In the summer of 1942, two ace fighter pilots — one American and one Japanese — faced off during a dramatic dogfight in the skies over Guadalcanal. Eventually the Japanese pilot shot down the American, who crash landed behind enemy lines but managed to escape before being captured. Using both pilots’ comprehensive (but sometimes contradictory) memoirs, and following a forensic expedition to the recently-found American plane, Dogfight Over Guadalcanal, examines and recreates every anxious second of the WWII showdown over the Pacific, revealing just how evenly matched the two men were and how they both survived, despite serious injuries.
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Dogfight Over Guadalcanal
Deep in the jungle of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific are the rusting remains of a World War II-era fighter plane. Research confirms that the plane is the doomed Wildcat flown by James "Pug" Southerland in WWII. Now, examine every dramatic moment of the legendary showdown between 30-year-old Southerland in his Wildcat, and Saburo Sakai, 25, in his Mitsubishi Zero.
