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Foss arrives for duty at Guadalcanal | South Dakota History

One of the most significant moments in the varied life of Joe Foss was on May 18, 1944, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented the Marine flying ace with the Congressional Medal of Honor at the White House. Foss' wife, the former June Shakstad, is shown helping the president adjust the medal while Foss' mother, Mrs. Lacey Foss, watches proudly.
Argus Leader photo August 4, 1955
One of the most significant moments in the varied life of Joe Foss was on May 18, 1944, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented the Marine flying ace with the Congressional Medal of Honor at the White House. Foss' wife, the former June Shakstad, is shown helping the president adjust the medal while Foss' mother, Mrs. Lacey Foss, watches proudly.

On October 9, 1942, Captain Joe Foss and his unit landed at Henderson Field at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Foss’s unit was known as “Joe’s Flying Circus.” They were instrumental in protecting Guadalcanal over the next several months during WWII.

A 1932 air show in Sioux Falls, staged by a squadron of Marine flyers, sparked an interest in aviation for Joe Foss. He had his first airplane ride three years later and followed that with flying lessons in 1937. During his studies at the University of South Dakota, Foss took the Civil Aeronautics Authority flying course and accumulated 100 hours of flying time by graduation.

He also served in the South Dakota National Guard while in college and enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve right after graduation. He left the reserve and moved on to active duty as a Marine pilot in late 1940. Over the next two years, he advanced to captain and trained other pilots at bases in Florida and California.

Assigned to the South Pacific in October 1942, Foss and his squadron flew almost every day and in his first few weeks, he shot down 23 enemy planes. During his service as a Marine Pilot, Joe Foss was distinguished as an ACE and became one of 82 Marines earning the Medal of Honor during WW II.

Post World War II, Foss was President of the National Rifle Association and became South Dakota's youngest-ever governor at age 39.

Production help is provided by Brad Tennant, Dakota Wesleyan University