The 80th FS flew P-39 Airacobras from the jungles of New Guinea during World War II. After many missions, some the toughest of the Pacific theater, downed pilots from the 80th were often returned safely to allied lines by sympathetic members of local headhunting tribes. As a tribute to these brave tribesmen and to emphasize the fighting spirit of the 80th, the squadron began calling itself Headhunters in 1943.

Members of the 80th began calling themselves Juvats about thirty years later when the 80th was assigned to Kunsan AB, Korea—its present location. Lt. Gen. Jay Robbins, a former member of the 80th and vice commander of Tactical Air Command at the time, saved the unit from deactivation in 1971. The 80th was soon restaffed with personnel from the 391st Tactical Fighter Squadron. As pilots tore off their old 391st squadron patches to sew on the 80th’s headhunter patch, a portion of the old patch clung to their flight suits. It read Juvat, the last word of the motto of the 391st. The 80th made the remnant permanent and adopted the motto Audentes Fortuna Juvat (Latin for Fortune favors the bold) as its own. Throughout the US Air Force, Juvat has become synonymous with Headhunter and has been applied to any member of the 80th FS.

The Headhunter legacy thrives at Kunsan. All Juvats know the Headhunter story. They also know that the 80th was the first American unit to employ jet fighters in combat (the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star during the Korean War) and that it produced three aces during the Korean War. Among the twenty-four Headhunter pilots who became aces during World War II were Maj. Richard Bong, America’s ace of aces. Bong claimed all forty of his aerial victories during the war from his Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

Eric Hehs is the editor of Code One.