This P-38L is painted as a P-38J with the 55th Fighter Squadron based in England. It was donated to the museum in 1961 by the Kaufmann Foundation, Philadelphia, Penn. The top hats on the left side of the aircraft represent the nine bomber escort missions flown by its pilot, 2nd Lt. Royal D. Frey, with the yellow hat signifying five and the white hats one each.
Lockheed P-38L Lightning
The P-38 was used as a long range escort fighter and served in every theater of war. It excelled in North Africa and the Pacific, where it truly shined. Seven of the top eight scoring USAAF aces in the Pacific flew the P-38. The P-38 became the standard USAAF fighter in the Pacific theater until the closing months of World Wae II.