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America's Finest Operation Tidal Wave 1/8/43

C

casey jones

Charter Member
This August 1 marks the 70th anniversary of the low level attack
of five bomb groups on the oil fields of Polesti. The 175 B-24D
Liberators came in at 50 feet at 245 mph, five Medal Of Honors
were awarded for that day, they were America's finest young men,
I hope America will remmenber them on this 1 August, they were
brave, and with determination pressed home their attack. May
they fly on forever in our hearts and minds.

Salute

Casey
 
Only Place to see and remember this event is on the Military Channel on TV. seen it many times ,and always in stark horror as to what they tried to do! Other than that most do not know much about it...like you say These kids following orders into hell...marked by errors..Like many other Air Raids ,these cost many thousands of kids lives....to Forget would be an insult to them and their family's memory's!...Thx
 
Trivia: One of the participants in Operation Tidal Wave was 24 year old Ben Kuroki of Hershey, NE. He was the only Japanese American to serve in the USAAF as part of a combat crew, in both the ETO and PTO, during World War II. He was part of the 93rd Bomb Group, 8th AF and received the DFC for his participation in Operation Tidal Wave. He flew a total of 30 missions in the ETO, five over the the standard USAAF requirement.

Later, he became a member of a B-29 crew, flying 28 more missions against Japan from Tinian Island with the 505th Bomb Group, 20th AF. Having received personal authorization (in the form of a personal letter) from Secretary of War Henry Stimson to serve in the PTO, Kuroki had to produce this letter to officials several times on his way to the Pacific. His fellow B-29 crew members at times had to escort him around the base for fear he would be mistaken for an enemy soldier and shot!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Kuroki

http://www.pbs.org/mosthonorableson/

:salute:
 
Japanese Americans During WW2 distinguished themselves in all areas of combat...In those years ,those of Japanese,German and Italian decent in America were scrutinized.More so with the American Japanese,they were imprisoned ..All were extraordinary in that war.Like Sgt. John Basilone,Italian American,and Dwight Eisenhower,German American,African Americans,...truly,they can be called the Greatest Generation......Today our Standing All Volunteer army is the best in the world...Made up of a mosaic of Americans,all types,races,Religions gender.
 
Reply...

Hey guys,

I use the CFS2 sim by Microsoft to teach, and this is one of the raids I have simulated and covered to show to my students about the sacrifices and long missions endured by bomber crews of the 8th and 15th Air Force. Others include Operation Juggler, the Schweinfurt mission, and the Regensburg mission.
 
George Barwell of the Royal Air Force was an expert on air-to-air gunnery who had been touring 9th AF bomber group camps in the desert, explaining his theories and practices on gunnery, when the raid came up. He was convinced his theories on air-to-air gunnery would apply equally well to air-to-ground situations, and talked his way onto one crew's aircraft because he wanted to participate and contribute. He repeatedly saved their lives that long, terrible day with his expert shooting. He received no awards from either air force, nor any credit for the mission. His reward was to be disciplined by the RAF for going on the raid as he did not officially have permission to do so. Another unsung hero, not even an American, who willingly risked his life alongside them. Everyone who climbed into a B-24 that morning in the North African desert was a hero.
 
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