High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Thomas George Lanphier, Jr. (November 27, 1915 ? November 26, 1987) was a Colonel and World War II fighter pilot who was first solely, then partially credited with shooting down the plane carrying Admiral Yamamoto, the commander in chief of the Japanese Imperial Navy. He was born on November 27, 1915 in Panama City, Panama to Thomas George Lanphier, Sr., a West Point graduate and World War I veteran. He married Phyllis of Boise, Idaho and had the following children: Patricia Lanphier Mix; Judith Lanphier Strada; Janet Lanphier; Kathleen Lanphier; and Phyllis Lanphier. He studied journalism at Stanford University and graduated in January 1941.