An artisan spotted the name Joe Foss on a leading edge extension fence on this F/A-18 and wanted to know why the name was on the Marine aircraft. Courtesy photo

Who is Joe Foss?

By Bill Bartkus
NAVAIR Depot North Island

CORONADO, Calif. – Dave Clarke spotted Joe Foss painted on a F/A-18 and asked, “Who is Joe Foss?”
“I don’t know, but that’s a good question and I’ll find the answer,” said Steven Kelly, an examiner and evaluator for NAVAIR Depot North Island.

Clarke, a mechanic, noticed Foss’ name painted on the leading edge extension fence on a F/A-18 that had arrived at the Depot’s Field Service site at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif. The Hornet, which belongs to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121, arrived for a Planned Maintenance Interval 2.

Kelly started searching the Internet in hopes of getting an answer for Clarke. His search led him to “Wildcat Aces of World War II” by Barrett Tillman. “I discovered that Tillman listed Foss as the first American pilot to equal the record number of kills by Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker,” he said. Rickenbacker was America’s World War I flying ace.

According to Foss’ biography on the Web, the South Dakota native was a 27-year-old Marine captain and the executive officer of Marine Fighting Squadron 121 when he personally shot down 23 Japanese aircraft between Oct. 9 and Nov. 19, 1942. “On Jan. 15, 1943, he added three more enemy planes to his already brilliant success for a record of aerial combat achievement unsurpassed in the war,” read his Medal of Honor citation. President Franklin Roosevelt personally awarded Foss the medal. Foss later went on to command Marine Fighting Squadron 115.

After the war, Foss received a commission in the South Dakota Air National Guard, a command that he helped to organize. He served as an Air Force colonel during the Korean War and then became chief of staff for the South Dakota Air National Guard as a brigadier general.

In the political arena, Foss served in the South Dakota House of Representatives before he was twice elected governor of South Dakota, in 1954 and 1956. He was elected the first commissioner of the American Football League, a position he held until 1966. He was also the president of the National Rifle Association.

Foss died on Jan. 1, 2003 at age 87.

“They say the Marine Corps never forgets its past,” Kelly said. “Here is living proof on the side of the Corps’ aircraft. I believe that I speak for everyone at the Depot when we say ‘service to the fleet’ with special regards to the Marines.”

NAVAIR provides cost-wise readiness and dominant maritime combat power to make a great Navy and Marine Corps team better.