Byron M. Johnson, a U.S. Navy aviator, became the subject of one of the most dramatic and most published photographs of World War II. Johnson crashlanded his Grumman F6F Hellcat onto the deck of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise on November 10, 1943. Johnson’s life was saved by another officer, who was able to free him from the burning wreckage. Because of wartime censorship, the photograph and movie film were not released until January 1945. It has been used hundreds of times since then. Johnson, a Potter, Nebraska native, started an airport in Sidney, Nebraska after the war. He returned to school and became a lawyer in the Gering-Scottsbluff, Nebraska area.

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