At 98-years-old, Sam Folsom may be the last surviving Marine combat pilot from World War II. Most days, you can find him riding his bike along the beach bike path that leads from Santa Monica to Marina Del Rey.
While he’s steady on two wheels, his shaky hands reveal the veteran is showing his age. After all, it’s been 77 years since he enlisted in the Marines.
“I was a young boy. I was 22, but it was early in life,” Folsom said.
“But I spent two, maybe three months in Guadalcanal and the boy got older.”
The Battle of Guadalcanal was the first major American military campaign against the Japanese Empire after the attack on Pearl Harbor. American forces scored a major victory when they succeeded in forcing the Japanese to withdraw, allowing them to develop the island into a major military base in the South Pacific.
Folsom’s medals hang on display in his apartment in Santa Monica’s Ocean Park neighborhood. Nearby, newspaper clippings document his heroism, such as the day he dodged 15 Japanese fighter pilots in the skies over the South Pacific.
Another day, he single-handily shot down three enemy planes. In 1942, he received the distinguished flying cross.
But to Folsom, it was all part of the job.
“Air medals are given out like popcorn,” said Folsom, who met his wife, Barbara, after the war.
Barbara was a Broadway dancer who even appeared on television, before many Americans even owned their own set. She said Folsom loved being in the cockpit of a plane.
“One thing that struck me was how much these guys love to fly and they would do anything to get in an airplane and get into combat,” Barbara said.
Less than half of Folsom’s squadron survived WWII. Now, he’s the only one left.
The Folsoms are part of the “Greatest Generation,” folks who grew up during the Great Depression and then went to war to fight Hitler. Folsom said he enlisted because it was the right thing to do. To him, bravery had nothing to do with it.
“It’s not a great demand to survive,” Folsom said. It’s a great demand to do your damnedest.”
And his damnedest he will continue to do in 2019, as he gets ready to celebrate his 99th birthday.