republicp47thunderbolt

From a book review of "The Flying Greek": "Col Pisanos recounts his combat record, from fighter sweeps and bomber escort missions to dogfighting, flying the Spitfire, the P-47, and the P-51. While flying a P-47 named Miss Plainfield, he scored his first aerial victory on May 21, 1943. By January 1, 1944, he had become an ace. After his tenth confirmed kill, he crash-landed his P-51 in France and spent six months with the French Resistance, successfully evading capture. Because of his exposure to the French operations, the Air Force could not risk his capture again, so he returned to the U.S. and became a test pilot at Wright Field where he also attended the Air Forceʼs test pilot school. Retired in December 1973."

Great shot! It's rare to see photos of P-47s over New Guinea and the South Pacific.

Lord.........That is a huge aircraft.

Not seen 42-28455 connected to a pilot before.
Full name of Lawrence W. was Lawrence W. Nelson Jr
Stig

I think the person in the center is pilot Larry Nelson. Here is a link to his oral history - digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/document/29279 The Commemorative Air Force also has an oral history of his on file that has not been digitized, but does support his identity in this image.