Signature: Carl, Marion

Born in Hubbard, Oregon on the 1st of November 1915, Carl learned to fly when he was at college and went solo after only 2 and half hours of instruction. Marion Carl went to Oregon State College to study engineering and graduated in 1938 as a Lieutenenat in the Army Reserve, but resigned his commission to become a naval aviation cadet and in December 1939 he received his 'wings of gold' and a Marine Corp commission. Marion Carl was posted to (VMF- 1) Marine Fighting Squadron One in Virginia at Quantico. In 1940 he became a instructor to train new pilots for Marine Fighting Squadron 221 (VMF-221 ) at NAS North Island in San Diego, California. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on the 7th December 1941, Carl's squadron VMF-221 were preparing to embark aboard the USS Saratoga (CV-3) bound for Oahu, Hawaii. Carl along with the rest of the squadron were rushed to Hawaii and became part of the Wake Island Relief Task Force. He was still onboard the carrier Saratoga when the relief force was cancelled, and VMF-221 went to Midway Atoll on Christmas Day. Carl's first combat occurred on June 4th 1942 during the Battle of Midway, when 15 of the 25 aircraft of VMF-221 were shot down but, Carl was credited with destroying one enemy aircraft, a Mitsubishi Zero. Carl was reassigned to VMF-223 Marine Fighting Squadron 223 which was commanded by a former squadron mate from VMF-221, Capt. John Smith. On August 20th, VMF-223 was deployed to Guadalcanal and was the first fighter squadron ashore with the Cactus Air Force. Between the end of August and the end of October Marion Carl became the Marines' first ace, when Carl had reached 16.5 victories though he was shot down once and was forced to bail out. It is believed Marion Carl was the pilot who shot down the famous Japanese Navy Tainan Kokutai ace Junicho Sasai over Henderson Field. By the end of the war Carl would increase his air victories to 18.5 victories. In 1947 he broke the speed record and in 1953 held the world altitude record. During a second test pilot tour, Carl set an unofficial altitude record of 83,000 feet in the Douglas D-558/II. He was the first pilot to be launched from a carrier by catapult. He had 490 hours in the Phantom I, flying combat recon flights over Red China. Commanding air wings in Vietnam in 1965, he took the First Marine Brigade to Danang, South Vietnam. Despite his seniority, he repeatedly flew combat missions in Helicopter gunships and jet fighters. General Carl received his second star as a Major General in 1967. In 1968 he commanded the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Herry Point until 1970. Subsequently he served as Inspector General of the Marine Corps until retiring in 1973. At that time he had logged some 13,000 flying hours, more than twice as much as most. He flew the F-4 regularly - one of the few Generals to do so. In 1998, on June 28th at age 82, Major General Marion Carl was shot to death with a shotgun during a robbery, defending his wife Edna from a home invader. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.