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 Phil Rasmussen, one of the few American pilots to get airborne during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor sixty years ago, got a close look at the F-22 at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Marietta, Georgia, in November. During his stop, he flew the F-22 cockpit demonstrator, saw a pair of Raptors on the flight line, and signed his name in the weapons bay of Raptor 10. “This is like Star Wars to me,” said Rasmussen. “The F-22’s capabilities are hard for me to comprehend. When I see things like this, I feel so proud about the future of the United States.”
Rasmussen, a twenty-three-year-old second lieutenant on his first assignment after earning his wings, had just awakened when the Japanese attack began at 7:55 on the morning of 7 December 1941. Still in his pajamas, he ran out of his barracks, taxied his Curtiss P-36 to a revetment to be armed, and took off. Three other US fighter pilots who managed to get airborne joined Rasmussen in formation and immediately engaged Japanese aircraft. Rasmussen shot down one aircraft over Kaneohe Bay, one of only twenty-nine Japanese aircraft (out of more than 350 that took part in the attack) brought down by US troops. Gunfire and 20-millimeter cannon shells shattered his canopy, destroyed his control cables, and left more than 500 holes in his aircraft. “The only things that were salvageable were the engine and me,” noted Rasmussen. For his actions, he received the Silver Star, one of the nation’s highest awards for valor. After a long Air Force career, Rasmussen retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1965.
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