Constructed as P-47D-15-RA 42-23278 by Republic at Evansville, IN and registered N5087V and N347D postwar, this "Razorback" (later P-47Ds had a bubble canopy) was donated to the USAFM by Republic in 1964, having appeared at the Paris Air Show the previous year. By 2004 it had been repainted as the P-47 in which Col. Neel Kearby won the first Medal of Honor awarded to a US fighter pilot, with 22 kills in the Pacific theatre before being shot down over New Guinea in March 1944. The actual fin of his aircraft, named after his red-haired wife, was recovered from the wreck site is shown alongside

This P-47 is in reality 42-23278 and ex N347D but painted as 'Fiery Ginger IV' flown by the highest scoring P-47 Paciific theatre ace and Medal of Honor recipient, Col. Neel Kearby. On 5th March 1944, whilst on a mission to Wewak a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter pilot shot down 'Fiery Ginger IV' and Col. Kearby was killed. After the war, the wreckage of the aircraft lay undisturbed and forgotten until the 1990s, when the tailfin was recovered to make a poignant addition to this display at the National Museum of the USAF.