Control pilot Billy Joe Thomas (second from right) stands next to pilot, and also the skipper of VK-12, Lt. Mike Prissler (second from left) at Sunlight Field. Also pictured (left) radioman George Grimes, (right) gunner Tom Camper, and (kneeling) crew chief J.C. Parsons. On September 27, 1944 this TBM crew participated in the first-ever guided missile attack in the history of warfare, hitting a grounded freighter the Japanese had turned into an anti-aircraft platform. (Courtesy of Billy Joe Thomas).
Control pilot Billy Joe Thomas (second from right) stands next to pilot, and also the skipper of VK-12, Lt. Mike Prissler (second from left) at Sunlight Field. Also pictured (left) radioman George Grimes, (right) gunner Tom Camper, and (kneeling) crew chief J.C. Parsons. On September 27, 1944 this TBM crew participated in the first-ever guided missile attack in the history of warfare, hitting a grounded freighter the Japanese had turned into an anti-aircraft platform. (Courtesy of Billy Joe Thomas).