Maybe it was humility or maybe it was the inability to recognize, but the "greatest generation" failed in many ways to make good accounts regarding the war. Maybe they were also just tired and ready to move on. Thankfully there were enough that saved some very historic pieces from their demise. With as many ac built by the US we could have a small museum in every major airport, with a F4U, P40, 47, 51, 38 and many others present at each location. But what we have a are a handful that are preserved to the point where they can fly around the country doing shows because another one doesn't exist for 500miles.
What a shame for us, but as I often find when interviewing WW2 veterans, they just don't think they did anything all that important. I knew one vet whose ship was strafed by A6M's several times, to include downing a couple of them, and he thought "no big deal..."
