P-38 Rescued from Guadalcanal Swamp

P-38 Rescued from Guadalcanal Swamp

The journey to return U.S. Army Air Forces Maj. Peyton Mathis Jr.’s remains to his hometown, 70 years after he was killed on Guadalcanal, began with another pilot’s hunch.

Anders Markwarth, 44, a Guadalcanal resident, has always been interested in airplanes, especially varbirds. A former airline pilot, he now works with a fuel company on the island.

“It was back in 2008 or ’09 that I was reading about warbirds on the net, just to pass some time, when I came across somebody talking about a missing U.S. pilot … in ’44 crashed in a swamp with his aircraft” Markwarth said in a series of e-mails. “As far as I know nobody here knew about this plane or that it had ever been found so I contacted Peyton Mathis in Alabama, and he confirmed that his uncle still lay in this P-38.”

For the complete story by Marty Roney of the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, click here.

Updated: January 13, 2015 — 4:38 PM
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