Bernard Earl Sahl

First Lieutenant Bernard Sahl was a Marine fighter pilot who flew with VMF-223 – the “Bulldogs” – during the campaign for the northern Solomon Islands.

On 25 December 1943, VMF-223 provided eight planes for an escort mission to Rabaul. The American force – 24 B-24 bombers, plus 64 fighters from several squadrons – arrived over the target around noon, and found a mixed group of 30 Japanese “Zekes,” “Hamps,” and “Tonys” waiting over Blanche Bay. The opposing formations broke apart into individual dogfights.

Bernie Sahl and his wingman, 1Lt. Richard P. Kessler, dove on a pair of Hamps. Sahl got in behind one Japanese pilot; the second Hamp jumped on Sahl’s tail, but was shot off by Kessler. Five more Japanese fighters attacked Kessler, who managed to escape into a cloud and nurse his badly damaged Corsair back to Vella Lavella. He claimed the Hamp as a “probable” kill.

Lieutenant Sahl did not return from the mission. Kessler gave his last known position as “8 or 10 miles north of Rabaul peninsula” and noted that “there were 10 or 12 enemy planes in the immediate vicinity at that time and [he] and Sahl were alone.” Sahl’s Corsair (F4U-1 #57464) was written off as lost, and the pilot listed as missing in action. He was the only “Bulldog” lost on the combat tour.