Hobby Master Archive

Warrant Officer Machinist Donald Runyon became the USN’s highest scoring F4F pilot when he scored eight victories during three sorties in August 1942. On August 7th during the invasion of Guadalcanal Runyon shot down two Val dive bombers and on the 8th a Zero and a Betty bomber. On the 24th during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons he shot down three Vals and a Zero. In 1943 Runyon returned to combat as a commissioned officer flying a Hellcat and scored three more victories with VF-18.