The greatest air-sea rescue mission of World War II in the Pacific occurred just two weeks before the fighting came-to-a-close. Nearly 150 men were involved to rescue just one man – Edward Harry Mikes, Jr. from Berwyn, Illinois.

[spacer id=”e8cd4cbf249456bacdc0f00d73459dd0″ height=”5px” height_mobile=”5px” hide_on_desktop=”false” hide_on_mobile=”false” __fw_editor_shortcodes_id=”f9793fea5a2ad8fb5279ebe4ac04941b” _fw_coder=”aggressive”][/spacer][box_icon id=”f32047f822338c03f35b9bedcbfe9eea” box_style=”vertical” icon=”icon-book-open” box_title=”World War II Aviation History” box_content=”Captain Ed Mikes Jr. of the 458th Fighter Squadron was an ordinary man. World War II was fought by ordinary people. However, what happened to him was extraordinary. By all accounts, he should not have survived. Sitting in an open wooden boat in the middle of the bay near Tokyo, he was strafed eight times by Japanese Zero fighters.” custom_styling_picker=”{‹²›custom_styling‹²›:‹²›yes‹²›,‹²›yes‹²›:{‹²›icon_size‹²›:75,‹²›icon_color‹²›:‹²›#222‹²›,‹²›title_typography‹²›:{‹²›google_font‹²›:false,‹²›subset‹²›:false,‹²›variation‹²›:false,‹²›family‹²›:false,‹²›style‹²›:false,‹²›weight‹²›:false,‹²›size‹²›:‹²›28‹²›,‹²›line-height‹²›:‹²›39‹²›,‹²›letter-spacing‹²›:‹²›0‹²›,‹²›color‹²›:‹²›#222‹²›},‹²›content_typography‹²›:{‹²›google_font‹²›:false,‹²›subset‹²›:false,‹²›variation‹²›:false,‹²›family‹²›:false,‹²›style‹²›:false,‹²›weight‹²›:false,‹²›size‹²›:‹²›16‹²›,‹²›line-height‹²›:‹²›29‹²›,‹²›letter-spacing‹²›:‹²›0‹²›,‹²›color‹²›:‹²›#222‹²›}}}” hide_on_desktop=”false” hide_on_mobile=”false” animation_on_scroll=”{‹²›animation_enable‹²›:‹²›yes‹²›,‹²›yes‹²›:{‹²›animation_type‹²›:‹²›fadeInUp‹²›,‹²›animation_delay‹²›:‹²›0‹²›}}” __fw_editor_shortcodes_id=”508f280063dea801183793e7c6a70a4d” _array_keys=”{‹²›custom_styling_picker‹²›:‹²›custom_styling_picker‹²›,‹²›animation_on_scroll‹²›:‹²›animation_on_scroll‹²›}” _fw_coder=”aggressive”][/box_icon][box_icon id=”f32047f822338c03f35b9bedcbfe9eea” box_style=”vertical” icon=”icon-profile-male” box_title=”Cheated the Grim Reaper” box_content=”Ed Mikes cheated the Grim Reaper over a dozen times and lived to tell about it. The teamwork of the U. S. Navy and U. S. Army Air Force units that rescued him was nothing short of heroic. This story needs to be told!” custom_styling_picker=”{‹²›custom_styling‹²›:‹²›yes‹²›,‹²›yes‹²›:{‹²›icon_size‹²›:75,‹²›icon_color‹²›:‹²›#222‹²›,‹²›title_typography‹²›:{‹²›google_font‹²›:false,‹²›subset‹²›:false,‹²›variation‹²›:false,‹²›family‹²›:false,‹²›style‹²›:false,‹²›weight‹²›:false,‹²›size‹²›:‹²›28‹²›,‹²›line-height‹²›:‹²›39‹²›,‹²›letter-spacing‹²›:‹²›0‹²›,‹²›color‹²›:‹²›#222‹²›},‹²›content_typography‹²›:{‹²›google_font‹²›:false,‹²›subset‹²›:false,‹²›variation‹²›:false,‹²›family‹²›:false,‹²›style‹²›:false,‹²›weight‹²›:false,‹²›size‹²›:‹²›16‹²›,‹²›line-height‹²›:‹²›29‹²›,‹²›letter-spacing‹²›:‹²›0‹²›,‹²›color‹²›:‹²›#222‹²›}}}” hide_on_desktop=”false” hide_on_mobile=”false” animation_on_scroll=”{‹²›animation_enable‹²›:‹²›yes‹²›,‹²›yes‹²›:{‹²›animation_type‹²›:‹²›fadeInUp‹²›,‹²›animation_delay‹²›:‹²›0‹²›}}” __fw_editor_shortcodes_id=”3ba0309a904a0264d2c1598705c11dc6″ _array_keys=”{‹²›custom_styling_picker‹²›:‹²›custom_styling_picker‹²›,‹²›animation_on_scroll‹²›:‹²›animation_on_scroll‹²›}” _fw_coder=”aggressive”][/box_icon][box_icon id=”f32047f822338c03f35b9bedcbfe9eea” box_style=”vertical” icon=”icon-camera” box_title=”Never Before Seen Photos” box_content=”The Rescue of Ed Mikes includes never before seen photographs from the collections of each participant plus new material discovered in U. S. and Japanese archives.” custom_styling_picker=”{‹²›custom_styling‹²›:‹²›yes‹²›,‹²›yes‹²›:{‹²›icon_size‹²›:75,‹²›icon_color‹²›:‹²›#222‹²›,‹²›title_typography‹²›:{‹²›google_font‹²›:false,‹²›subset‹²›:false,‹²›variation‹²›:false,‹²›family‹²›:false,‹²›style‹²›:false,‹²›weight‹²›:false,‹²›size‹²›:‹²›28‹²›,‹²›line-height‹²›:‹²›39‹²›,‹²›letter-spacing‹²›:‹²›0‹²›,‹²›color‹²›:‹²›#222‹²›},‹²›content_typography‹²›:{‹²›google_font‹²›:false,‹²›subset‹²›:false,‹²›variation‹²›:false,‹²›family‹²›:false,‹²›style‹²›:false,‹²›weight‹²›:false,‹²›size‹²›:‹²›16‹²›,‹²›line-height‹²›:‹²›29‹²›,‹²›letter-spacing‹²›:‹²›0‹²›,‹²›color‹²›:‹²›#222‹²›}}}” hide_on_desktop=”false” hide_on_mobile=”false” animation_on_scroll=”{‹²›animation_enable‹²›:‹²›yes‹²›,‹²›yes‹²›:{‹²›animation_type‹²›:‹²›fadeInUp‹²›,‹²›animation_delay‹²›:‹²›0‹²›}}” __fw_editor_shortcodes_id=”9f858c9f5bf0909e79255c5d4feda175″ _array_keys=”{‹²›custom_styling_picker‹²›:‹²›custom_styling_picker‹²›,‹²›animation_on_scroll‹²›:‹²›animation_on_scroll‹²›}” _fw_coder=”aggressive”][/box_icon]