As the battle for Guadalcanal raged, two US Marine Corps fighter pilots – captains John L. Smith and Marion E. Carl – became friendly rivals, struggling to achieve as many aerial victories as possible. Marion Carl was leading the contest when he was shot down by the Japanese. Fortunately he survived, and spent 5 days with the natives before finally making it back to Henderson Air Field, the Guadalcanal Island airstrip.
Upon his arrival, Carl was told that Smith had caught up and was now ahead of him in the race for aerial victories. Carl was so infuriated that he told Marine Air Commander Geiger: “Dammit, General, ground him for five days!”.
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