Mission Date:
29 May 1945

On the 39th Bomb Group's twenty-third combat mission against Japan, it teamed up with the other units of the XXI Bomber Command to burn out the great industrial suburb of Tokyo. Of the thirty-one planes we sent out, only twenty-five bombed the primary target, but they aided in weakening plenty of destruction.

Flak and fighters didn't offer too much opposition, but the continual danger from the thermals was particularly rough.

The damage to Yokohama resulting from the Bomber Command attacked of 29 May made it one of the most destructive strikes of the entire Pacific war. On the single mission, 6.9 square miles of teaming city were burned out, representing 34 percent of the metropolis. Industrial damage included twenty numbered targets either hit hard or completely wiped out. Total damage to Yokohama after that date was estimated at 44 percent of the entire city.

Per General Order # 13 Section V dated 23 January 1946 issued by Headquaters, 20th Air Force the 39th Bomb Group was awarded their 2nd Distingushed Unit Citation for these mission.