The Grumman F6F Hellcat goes into operational use with VF-5 off USS Yorktown (CV-10) in an attack on Marcus Island, 700 miles south of Japan. Hellcat pilots will account for nearly three-fourths of all Navy air-to-air victories in World War II.
Two Airmen endured -45 degree temperatures during an Arctic survival course in the far north, where national security experts worry the U.S. is underprepared to counter Russia or China.