Major Rittmayer (USAAF) had shot down four Japanese planes before he participated in the same sortie over the Philippines that Major Thomas McGuire was killed during. Rittmayer's P-38 Lightning was shot down immediately after McGuire's plane crashed, by Japanese pilot Technical Sergeant Mizunori Fukuda who was flying a Ki-84 Hayate "Frank".
According to Forest Lawn Major Rittmayer's remains are actually buried here, their records show his body was repatriated from the Philippines and buried on 13 July 1949.
General George C. Kenney gives an account of what happened in his book on Richard Bong, Dick Bong - America's Ace of Aces:
"Tommy (McGuire) assured me that he would be careful. He said that the next morning he and Major Rittmayer, a visiting P-38 pilot from the Thirteenth Air Force, who had four to his credit, were planning to take along a couple of youngsters who had just arrived in the squadron for a sweep over the Jap airdromes on the islands of Cebu and Negros to see if they could stir up something. We said goodnight."
"...Over Negros Island, they finally sighted a lone Jap fighter that had just lifted off the runway and was flying at about two hundred feet. McGuire led his fight to the attack (but neglected to jettison his wing fuel tanks, severely impacting the maneuverability of his P-38). The Nip turned sharply to the left and quickly maneuvered into position on Rittmayer's tail."
More recent (and detailed accounts) suggest that McGuire was trying to engage an aircraft flown by Warrant Officer Akira Sugimoto, while Rittmayer was shot down by Sergeant Fukuda.
McGuire pushed the envelope too hard in his attempt to engage the enemy fighter and stalled his P-38 at low altitude and crashed. After McGuire crashed, Lieutenant Douglas Thropp engaged W/O Sugimoto and damaged his plane enough to cause him to make a forced landing. The second fighter piloted by Fukuda subsequently attacked Rittmayer in a head-on attack and shot down his plane. Fukuda's plane was later severely damaged by Captain Edwin Weaver and crash landed but Fukuda survived the crash.
Rittmayer appeared in the 1940 census as a 3rd year midshipman at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis but he resigned as a cadet on 4 February 1941 and Army service records indicate he enlisted as an aviation cadet at Fort Sam Houston in Texas on 19 April 1941. A photograph and a brief bio of him appear on page 206 of the 1942 Naval Academy "Lucky Bag Yearbook".
Rittmayer's marker reads "Beloved Son and Husband" but I have been unable to determine his wife's name or where she was from.
According to Forest Lawn Major Rittmayer's remains are actually buried here, their records show his body was repatriated from the Philippines and buried on 13 July 1949.
General George C. Kenney gives an account of what happened in his book on Richard Bong, Dick Bong - America's Ace of Aces:
"Tommy (McGuire) assured me that he would be careful. He said that the next morning he and Major Rittmayer, a visiting P-38 pilot from the Thirteenth Air Force, who had four to his credit, were planning to take along a couple of youngsters who had just arrived in the squadron for a sweep over the Jap airdromes on the islands of Cebu and Negros to see if they could stir up something. We said goodnight."
"...Over Negros Island, they finally sighted a lone Jap fighter that had just lifted off the runway and was flying at about two hundred feet. McGuire led his fight to the attack (but neglected to jettison his wing fuel tanks, severely impacting the maneuverability of his P-38). The Nip turned sharply to the left and quickly maneuvered into position on Rittmayer's tail."
More recent (and detailed accounts) suggest that McGuire was trying to engage an aircraft flown by Warrant Officer Akira Sugimoto, while Rittmayer was shot down by Sergeant Fukuda.
McGuire pushed the envelope too hard in his attempt to engage the enemy fighter and stalled his P-38 at low altitude and crashed. After McGuire crashed, Lieutenant Douglas Thropp engaged W/O Sugimoto and damaged his plane enough to cause him to make a forced landing. The second fighter piloted by Fukuda subsequently attacked Rittmayer in a head-on attack and shot down his plane. Fukuda's plane was later severely damaged by Captain Edwin Weaver and crash landed but Fukuda survived the crash.
Rittmayer appeared in the 1940 census as a 3rd year midshipman at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis but he resigned as a cadet on 4 February 1941 and Army service records indicate he enlisted as an aviation cadet at Fort Sam Houston in Texas on 19 April 1941. A photograph and a brief bio of him appear on page 206 of the 1942 Naval Academy "Lucky Bag Yearbook".
Rittmayer's marker reads "Beloved Son and Husband" but I have been unable to determine his wife's name or where she was from.
Major Rittmayer (USAAF) had shot down four Japanese planes before he participated in the same sortie over the Philippines that Major Thomas McGuire was killed during. Rittmayer's P-38 Lightning was shot down immediately after McGuire's plane crashed, by Japanese pilot Technical Sergeant Mizunori Fukuda who was flying a Ki-84 Hayate "Frank".
According to Forest Lawn Major Rittmayer's remains are actually buried here, their records show his body was repatriated from the Philippines and buried on 13 July 1949.
General George C. Kenney gives an account of what happened in his book on Richard Bong, Dick Bong - America's Ace of Aces:
"Tommy (McGuire) assured me that he would be careful. He said that the next morning he and Major Rittmayer, a visiting P-38 pilot from the Thirteenth Air Force, who had four to his credit, were planning to take along a couple of youngsters who had just arrived in the squadron for a sweep over the Jap airdromes on the islands of Cebu and Negros to see if they could stir up something. We said goodnight."
"...Over Negros Island, they finally sighted a lone Jap fighter that had just lifted off the runway and was flying at about two hundred feet. McGuire led his fight to the attack (but neglected to jettison his wing fuel tanks, severely impacting the maneuverability of his P-38). The Nip turned sharply to the left and quickly maneuvered into position on Rittmayer's tail."
More recent (and detailed accounts) suggest that McGuire was trying to engage an aircraft flown by Warrant Officer Akira Sugimoto, while Rittmayer was shot down by Sergeant Fukuda.
McGuire pushed the envelope too hard in his attempt to engage the enemy fighter and stalled his P-38 at low altitude and crashed. After McGuire crashed, Lieutenant Douglas Thropp engaged W/O Sugimoto and damaged his plane enough to cause him to make a forced landing. The second fighter piloted by Fukuda subsequently attacked Rittmayer in a head-on attack and shot down his plane. Fukuda's plane was later severely damaged by Captain Edwin Weaver and crash landed but Fukuda survived the crash.
Rittmayer appeared in the 1940 census as a 3rd year midshipman at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis but he resigned as a cadet on 4 February 1941 and Army service records indicate he enlisted as an aviation cadet at Fort Sam Houston in Texas on 19 April 1941. A photograph and a brief bio of him appear on page 206 of the 1942 Naval Academy "Lucky Bag Yearbook".
Rittmayer's marker reads "Beloved Son and Husband" but I have been unable to determine his wife's name or where she was from.
According to Forest Lawn Major Rittmayer's remains are actually buried here, their records show his body was repatriated from the Philippines and buried on 13 July 1949.
General George C. Kenney gives an account of what happened in his book on Richard Bong, Dick Bong - America's Ace of Aces:
"Tommy (McGuire) assured me that he would be careful. He said that the next morning he and Major Rittmayer, a visiting P-38 pilot from the Thirteenth Air Force, who had four to his credit, were planning to take along a couple of youngsters who had just arrived in the squadron for a sweep over the Jap airdromes on the islands of Cebu and Negros to see if they could stir up something. We said goodnight."
"...Over Negros Island, they finally sighted a lone Jap fighter that had just lifted off the runway and was flying at about two hundred feet. McGuire led his fight to the attack (but neglected to jettison his wing fuel tanks, severely impacting the maneuverability of his P-38). The Nip turned sharply to the left and quickly maneuvered into position on Rittmayer's tail."
More recent (and detailed accounts) suggest that McGuire was trying to engage an aircraft flown by Warrant Officer Akira Sugimoto, while Rittmayer was shot down by Sergeant Fukuda.
McGuire pushed the envelope too hard in his attempt to engage the enemy fighter and stalled his P-38 at low altitude and crashed. After McGuire crashed, Lieutenant Douglas Thropp engaged W/O Sugimoto and damaged his plane enough to cause him to make a forced landing. The second fighter piloted by Fukuda subsequently attacked Rittmayer in a head-on attack and shot down his plane. Fukuda's plane was later severely damaged by Captain Edwin Weaver and crash landed but Fukuda survived the crash.
Rittmayer appeared in the 1940 census as a 3rd year midshipman at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis but he resigned as a cadet on 4 February 1941 and Army service records indicate he enlisted as an aviation cadet at Fort Sam Houston in Texas on 19 April 1941. A photograph and a brief bio of him appear on page 206 of the 1942 Naval Academy "Lucky Bag Yearbook".
Rittmayer's marker reads "Beloved Son and Husband" but I have been unable to determine his wife's name or where she was from.
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