Foss, Joe, 1915-2003

Joseph Jacob Foss (b. April 17, 1915, Sioux Falls, S.D.-d. Jan. 1, 2003, Scottsdale, Ariz.), U.S. Marine Corps officer, enlisted in the Marine Reserves and joined the Naval Aviation Cadet program after graduating from college in 1940. By 1942 he was deployed with Marine Fighting Squadron 115 to the South Pacific, participating in the Battle of Guadalcanal. He led a group of “Wildcat” aircraft called “Foss's Flying Circus,” which shot down seventy-two Japanese planes, twenty-six of them by Foss personally. For this and other feats, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Following his discharge from the Marines in 1945, Foss served as a general in the state Air National Guard, as a member of the state legislature, and as Governor of South Dakota.

From the description of Foss, Joe, 1915-2003 (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). naId: 10580236