page_title: Marion Eugene Carl
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Marion Eugene Carl / Marine Corps career / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Lt (j.g.) Junichi Sasai of the Tainan Air Group. This 1942 photo shows the young combat leader shortly before his death over Guadalcanal.
context_page_description: Major General Marion Eugene Carl was a World War II fighter ace, record-setting test pilot, and Naval Aviator. He was the United States Marine Corps' first ace in World War II.
context_section_description: The 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor found VMF-221 preparing to embark aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga for transport to Marine Corps Air Station Ewa on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The unit was rushed to Hawaii, then to Wake Island as part of the WI Relief Task Force, still aboard Saratoga. After the relief attempt was cancelled, VMF-221 was deployed to Midway Atoll on Christmas Day, 1941. Carl's first combat occurred six months later during the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942, when 15 of the 25 aircraft VMF-221 put into the air that morning were destroyed. Nevertheless, Carl was credited with destroying one enemy aircraft, a Mitsubishi Zero. All the survivors of VMF-221 were returned to Hawaii shortly after the battle.
  After a short rest, Carl was reassigned to Marine Fighting Squadron 223 (VMF-223), led by former VMF-221 pilot Captain (later Major) John L. Smith. On August 20, VMF-223 was deployed to Guadalcanal, the first fighter unit ashore with the Cactus Air Force. Over the next two months, Carl became the Marines' first ace, running his tally to 16.5 victories, during which time he had to bail out once from a badly-damaged airplane. It is believed that on August 26 Carl shot down the famous Japanese Navy Tainan Kōkūtai ace Junichi Sasai over Henderson Field. When the squadron left Guadalcanal in October, Carl was America's second-ranking ace behind Major Smith.
  In 1943, then-Major Carl returned to the Pacific and led VMF-223 until the following summer. During combat in the Solomon Islands, he claimed two more enemy planes, finishing as the Corps' seventh-ranking ace with 18.5 victories.
caption: Junichi Sasai wearing flight gear. This 1942 photo shows Sasai shortly before his death over Guadalcanal on August 26.
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