On September 5, 1942, after landing at Henderson Field under fire, Lt. Col. W. Fiske Marshall, executive officer of Marine Air Group 25 (far left), became the first to evacuate casualties from Guadalcanal by air. He is shown here with fellow MAG-25 Silver Star recipients (l-r) Maj. Owen Ross, Capt. John Whitaker, and 2nd Lt. James M. Walker. R4D "69" is in the background. (MAG-25/SCAT Archives) "Another DC-3 was blasted as it took off from Henderson Field. Whitaker, the pilot, brought it in with the left wing flapping. A spar had been cut in half and the wing shot up. 'I just held my breath for nine hours', said Whitaker." -Hubler and Dechant, Flying Leathernecks (Doubleday, 1944)