Phil Rasmussen

Philip M. Rasmussen (May 11, 1918 – April 30, 2005) was a United States Army Air Forces second lieutenant assigned to the 46th Pursuit Squadron at Wheeler Field on the island of Oahu during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

He stayed in the military after the war and retired from the United States Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in 1965.

On the morning of December 7, Lt. Rasmussen had awakened in his barracks when a group of Japanese airplanes dropped bombs on the field.

(The Japanese pilot, Iyozo Fujita [jp], returned to the aircraft carrier, Sōryū, and survived the war.

After passing through the clouds at about 5,000 feet he regained control of the aircraft and returned to Wheeler Field, where he landed with no brakes, rudder, or tailwheel.