On March 6, 1945, Brig. General Ernest M. “Mickey” Moore, commanding officer of the 7th Fighter Command, and 24 pilots of the 47th Fighter Squadron (FS) of the 15th Fighter Group (FG), landed their North American P-51D Mustangs on South Field (Motoyama #1) on Iwo Jima, just fifteen days after the United States Marines stormed Iwo’s black sand beaches. The battle for Iwo Jima continued to rage on for another twenty days as pockets of Japanese resistance were being eliminated.

It is believed that the above photo is of Brig. General Moore landing an unmarked P-51D on South Field. Was he the first USAAF pilot to land a P-51 on Iwo Jima? None of the captions to the March 6th photos provide an answer, but squadron records indicate that Brig. General Moore was the first to land, with 47th Squadron Commander Major John Piper second.

Another March 6th photo showing a 47th Fighter Squadron P-51D pulling into its parking spot just off of South Field. Note the single antenna in both photos. The twin Uncle Dog antennae were a field modification on Iwo Jima.