American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography, including The Larry Ness Collection of Native American Photography

"At All Costs Reach and Destroy." Undated [ca 1970s-80s] typescript, 352pp, 8 1/2 x 11 in., clear plastic cover and rear paper board bound with plastic binding strips. Autograph note signed on Chapter 1 title page, "Henry: Thank you for your help with this mms. [sic] which went to my agent yesterday. Will keep you posted. Appreciatively Tom." Laid in on top of cover page are another ANS from "Tom" to "Henry," and a newspaper clipping of Lanphier's 1987 obituary.

Autobiographical account relays a family history of involvement in military aviation that includes his father's World War I experiences and his own World War II experiences in the Pacific Theater. Particular attention is given to "Operation Vengeance," the American military operation to shoot down and kill Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the naval commander considered the architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The title of the typescript coincides with the title of Chapter 10, "At All Costs Reach and Destroy." Lanphier writes, "The exact moment of Yamamoto's arrival and eparture form each place in his itinerary was included in the U.S. Navy's message, which concluded with the blunt directive: 'SQUADRON 339 P-38S MUST AT ALL COSTS REACH AND DESTROY. PRESIDENT ATTACHES EXTREME IMPORTANCE TO THIS OPERATION.'...I knew what the phrase 'at all costs' meant, and the familiar tingling of fear and excitement ran up the back of my neck to to my scalp...."

World War II United States Army Air Corps Fighter Pilot Thomas G. Lanphier became famous for shooting down the bomber carrying Japanese Admiral Yamamoto over Bougaineville Island, April 18, 1943. He was born on November 27, 1915 in Panama City, Panama, while his father was stationed there. He studied journalism at Stanford University and graduated in January 1941. After pilot training at Stockton Army Air Field, California, in 1941 he was assigned to the 70th Pursuit Squadron, 35th Pursuit Group at Hamilton Field in Novato, California. Until December 1942 he served in Fiji then his squadron was moved to Guadalcanal and he joined the 347th Fighter Group. He served as a pilot of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane on the 339th Fighter Squadron, 347th Fighter Group, in the Pacific Theatre of Operations. He is credited along with Lieutenant Rex T. Barber with shooting down on April 18, 1943, the Japanese Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" attack bomber that was transporting Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy. By the end of his tour, he flew 97 combat missions out of Guadalcanal in P-39s and P-38s. During World War II, Colonel Lanphier was credited with downing nine Japanese planes, damaging eight on the ground, and sinking a destroyer. He received the Navy Cross, Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross. His Navy Cross Citation reads, "The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain (Air Corps) Thomas George Lanphier, Jr., United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism while serving as Pilot of a P-38 fighter airplane in the 339th Fighter Squadron, 37th Fighter Group, THIRTEENTH Air Force, U.S. Army Air Forces, attached to a Marine Fighter Command in action against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands on 18 April 1943. Leading a division of fighter planes at dangerously low altitude in the longest planned interception mission ever attempted, Captain Lanphier contacted the assigned objective, consisting of two enemy bombers and six escort fighters, with complete tactical surprise and launched a fierce, determined attack. In the ensuing engagement he operated with such daring courage and excellent marksmanship that he sent the leading bomber crashing in flames, and subsequently shot down one of the hostile fighters when it furiously attacked his plane. The outstanding professional skill and inspiring leadership displayed by Captain Lanphier under extremely adverse conditions contributed greatly to the remarkable success of this vital mission and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Armed Services." Following World War II, he was one of the founding members of the Idaho Air National Guard, eventually retiring as a Colonel. Post-war he also served as a vice president for military sales, General Dynamic, Convair Division and was a strong proponent of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and Global Surveillance System in the 1950s. He died of cancer on 26 November 1987 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.