🇺🇸 Two Grumman F6F Hellcats climbed toward... nearly sixty Japanese aircraft! What happened next became the greatest single-mission score ever achieved by an American pilot. On October 24, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Commander David McCampbell - leader of Air Group 15 aboard USS Essex - and his wingman Roy Rushing attacked the formation. McCampbell shot down nine aircraft. Rushing destroyed six more. Unable to land aboard Essex, McCampbell brought his battered F6F Hellcat down on USS Langley after dark. His fuel was exhausted. Across his six .50-caliber machine guns, only two rounds remained! Nine victories in one mission. Thirty-four by war’s end. Definitely one of the GOATs!! David McCampbell became the U.S. Navy’s "Ace of Aces" - and received the Medal of Honor. We post stories like this every day. Most people never see them. Follow @Vanguard_WW2 so you don’t miss the next one.