We Served with Honor

One of the most famous B-17s during World War II was the "Memphis Belle" which was featured in a movie "Saga of the Memphis Belle" / In February 20-25, 1944, known as "Big Week," the VIII Bomber Command put up 1,000 heavy bombers that flew 3,800 sorties, destroyed 75 percent of buildings bombed in Germany and downed 600 Nazi fighters. The following month, 800 bombers struck Berlin targets during such bad weather that Luftwaffe fighters never became airborne. That offensive established aerial supremacy in Europe in preparation for General Dwight Eisenhower's command of the D-Day invasion on Nazi-occupied France. The 91st was again in the thick of world events when the Soviet-backed North Koreans pushed through the 38th Parallel into South Korea. Photographic reconnaissance and mapping of the uncharted Korean peninsula became a top priority. The nation's first jet-propelled bomber, the RB-45C, led the newly designated US Air Force assigned to a detachment bound for Japan.