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A quartet of F-4J Phantom IIs, decorated
with Shamrocks, the emblem of Marine
Fighter-Attack Squadron 333, fly in close
formation in 1976—much like they often
did over Vietnam four years earlier.defense of Wake Island through the Solomon Islands
campaign and their participation in the Battle of Okina-
wa from both land bases and aircraft carriers, Marine
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against Japanese forces.
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ory Boyington, Kenneth A. Walsh, John Lucian Smith,
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destroying two Japanese bombers and sinking the de-
stroyer Kisaragi. When his F4F-3 Wildcat and all other
U.S. aircraft on Wake Island were disabled, Elrod fought
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focused on airstrikes against enemy ground forces or
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typically the Air Force.7+<7*-:! 23