AND INTO COMBAT THEY WENT

"Speak softly and carry a big stick." President Theodore Roosevelt's 1902 policy is still in effect. The 15th Air Force is a part of that stick.

The 15th Air Force was activated in Tunis, Tunisia on November 1, 1943, with Maj. James H. Doolittle as its commanding officer. This was the same Jimmy Doolittle who had led sixteen of our B-25 medium bombers to bomb Tokoyo from the deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet, on April 18th, 1942, the first bombing of Japan. In January 1944, Gen. Doolittle was moved to England to command the larger 8th Air Force and was replaced in the 15th by Maj. Gen. Nathan F. Twining. A month after its formation, the 15th was moved to southern Italy and headquartered in Bari, a small city on the Adriatic coast.

and daddy went to WAR. The new Air Force was rapidly expanded. By late April 1944 consisted of five Heavy Bomb Wings (one B-17 and four B-24). 21 Bomb Groups (six B-17 and 15 B-24) and 84 Bomb Squadrons (24 B-17 and 60 B-24) and 84 Bomb Squadrons (24 -B-17 and 60 B-24). Each Squadron initially had about 18 planes, giving the 15th a total of 1500 heavy bombers and making it second in size only to the 8th Air Force, flying out of England. Due to combat losses, grounding for repair, etc, a normal mission would fly some 600 to 800 bombers. In April 1945, several maximum effort missions put approximately 1200 bombers in the air. One of those bombers was my daddy's.

The prayer that Chaplain Blouch led us in prior to a mission usually went something like the following;

"O God, You who have created the heavens and the earth, and in Your natural laws have made it possible for a man to sustain himself in flight; we ask again Your blessings upon these men as they go out this morning to fly high into the sky. Grant them courage to do a good job, protect them against the assaults of the enemy and may their faith be unfaltering in You. We pray it so in the name of Him who has given us power over all the things of earth;p the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord."