinees.” Archived 2011-03-12 at the Wayback Machine National Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved: August 3, 2011
- ^ Seal, Jon and Michael Ahn. “”An Interview with Joseph Jacob ‘Joe’ Foss.””. Microsoft. Archived from the original on February 9, 2006. Retrieved 2012-10-22. Microsoft Games Studios, March 2000. Retrieved: August 3, 2011.
- ^ “Accomplishments and Affiliations.” The Joe Foss Institute. Retrieved: August 4, 2011.
- ^ Cafferty, Jack. “Interview with Joe Foss: Decorated WWII veteran detained, searched at airport” Archived 2006-08-21 at the Wayback Machine, CNN.com, February 27, 2002.
- ^ Smith 2003, p. xviii.
- ^ Alonso-Zildivar, Ricardo. “Public Anger Simmers Over Airport Searches”, Los Angeles Times, March 11, 2002.
- ^ Goldstein, Richard. “Joe Foss, 87, Flying Ace Who Led Football League, Is Dead”, The New York Times, January 2003.
- ^ Harriman, Peter and David Kranz. “S.D. loses legend, American hero”, Argus Leader, January 2, 2003.
- ^ Notable Graves: Medal of Honor Recipients, World War II Arlington National Cemetery official website
- ^ Jump up to:a b Joe Foss profile, scottsdalerotary.org; retrieved August 4, 2011.
- ^ “Outdoor Shooting Facility.” Joe Foss Shooting Complex; retrieved February 22, 2016.
- ^ Kurtinitis, Tracey. “General Dynamics honors legendary Scottsdale figure”, East Valley Tribune, May 21, 2003; retrieved February 22, 2016.
- ^ “Enshrinee Joe Foss”. nationalaviation.org. National Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- ^ Kaczor, Bill (1994-11-27). “Marine Aces True Hell-for-Leather Pilots”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
- ^ “”Colonel Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, USMCR (Deceased)””. Archived from the original on August 6, 2007. Retrieved 2006-02-17. Who’s Who in Marine Corps History; retrieved August 3, 2011.
- ^ Ford, Daniel quoting Dr. Frank Olynyk. “Victory credits.” Stars and Bars: A Tribute to the American Fighter Ace via warbirdforum.com, 1995. Retrieved: August 3, 2011.
- ^ Hackett, Bob, Sander Kingsepp and Allan Alsleben. “Tokusetsu Suijoki-Bokan: IJN Seaplane Tender Kamikawa Maru: Tabular Record of Movement.” Japanese Auxiliary Seaplane Tenders, 2006. Retrieved: July 9, 2012.
- ^ “Foss, Joseph Jacob.” Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Retrieved: January 15, 2012.
- ^ For Air National Guard service
Bibliography[edit]
- Bauer, Daniel. “Joe Foss: American Hero (Part One).” Air Classics, Volume 26, Number 1, January 1990.
- Bauer, Daniel. “Joe Foss: American Hero (Part Two).” Air Classics, Volume 26, Number 3, March 1990.
- Bauer, Daniel. “Joe Foss: American Hero (Part Three).” Air Classics, Volume 26, Number 5, May 1990.
- “Brigadier General Joseph Jacob Foss, ANG.” Who’s Who in Marine Corps History.
- Brokaw, Tom. The Greatest Generation. New York: Random House, 1998. ISBN 978-0-375-50202-6.
- “Capt Joseph J. Foss, Medal of Honor, 1942, VMA, Guadalcanal (Medal of Honor citation)” at the Wayback Machine (archived June 13, 2006) United States Marine Corps
- Foss, Joe. A Proud American: The Autobiography of Joe Foss. New York: Presidio Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-89141-775-0.
- Gurney, Gene. Five Down & Glory. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982, First edition 1965. ISBN 978-0-345-30799-6.
- Jackson, Robert. Fighter Aces of World War II: The True Stories of Fourteen of World War II’s Fighter Pilots: London: Corgi Books, 1978. ISBN 0-552-10783-2.
- Loomis, Robert D. Great American Fighter Pilots of World War II. New York: Random House, 1961. ISBN 0-394-90396-X.
- Miller, Thomas G. Jr. The Cactus Air Force. New York: Ballantine Books, 1969. ISBN 0-553-14766-8.
- Shores, Christopher. Fighter Aces. London: Hamlyn Publishing, 1975. ISBN 0-600-30230-X.
- Sims, Edward H. Greatest Fighter Missions of the top Navy and Marine aces of World War II. New York: Ballantine Books, 1969, First edition 1962. ISBN 978-0-03-450163-6.
- Smith, Larry. Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in Their Own Words. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004, First edition 2003. ISBN 978-0-393-32562-1.
- Tillman, Barrett. Wildcat Aces of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces). Oxford, UK: Osprey, 1995. ISBN 978-1-85532-486-2.
- Yenne, Bill. Aces High: The Heroic Saga of the Two Top-Scoring American Aces of World War II. New York: Berkley, 2009. ISBN 978-1-101-00266-7.
- Zimmerman, Dwight Jon and John D. Gresham. Uncommon Valor: The Medal of Honor and the Six Warriors Who Earned It in Afghanistan and Iraq. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-312-36385-7.
Further reading[edit]
- McCombs, Phil (January 22, 2003). “‘He Flew with the Eagles’: WWII Ace Joseph Foss Remembered at Arlington”. The Washington Post.
- “Foss was big influence on NBC’s Brokaw”. The Arizona Republic. January 4, 2003.
- “Memorial service for WWII hero Joe Foss set for Thursday”. The Arizona Republic. January 3, 2003.
- “WWII ace Joe Foss dies at 87”. The Arizona Republic. January 2, 2003.
External links[edit]
- Joseph Foss – C.O. VMF-121
- Joseph J. Foss
- Joe Foss Institute
- South Dakota Air National Guard website
- Joe J. Foss, Medal of Honor – Joe Foss estate artifacts restored, preserved and displayed at Historical Registry
- Appearance on What’s My Line quiz show on YouTube
- Arlington National Cemetery
- Appearances on C-SPAN
 United States World War II flying aces with 15+ aerial victories |
|---|
Categories
The Revolutionary War in Four Minutes
The hybrid 9mm Taurus G3X pistol features a compact 3.2-inch barrel/slide assembly mated to a full-size polymer grip frame, and it comes with two flush-fitting 15-round magazines
The new-for-2022 9mm G3X from Taurus is a hybrid version that customers specifically asked for. As Taurus describes it, the G3X is a “blend” of the compact G3C and the full-size G3. I just say it’s a clever combination.
Up top, the G3X features a stainless-steel 3.2-inch-long barrel and a compact stainless-steel slide. The slide is finished in matte black Tennifer, and it has three grasping grooves on each side at the front and eight grasping grooves on each side at the back. The top is flat, and the top edges are rounded. The muzzle end and the sides ahead of the ejection port are contoured for easier holstering. The barrel has a loaded-chamber view port on top of the chamber that allows a chambered round to be seen, providing visible verification.
The all-black rear sight is dovetailed into the slide, so it is drift-adjustable for windage, and the dovetail is sized to fit popular aftermarket tritium rear night sights, allowing users easy replacement of the all-black rear sight if they so desire. Personally, I like the all-black rear sight. In fact, I prefer it. It has a square notch that is 0.167 inch wide, and the face has fine horizontal striations. The steel fixed front sight is 0.152 inch thick and 0.152 inch tall. It has a plain white dot. The sight radius is 5.19 inches.
While the G3X is not optic-ready, it is compatible with the G3 and G3C T.O.R.O slide kits available from Taurus. T.O.R.O. stands for Taurus Optic Ready Option, meaning T.O.R.O. slides are cut for mounting plates, and the slides come with multiple plates that accommodate most popular red-dot reflex-type sight footprints.
The G3X’s polymer frame has recesses on both sides above the trigger guard that are designed specifically for the shooter to use to rest the trigger finger when not actively shooting, keeping the trigger finger entirely outside the trigger guard and off the trigger. The company calls them “Taurus Memory Pads,” and the term has been trademarked. At the dustcover end of the frame is an integral accessory rail with a single cross-slot.
The grip area has molded-in thumbrests (Taurus calls them thumb “shelves”), and it has six panels of fine stippling-like texturing: one on the frontstrap, one on the backstrap, and two on each side. It provided a secure gripping surface during my shooting sessions. The grip’s circumference measures 5.63 inches.
Like a lot of striker-fired pistols, the G3X has a hinged trigger safety, and it prevents the trigger from being squeezed unless the shooter’s finger has fully engaged and depressed the trigger safety. Like Taurus’s earlier G3 pistol, the G3X’s trigger safety is noticeably wider than other such trigger safeties.
Unlike a lot of other striker-fired guns, the G3X’s trigger pull is pretty good—not sloppy or mushy. My sample’s trigger broke at 6 pounds, 8 ounces on average for five measurements with my RCBS trigger pull scale. Take-up was fairly long but not unexpectedly so, the break was crisp, and the reset was audible.
The G3X has an internal striker block safety. It keeps the striker from moving forward unintentionally—as in a drop or a hard impact—and accidentally striking the primer. When the trigger is squeezed rearward, the striker block is pushed away from the striker.
Also unlike other striker-fired pistols, the G3X has repeat-strike capability. That means if a round fails to go off the first time, after reset, the trigger can be squeezed again quickly. As anyone who has done a fair amount of shooting knows, sometimes with a repeat strike, the round goes off. It’s a great capability for a self-defense gun.
Another great capability for a self-defense pistol is the ability to fire with the magazine removed. The G3X has that ability.
My G3X came with two flush-fitting 15-round magazines. The pistol is also offered with two 10-round magazines for locations that limit magazine capacity. The magazine bodies are metal, and the polymer baseplates are removable. G3 17-round magazines will function in the G3X.
The G3X is 6.3 inches long overall, 5.2 inches high, and 1.2 inches wide. The slide proper is 0.99 inch thick. The pistol weighs 22.6 ounces with an empty magazine inserted.
The G3X field strips easily for regular cleaning and periodic maintenance. Simply remove the magazine, be certain the pistol is not loaded by racking the slide and checking the chamber, return the slide to its forward position, point the pistol in a safe direction, retract the slide slightly, pull down the takedown lever, and move the slide forward off the frame. Remove the recoil spring assembly from the slide and then remove the barrel.
In addition, the G3X’s slide is easy to rack. Some striker-fired mechanisms require very stiff springs, and this makes their slides hard to rack. Not so with the G3X. Using my jury-rigged apparatus, consisting of my trigger pull scale hooked to a cleaning rod, the G3X requires about 20 pounds of pull to rack the slide. Most striker-fired pistols I’ve encountered—and I’ve worked with quite a number of them—require upwards of 22 pounds. Maybe that doesn’t sound like much of a difference, but you definitely can feel it.
Fun & Games
As I write this report, spring is in the air where I live, so I pulled out all the stops and fired 20 9mm factory loads in the new G3X. I spent a very pleasant day at my shooting range putting it through its paces, and as the chart shows, it is adequately accurate from the bench at a range of 25 yards. All loads averaged under 4.00 inches, and that’s for five, five-shot groups with each load. The overall average 25-yard accuracy for all 20 factory loads was 3.34 inches.
But this gun is designed for concealed-carry personal protection, where any shooting that needs to be done is most likely going to be at much closer distances. With that in mind, I fired 15 rounds more (one full magazine) of each factory load on Birchwood Casey Dirty Bird BC-27 silhouette targets at a range of seven yards. The pistol put those rounds into nice tight groups every time. Recoil was easy to manage, and the white-dot front sight was easy to see against the dark blue targets.
In the end, the G3X is very easy to shoot well. The longer grip easily fits my medium-size hand and is totally comfortable.
With its 15-round magazine capacity, the new G3X offers a lot of firepower, and I think it should be on your short list of new-for-2022 self-defense pistols to check out.
G3X Specifications
- Manufacturer: Taurus, taurus.com
- Type: Striker-fired autoloader
- Caliber: 9mm Luger
- Magazine Capacity: 15 rounds
- Barrel: 3.2 in.
- Overall Length: 6.3 in.
- Width: 1.2 in.
- Height: 5.2 in.
- Weight, Empty: 22.6 oz.
- Finish: Black Tennifer
- Sights: All-black rear, white-dot front
- Trigger: 6.5-lb. pull (as tested)
- Safety: Trigger safety/firing pin block
- MSRP: $342.98
Categories
From the Brillant Kim du Toit
The REAL Big Loser?
Last week the Supreme Court dealt what seems to be a massive blow to the bureaucracy of the modern Administrative State — wherein an agency can become a de facto mini-state by creating and interpreting its own regulations, and then enforcing them without much in the way of legal oversight and defense.
The beacon in this ruling is SEC v. Jarkesy, which noted “…the Securities Exchange Commission’s power to serve as enforcer, prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner in administrative proceedings for violating the securities laws. The Court found that the defendants are entitled to a jury trial before an Article III judge.”
Needless to say, the gun guys — especially these folks, from whom I excerpted and modified the previous paragraph — who have long suffered such iniquity at the hands of the loathsome Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF) agency, are all over this.
However, lost in all this excitement is the agency which I think has the most to lose from Jarkesy (and the earlier Loper Bright v. Raimondo decision).
I refer here to the still-more loathsome Internal Revenue Service (IRS), who have always been able to bludgeon taxpayers in this manner. They have their own regulations, their own courts and, lest we forget, a veritable army of well-armed minions who are only too willing to enforce their agency’s regulatory diktat. I remember seeing on TV an excellent summary of the power of the IRS when a judge said, “So basically, in order to win your case against this man, all the IRS has to do is prove that they followed their own internal procedures properly?” to which the IRS lawyer said, “Yes, your Honor.”
Massive rafts of tax law have given birth to an entire world of tax lawyers and -accountants (both in private practice and in the IRS itself), which is in itself excessive and burdensome. (I am reminded of the way colonial Hong Kong collected income tax: once a year the taxpayer took to the tax office his employer’s statement of his gross salary paid, and he would write out a cheque for 5% of that total to the government. That’s it. Imagine the impact of that scenario in the United States today.)
Anyway, I’m not only not a lawyer, but I also don’t play one on TV and I sure as hell don’t play one on this blog. But I am generally cognizant of the bigger picture, and I’m just wondering if the greatest losers of the Lopez Bright and Jarkesy decisions will not be the horrible SEC, EPA and ATF, but the fouler-still IRS.
I am sure t
Everyone has his own definition of accuracy, but on one thing we all agree: Every rifle is a law unto itself. What shoots well in one rifle may or may not shoot well in another.
Although the average factory rifle today, paired with premium factory ammunition, is vastly more accurate than it was even 20 years ago, for the absolute, very best, gilt-edged accuracy in any rifle, you must develop an accurate handload.
Undoubtedly, manufacturers today have the essential elements of accurate rifles down pat, to the point where they can produce some outstanding factory products at a low price. Ruger and Savage are good examples. Even so, they won’t all shoot well with every load, and all of them can be improved with handloads. Granted, sometimes the factory/factory combination is so good that handloading for improvement is hardly worthwhile, but that’s a personal judgment.
A Case in Point
Having said all that, let me now share a tale of a rifle that proves the point. Last year, I lucked into a custom .270 Winchester built by the legendary Al Biesen on an FN Deluxe action, probably in the 1970s. It is beautifully inletted, with the action partly glass bedded. It has a tight chamber with almost no freebore. In fact, with the Nosler 130-grain Partition (one of my all-time favorite bullets), it has no freebore at all. Seated to the SAAMI maximum cartridge length of 3.34 inches, the bullet just brushes the rifling, and seated to that depth, the base of the bullet is exactly even with the base of the neck. These are all ballistic virtues that we know promote consistency and accuracy.
I got the formula for a load from Tom Turpin, a .270 Win. lover of long standing, that he says delivers fine accuracy with any good 130-grain bullet. The load is 59.5 grains of H4831, long known as one of the finest powders for the .270 Win. As an experiment, I put together some rounds loaded with the Partition, as well as some with the Swift Scirocco II and the Sierra GameKing Spitzer boattail. The latter two do not fit the chamber specs mentioned above quite as well as the Partition, but they’re close.
At the range, the Partition load was dreadful. Velocity wasn’t bad, at 3,020 fps, but its five-shot group was evenly spread out 3 full inches, side to side. The Scirocco II bullet won the velocity contest, at 3,060 fps, and also delivered the best accuracy overall with a 1.25-inch five-shot group. The Sierra bullet was the slowest at 2,998 fps but put four bullets into a tight cluster of 0.77 inch with one flyer expanding the group to 1.40 inches.
Let me hasten to say that I love Partition bullets, firmly believe they are among the most accurate bullets made, and have shot some of my all-time best groups with them, in several different calibers. From my chamber measurements, it looked to me as if Biesen fashioned this rifle specifically for the Partition, but apparently not. At least not at that velocity. I will try different powder charges and different powders before I give up on them. There is no reason that they shouldn’t shoot like a house afire.
Meanwhile, the other two are excellent hunting bullets, and a little variation up and down may tighten those groups even further.
Most shooters like a rifle with character, some history, and, to add spice, a little mystery. Lucile – for that is her name – has all three.
Who could Lucile be? She might be the rifle herself or one of the woodchucks depicted on the other side of the action or the first owner’s paramour. We will never know for sure, but Terry likes to speculate.
If she were a girl, you could say I met her at a dance, twirled her once around the floor, then watched her leave with another guy. Three months later, a sadder but wiser girl, we met up again, and this time she came home with me. Lucile being a rifle, that’s not quite what happened, but close enough. It was an auction, not a dance floor.
Here’s what I know about her history. She’s a Stevens Model 52, chambered in .28-30-120, made to special order around 1902. She has a No. 44 action, which was discontinued in the higher grades around 1903, but the .28-30 was only introduced in 1901, so that pinpoints it nicely. The Model 52 was one of the finest of the Stevens target rifles, equipped with lovely walnut, a palm rest, and all the frills of the best Schützens. Somewhere along the line, she was fitted with scope blocks and now sports an 8X Lyman Junior Targetspot.
Now the mystery. Who ordered her? And who was Lucile? The name is engraved in old English lettering, in a banner on the left side of the action, surrounded by scroll. And on the right side, there are two woodchucks under a tree. One is down nibbling clover, while the other is standing up and gazing intently, as all good woodchucks do.
Was Lucile the first owner’s wife, girlfriend, daughter, paramour? Or was the rifle owned by Lucile herself? Or is Lucile one of the woodchucks? (Personally, I rather like that idea.)
The embellishment very likely was begun by etching the steel to get the general outline, then sharpening it with engraving before finally nickel plating. Although the plating is beginning to fray here and there, overall it’s in remarkable condition. It may or may not have been delivered from the factory with iron target sights.
Impossible to tell now, but someone was a serious shooter because it is fitted with a palm rest and the scope, and it is chambered for the darling target round of that era, the .28-30-120 Stevens.
The rifle is a Stevens Model 52 built on the No. 44 action, most likely in 1901 or ’02, and chambered for the .28-30-120 Stevens.
The scope is an 8X Lyman Junior Targetspot.
The Stevens records were all destroyed in a fire, shortly after World War I ended in 1918 and before the company was acquired by Savage. There is very little official written material about models and features, to say nothing of serial numbers and written orders for individual rifles. This is the polar opposite of Winchester and Colt, where it is now de rigueur for auctioneers to pitch the item as coming “with the factory letter” giving details of its origins and life on the frontier.
In a way, it seems to me, we almost have too much information about some guns. Sure, we all wish they could talk, to tell us where they’ve been and what they’ve done, but as with most things, we should be careful what we wish for. Do I really want to know who Lucile was or why the rifle was named that? Or is it more fun fantasizing about possible scenarios? In this case, I think it is the latter.
Categories