The Pineapple Air Force: Pearl Harbor to Tokyo

The old Hawaiian Air Force met the attack of the Japanese on 7 December 1941. Redesignated the Seventh Air Force, its bomber units moved on to combat in the Pacific almost immediately. The Seventh Fighter Command, however, has held back to defend Oahu against air attacks that never came. The pilots of the fighter units frustrated at their static role, said that they were left guarding the pineapples. From the cadre of the original Hawaiian units they spawned two new fighter groups. Eventual...