McPhail started flight school on 4 December 1941 at the naval air station in Dallas and earned his wings on Oct. 1,1942. He left for the Pacific on 16 January 1943 and joined VMF-441 on Samoa flying F4F Grumman Wildcats, and returned to the U.S. in February, 1944. He went back overseas in January of 1945 and joined VMF-323 "Death Rattlers" flying the F-4U Corsair on Okinawa. McPhail flew 140 Combat Missions in WWII, and is credited for shooting down a Zero and a Nate.
He was called back for duty during the Korean Conflict flying the Corsair with the famed VMF-214 "Black Sheep" Squadron, completing 102 missions and earning two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 11 Air Medals and the Navy Commendation Medal.

Joe McPhail was a World War II wildcat and Corsair pilot. He also served in the Korean War as a Corsair pilot in the black sheep.

Corsair pilot from Houston who served in WWII and flew 102 missions in the Korean War.

See an interview of both Captain AJ High and Colonel Joe McPhail Here >

Warbird pilots Doug Rozendaal and Freddy Caraveo join the honored Veterans on the Dynamo's field, from left to right, Col. Joe McPhail, Mr. Lewis Horelica, Dr. Ronald Heisey, and Mr. Ray Dorozyaski. Col. Joe McPhail was a World War II Wildcat and Corsair pilot; he also served in the Korean War as a Corsair pilot in the Black sheep. Mr. Lewis Horelica served in the Korean War as a Corsair pilot also a member of the Black sheep squadron. Dr. Ronald Heisey, a certified medical examiner and longtime friend of the aviation industry. Mr. Ray Dorozyaski has been flying for 72 years and he flew in World War II on B-29s and also B-17's.

Ray has been flying for 72 years. He flew in World War II on B-29s and also B-17's.

Lewis served in the Korean War as a Corsair pilot also a member of the Black Sheep squadron.

Flew over 1500 hours in B-25’s during WWII

Ray Lancaster of Galveston, age 90, flew P51s and P-47s in Europe where he shot down three Germans. He crash landed a Mustang in Sweden and spent 4 months there towards the end of the war. On the mission that he crashed, Ray was escorting B-17s one of which was named Thunderbird. A replica of this plane is at the Lone Star Museum in Galveston. Ray also flew the P-40F which had a Rolls Royce Merlin engine.

“The Long Island Kid” Crewchief of Dakota Kid II

Click here to see the Dakota Kid II

Piloted a B-25, B-17, and B-29 in the Aleutian Islands during WWII

Seated in the middle is Steve Robinson; to the left is Frank Marlow (former NASA pilot/former Naval Aviator) and in the front is Wes Fields.

Here is photo of the miniature USN Aviators Wings in space that were given to Dick Cole at the Wings over Houston air show last November. Although the shot looks like it might be faked, it isn’t. It was taken by astronaut Steve Robinson aboard STS 130 in February of last year. Dick Cole was Dolittle’s co-pilot. He is still alive and living in Texas.