VMF-115 | Joe's Jokers | Disney design | 4 insignia

[walika]

VMF-115 | Joe's Jokers

Established: Santa Barbara, July 1, 1943
Deployments: Espiritu/Emirau, March-December, 1944 (F4U-1D); Leyte/Zamboanga, December 1944-war's end (F4U/FG-1D)
Aerial Combat record: 5.5 victories, no aces

Aircraft: F4U-1, F4U- ID, FG-1, FG-ID
Date of Insignia: August, 1943
Artist: Walt Disney Studios

Type 1 | Silkscreened on leather. Design by Walt Disney Studios. 1943.

 

 

Problems with the silkscreened paint flaking off the leather patches led to the squadron removing the patch and replacing it with an embroidered one, shown below as Type 2.

 

Type 2 | Theater-made. Australian embroidery on wool. Design by Walt Disney Studios. (circa mid-1944)

 

 

 

 

Type 3 | Theater-made. Chinese embroidery on silk. Design by Walt Disney Studios. (circa 1945-1946)

 

 

 

Type 4 | Embroidered on wool. Design by Walt Disney Studios. (circa 1947-1948)

 

 

 

 

"Joe's Jokers" were named for their CO, Maj. Joe Foss, with assumed command two weeks after the squadron was formed. He remained at the helm for 14 months, with the squadron logo outlasting -- a cartoon Corsair with Foss's trademark cigar client in its engine section.

 

Foss was already a legend as the Marine Corps’ leading ace and a recipient in May 1943 of the Medal of Honor (in late 1942 and early 1943, he shot down 26 Japanese planes in 44 days) while a member of VMF-121. As VMF-115 was starting to get organized, Major Foss was in the process of completing a war bond tour across the United States after being awarded the Medal of Honor. The unit was officially known as the “Silver Eagles,” but he asked the Walt Disney studios to design an “unofficial” insignia for the squadron that would exemplify a more aggressive, devil-may-care attitude. The final insignia was an animated, happy, diving Corsair smoking a cigar –– Foss’s trademark –– complete with goggles and flowing silk scarf, across a five-card royal flush with a joker and the squadron’s nickname: “Joe’s Jokers.”

 

 

 

The Jokers arrived at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, in March 1944 where the flight echelon remained until mid April. Staging through Bougainville, Foss led his corsairs to Emirau, in the Bismark Archipelago, on May 2, thus rejoining the ground component. Routine operations were conducted in the Southwest Pacific until year-end, when the squadron moved to latent, working for Gen. Douglas MacArthur's forces.

Squadron wearing the Type-1 insignia. Santa Barbara, 1944.

Foss is seen standing center, directly in front of the down-facing blade of the propeller, wearing a flying cap with goggles raised.

 

 

 

The first new Corsairs off the assembly line had mechanical problems. Their engines tended to cut out above 21,000 feet. After three or four pilot deaths, Foss requested that higher headquarters provide an expert to look into the problem. Two days after he requested assistance, a man arrived whom he had tried to meet years earlier as a boy in Sioux Falls, South Dakota: Charles Augustus Lindbergh. Yes, that Charles Lindbergh. As an aeronautical engineer, Lindbergh was a troubleshooter for military aviation. After working with the squadron for a month, Lindbergh solved the problems with the Corsair and in the process hit it off with the members of the squadron, as well as with Foss, who told him that he was welcome to fly with the squadron any time. (Lindbergh took him up on the offer many times.)

Unexpectedly, in May, Charles Lindbergh showed up, cashing in on Foss’s promise to let him fly with the squadron. For the next month he flew missions, searching for ships and attacking ground targets. Flying from morning till night, he taught the Marines tricks that included how to significantly extend their range. Foss remembered Lindbergh as a thorough pilot––not one to take unnecessary risks and never flying without a map. But on one occasion Foss had to take him to task for a solo second pass when making a strafing run on an enemy supply dump with all the anti-aircraft guns in the area concentrating fire on his plane. Although a civilian consultant, Lindbergh flew some 50 combat missions.

 

Major Joe Foss (left) and Charles Lindbergh.

 

 

 

Under Maj. John H King, VMF-115 supported amphibious landings at Ormoc Bay and Mindoro early in the new year. The jokers heaviest casualties in the Philippines occurred in that period, with 14 Corsairs lost to all causes in December and January. Operations at Cebu followed, with another set of landings on Mindanao during March. Later that month the squadron moved to Zamboanga, from where it specialized in providing ground support for US Army troops. However, subsequent trip landings at Bongao Sangha Sangha in Jolo, as well as the Negros operation, also occupied the Corsairs. Combat and operational attrition eased after February, with 19 planes written off to all causes from March to August. Maj. John S. Payne led the squadron through most of the last three months of hostilities, bombing and strafing Mindanao. The jokers were still at Zamboanga at war's end. The squadron served in China until the end of 1946.

 

In celebration of their squadron’s heritage and 65th anniversary, The Marines of VMFA-115 painted one of their aircraft with the Joe’s Jokers insignia. The insignia also adorns the squadron members’ coveralls and flight suits. The Joe’s Jokers emblem was painted on the tail end, while Foss’ name and Medal of Honor are printed beside the cockpit. The Marines added a South Carolina flag to the speed brake to represent the squadron’s current home, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Millstein, Jeff. U. S. Marine Corps Aviation Unit Insignia 1941-1946.

Tillman, Barrett. U. S. Marine Corps Fighter Squadrons of World War II.

 

The Story of Joe's Jokers

 

Joe Foss

 

[The Iron Brigade]

[Thor996]

thumbsup.gifthumbsup.gifthumbsup.gifthumbsup.gifthumbsup.gif

 

^^^^ what he said!