I'm not sure exactly when Lindbergh moved to Maui, it was probably in the late 50s or early 60s. He toured all over Europe after his famous flight, and made alot of friends. After their baby was kidnapped and murdered in the 30s, he was really almost driven crazy by the press and by people trying to capitalize on his loss. So they left the US and moved to Europe. During this time he toured Nazi Germany and was given a red carpet tour of the country and a medal. He saw what they wanted him to see of course, and he was very impressed. He came back to the US and campaigned alot for us to stay out of the war. Many people branded him a Nazi sympathizer because of it. His motivation though was a fear that we would be in over our heads if we were drawn into a war with Germany. FDR made some rather bad comments about Lindbergh in a speech, making it sound like he wasnt loyal to the US, and he got mad and resigned his commission in the Reserves.
After Pearl Harbor he swallowed his pride and offered his services, but the govt. refused him and told any aviation companies to fire him from advisory positions. The only one that refused was Henry Ford, who employed him to help convert from auto production to airplanes.
Through 1943 the govt finally started to thaw out a bit and he began test flying planes for them. In 1944 he went to the Pacific on a tour of Corsair bases hosted by the Navy and Marines. He helped diagnose and correct problems with the Corsair and was the technical liason in the field for the manufacturers. He also helped build better communications between the military and the companies building the planes. Although he was a civilian, he flew 14 combat missions over Rabaul with the Marines, experiencing dive bombing and strafing runs, but not air to air combat. After he finished there, he left to join the 475th. June16th, 1944, Colonel Robert L. Morrissey briefed Lindbergh on the Lightning. For all his flying experience he had never flown the P-38. A major motivation for his trip to New Guinea centered around United Aircraft's interest in the feasibility of a new twin-engined fighter. The P-38 was the sole American representative of that type. He had heard that the 475th was a hot Lightning outfit so Lindbergh sought to learn from the best. On June 20th he got 1 hour and 20 minutes of flight time in the 38 with the 35th FS, and a week later returned to the 475th. This is a copy of an account of his time with them.
After obtaining permission to accompany the group on the next day's mission, Lindbergh retreated to V Fighter Command Headquarters only to be retrieved later by MacDonald. The mission, explained the colonel, would launch at dawn. It would be better to rest at the 475th camp and cut down transportation problems. Lindbergh agreed.
Meanwhile the "word" spread quickly. Lindbergh was among Satan's Angels. In the 433rd camp, First Lieutenant Carroll R. "Andy" Anderson tried to summon up enough strength to write a long overdue letter to his wife, Virginia Marie. Suddenly friend C.J. Rieman popped in and announced, "Charles A. Lindbergh is going to fly with us!" Letters were quickly forgotten.
The next day's mission was to Jefman Island, now a familiar target for the 475th. With the possibility of interception much higher than on Guadalcanal flights, MacDonald took no chances. The four-craft patrol included some of the best pilots in the group: MacDonald, with Smith in the number two slot, followed by Lindbergh and his wingman Mac McGuire. By that flight the veterans already had a total of thirty-six victories between them.
Except for flak, Jefman produced no action and so, as had been the recent practice, the quartet of Lightnings shot up barges and luggers on the way home. The Japanese used the terrain to mask their boats from air strikes. Spotting a barge in an indentation formed by two hills leading to the sea, Lindbergh flew up and over the nearest ridge clearing the top by a dozen feet, shooting as he partially straightened, and then banked hard left to clear the opposing hill, all this at 250 miles per hour indicated air speed. The four Lightnings left several craft sinking or burning before turning for home.
Later the group approved of Lindbergh is handling of that first mission. Intelligence Officer Dennis G. "Coop" Cooper was impressed by his accurate and thorough observations during debriefing. He flew well and low against the targets. They did not realize that Lindbergh's time on Guadalcanal had already honed his combat skills.
.A number of his missions in F4Us involved strafing difficult targets. In that process, he learned to fire accurately no matter what his fighter's attitude. " I do not think about the plane's position; that is taken care of subconsciously. All my conscious attention is concentrated on the sight. The tracers are going home, that's all that matters. " Further, Lindbergh was a natural marksman. He shot trap and skeet and while on a PT boat speeding at 26 knots, shot a flying fish with his .45 automatic Before going overseas he practiced air-to-air gunnery at El Toro, California, and Hickam Field, Hawaii, and his time at Guadalcanal allowed him to fire guns in action. Lindbergh's modesty kept him silent about his skills.
Lieutenant John E. "Jack" Purdy of the 433rd looked forward to meeting Lindbergh. Eventually a seven-victory ace, Purdy brooked no formality; already it was "Charlie." Almost as if sensing the stir caused by Lindbergh's appearance, MacDonald called a meeting two days after Lindbergh's arrival. The 475th's C.O. sought to clarify the civilian's status among Satan's Angels. The Lone Eagle would be accorded all officer's privileges and would be addressed as "Mister Lindbergh" as befitting his non-military status.
The Lone Eagle sortied regularly with the 475th and the missions reveal two things only partially seen by the group itself. The first concerned changing roles. Japanese resources dwindled at this, the closing of the New Guinea campaigns. Now they faced the terrible mobility of Nimitz's Central Pacific carrier task forces while MacArthur primed for the drive north against the Philippines) Gone were the relentless daylight air attacks. Husbanding resources in the Southwest Pacific, the enemy took to nocturnal raids against targets like newly-invaded Biak. Until MacArthur moved against the Philippines, the 475th provided aerial protection but did little damage to Japanese resources. This was unacceptable to Charles MacDonald.
