Rex BARBER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Sheila WIDNALL, Secretary of the Air Force, Defendant-Appellee

This case arises from one of the remarkable events in the Pacific theater of World War II — the long range fighter mission that culminated in the death of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In this appeal, Rex Barber, a retired Air Force pilot, challenges the denial by the Secretary of the Air Force of his petition to correct his military record pursuant to 10 U.S.C. § 1552 , to reflect his sole credit for having shot down Yamamoto’s bomber. Barber appeals the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the Secretary. We conclude that the Secretary’s decision was not contrary to law, arbitrary or capricious, and was supported by substantial evidence. We therefore affirm the judgment of the district court.

BACKGROUND

Two years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy intercepted and decoded a message indicating that Admiral Yamamoto would be flying to Bougainville Island to inspect Japanese troops. The United States planned a secret mission to shoot down Admiral Yamamoto’s airplane, sending fifteen P-38’s from Guadalcanal to intercept the bomber on April 18, 1943. Barber, Besby Holmes, and Tom Lanphier were among those flying…