Louis Eisenbrey Russell

Shortly after earning his wings and commission at NATC Corpus Christi, Lieutenant Louis “Rusty” Russell joined VMF-217 – a new Marine fighter squadron forming at El Centro, California. He deployed overseas with this outfit and flew on some of the squadron’s first combat missions in the Solomon Islands. Russell was a gifted fighter pilot, and within a matter of weeks had destroyed one Japanese bomber on the ground and shot three more aircraft out of the sky – including one “Betty” bomber thought to be evacuating Japanese officers from Bougainville.

The loss of Captain John D. Hench on 12 March 1944 sparked several days of unsuccessful search attempts. During that time, Japanese shelling made Piva Yoke strip too dangerous for flight operations, so VMF-217 temporarily decamped to fields at Torokina, Green Island, and Barakoma. On the afternoon of 14 March, Russell landed at Green Island to refuel and stretch his legs. Mechanics may have noticed some small holes in his Corsair; Russell casually mentioned taking some small-arms fire from Cape St. George, and that he planned to investigate on his way back to Barakoma. While in the area, he would also look for the missing Captain Hench. Shortly thereafter, Russell took off from Green Island and flew off in the direction of New Ireland.

The next day, another VMF-217 pilot landed at Green Island looking for information. Russell had not arrived at Barakoma as planned, and the squadron had no idea where he might be – only a vague idea of his planned flight path. More search flights went out, but nothing of Russell or his plane (F4U-1 02521) could be found before the squadron was relieved on 18 March.

Louis Russell was declared dead on 15 March 1945.