S3E4: USMC Corsairs up the Slot: 1st Lt Robert Hanson

The Aviation Medals of Honor

Continuing the series of episodes on the Corsair and the fight for aerial supremacy in the Solomon Islands. In January 1944, the Japanese defenders at Rabul still had some fight in them. Robert Hanson, a 23 year old Marine Corsair pilot, would rack up an impressive string of victories in January, ending with 25 kills at the time of his death. This episode wraps up the Solomon Islands Campaign with the neutralization of Rabul and a brief summary of the Corsair.

Selected references:

The Fighting Corsairs, the Men of Marine Fighting Squadron 215 by Jeff Dacus

History of Marine Corps Aviation in WW2 by Robert Sherrod

Time of Aces, MarinePilots in the Solomons 1942-1944 by Cdr Peter Mersky