John Thomas Blackburn (January 24, 1912 – March 21, 1994) was an American naval aviator, World War II flying ace,[2] and the first commanding officer of the famed F4U Corsair squadron VF-17 Jolly Rogers.

Blackburn assembled a ready room of mainly brand new ensigns fresh from winning their wings at advanced flying school at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi.

Luckily he had the assistance of a combat veteran from the recent Battle of the Coral Sea, Lt.(jg) Harry "Brink" Bass who received the Navy Cross for his attack on the Japanese aircraft carrier Shōhō.

Blackburn named his Corsair "Big Hog" and together with his executive officer, Roger Hedrick embarked on an intensive training program to get his squadron ready for the planned deployment to the Pacific in August 1943, and the combat that lay ahead.

[4] The squadron deployed aboard USS Bunker Hill and worked hard to adapt the F4U Corsair to the carrier environment, which necessitated some design changes, resulting in the F4U-1A model.

They arrived on the 27th, just in time to participate in providing air cover for the Landings at Cape Torokina, near Empress Augusta Bay on Bougainville Island on 1 November; this drew attention from the considerable Japanese presence at their bastion of Rabaul.

Blackburn and his Jolly Rogers were assigned the high cover mission for the landings and ran into a wave of Japanese Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers escorted by Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters.

On 3 September 1956, he and his wingman each flew a Douglas A3D Skywarrior from the USS Shangri-La (CV-38), off the coast of Oregon, across a finish line at the National Air Show in Oklahoma City, and on to Jacksonville, Florida, without refueling.

After selling his St Helena, California, vineyard and home to Gene and Cody Kirkham, who transformed the property into Casa Nuestra Winery, Blackburn lived in Jacksonville, Florida, with his second wife, Jamie Brashears,[9] and died there.

A replica of his F4U Corsair, with the Jolly Roger insignia and "Big Hog" written on the vertical stabilizer and the number one on the fuselage, was installed at the Washington Navy Yard in 1985.

In thirty-two days Lieutenant Commander Blackburn flew thirty combat sorties, twenty-one of which were escort missions or fighter sweeps over the Rabaul area, and on thirteen of which he encountered enemy aircraft.

His outstanding devotion to duty, his heroic conduct against numerically superior enemy forces, his daring and aggressive airmanship were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.