U.S. Navy Fighting Squadron Fifteen (VF-15). Squadron's top pilots pose On board USS Essex (CV-9) at the end of a six-month tour of duty in the Pacific, that included the Battles of the Philippine Sea (June 1944), Leyte Gulf (October 1944) and many other actions. Photo is dated 1 December 1944 and was released on 4 December 1944. The original caption states, in part: "Each pilot is credited with five or more enemy planes ... their tally reads: 310 enemy planes shot down in combat, with half a million tons of Japanese shipping sunk or damaged. ... The squadron's victorious score card is shown in the foreground." Commander David McCampbell, Commanding Officer of VF-15's parent unit, Air Group 15, is standing just to right of the score card. His Grumman F6F "Hellcat" fighter (nicknamed "Minsi III") is in the background, with Japanese flags painted below its cockpit representing thirty-four "kills". Lieutenant Junior Grade Richard E. Fowler, Jr., USNR (8th from the left)
