Mustangs, Wildcats, Blackbirds and Tomcats are indigenous to the USA, right? Well sort of. Mustangs are free range horses and are descendents of horses brought to North America by the Spanish. We all know of the Kellogg High School Wildcats. Tomcats are pretty famous for their independence and nocturnal prowling, and they are a favorite household pet. Blackbirds are a fairly common species around the world.

So what do these well known animals have in common besides being part of the animal kingdom? Well, they are all names of military aircraft. Famous military aircraft.

The SR-71 Blackbird is the titanium skinned supersonic spy plane built by Lockheed that flies at Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound) at the edge of space (85,000 feet). It is now retired, replaced by satellite technology, seeing Air Force service from 1964 to 1998. The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is also retired, replaced by the McDonnell-Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet, and first flew in December 1970. Made famous by the recruiting movie "Top Gun" (Tom Cruise and Kelly McGinnis) the Tomcat served as both ground and carrier based Naval fighter.

During the first half of World War II, the Navy and Marine Grumman F4F Wildcat carrier based fighter saw action in the Pacific. The folding wing design allowed more to be carried on each aircraft carrier. It was employed in the Battle of Midway, Guadalcanal and Central Solomons campaigns, and the North African operation. F6F Hellcats replaced the slower F4F in 1942 and outclassed the Mitsubishi Japanese "Zero" fighter. After the F6F came the F4U Corsair made famous by none other than North Idaho's Medal of Honor recipient Gregory "Pappy" Boyington of the United States Marines. The Corsair proved to be the most capable fighter/bomber of the war.

In mid-1943 the now iconic P-51 Mustang fighter was introduced. Having a top speed of 437 mph and a ceiling of 41,900 feet, it could fly faster and higher than both the Zero and the German Messerschmitt Bf109, considered the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. After air superiority was gained in the European Theater in 1944, the Mustang was employed the Pacific, specifically to provide fighter escort for our B-29 bombers from the island of Iwo Jima. The United States Marines captured the island after a month-long bloody battle in March 1945. The strategic importance of the island was its three airfields, which were necessary for our B-29 bombers and P-51 Mustang fighter escorts to be within striking distance of Japan.

The stalwart German Luftwaffe and 109's is confirmed by 8th Army Air Force First Lieutenant James Hembry, whose sister, Kathryn Amrillo of Hayden, relates to his adventures. Hembry was the co-pilot of a B-24 Liberator bomber flying in what he called a bridge of airplanes from England to Berlin. Kathryn remembers her brother saying that the bombers were held together with baling wire, and that he never told the same joke twice. In this operation to destroy German military and industrial targets, the Mustang escorts were generally sent out in front of the bombers to hunt for squadrons German fighters and destroy the groups, which left the bombers in an offensive position. Reichsmarshal Hermann Gring, commander of the German Luftwaffe during the war, was quoted as saying, When I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the jig was up.

A modern North American bird of prey is the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor, which is being replaced by the F-35 Lightning, whose famous ancestor is the P-38 Lightning, the dual fuselage World War II fighter/bomber also built by Lockheed. Other indigenous bird species are Eagles and Falcons. F-15 Eagles and F-16 Falcons, that is. And lastly, the adorable A-10 tank killer, appropriately nicknamed "Warthog." Who says pigs can't fly?

Jack Evensizer is a resident of Dalton Gardens.