Bill Brooks...VMF-221....Midway

[Owen Miller]

Another of my great vet friends has left us. Bill Brooks was
the last American to have flown a Buffalo in combat. He was
a gracious gentleman. I remember the day the Buffalo arrived
at NNAM in P'cola. I called him from the hangar to tell him
about it. He was at the dentist but we got to tak about it
later. He was very excited and even sent a nice check to
help restore the bird. One of my greatest wishes was to
get to show it to him one day. That won't happen now.

One of the things HE most wanted to do was thank Gary
Villard for rescuing the bird; Marine to Marine. That won't
happen either. I hope the crybabies in Finland are happy.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100127/NEWS01/701279885

[Dave Homewood]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your mate Owen.

How many Americans actually flew the Buffalo in combat? Was it widely used early in the American entry into the war? Or were there not many squadrons using it and very few American combat veterans on the type?

We are fortunate to still have a few Buffalo veterans with us in NZ, including Geoff Fisken and Brian Baber, both top blokes to chat with. I've also recently talked with several kiwis who flew the type in training with the US Navy at Pensacola, Florida while they were being trained as fighter pilots for the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. Of all those I have spoken to, Geoff Fisken was the only one with anything good to say about it. The rest of them thought it was an awful aircraft to fly.

[mustangdriver]

I am not a fan of that aircraft going abroad. If they wanted it, then they should have recovered it.

[Nathan]

The Buffalo in USN hands first saw combat in March 1942. When Buffalos at Midway shot down a Japanese Emily flying boat. The F2A-3 shot down several Japanese aircraft at the Battle of Midway. Also I believe a Buffalo strafed a Japanese Sub outside of Oahu 41- early 42??

Anyhoo I am very sadden by the loss of all our VMF-221 Buffalo pilots. A brave lot! God bless them.

[Nathan]

The Buffalo in USN hands first saw combat in March 1942. When Buffalos at Midway shot down a Japanese Emily flying boat. The F2A-3 shot down several Japanese aircraft at the Battle of Midway. Also I believe a Buffalo strafed a Japanese Sub outside of Oahu 41- early 42??

Anyhoo I am very sadden by the loss of all our VMF-221 Buffalo pilots. A brave lot! God bless them.