On August 1, 1943, 178 B-24 Liberators attacked Nazi-controlled oil refineries at treetop level in the costliest and most decorated single-day mission in Army Air Forces history.
TaildraggerFrank Luke Jr. compiled 18 aerial kills in 17 days in WWI, earning Eddie Rickenbacker's declaration that he was the greatest individual fighter of the entire war.
TaildraggerJoe Foss, a South Dakota farm kid who watched Lindbergh land as a boy, flew a Grumman Wildcat over Guadalcanal in 1942–43 to tie Eddie Rickenbacker's record of 26 aerial victories.
TaildraggerFrank Luke destroyed 18 enemy observation balloons and aircraft in 17 days of WWI combat, becoming America's deadliest and most feared pilot over the Western Front.
TaildraggerFrank Luke destroyed 18 enemy targets in 18 days of WWI combat, becoming America's most ferocious ace and earning the Medal of Honor before dying at 21.
TaildraggerOn August 1, 1943, five U.S. bomb groups flew a 50-foot attack on the Ploesti oil refineries, earning five Medals of Honor in a single afternoon.
TaildraggerFrank Luke recorded 18 aerial victories in 17 days in September 1918, becoming America's deadliest balloon buster and the AEF's second-highest scoring ace.
TaildraggerFrank Luke Jr. scored 18 aerial victories in 17 days in 1918, making him the second-highest American ace of WWI through the most dangerous attack runs of the war.
TaildraggerRichard Bong scored 40 aerial victories in WWII - more than any American pilot in history - before dying in a jet accident on August 6, 1945, the same morning as Hiroshima.
TaildraggerOn August 1, 1943, 164 B-24 Liberators flew a low-level strike on Romania's Ploesti oil refineries, producing five Medals of Honor in a single mission - a record never equaled in U.S. military history.
TaildraggerFrank Luke Jr. shot down 18 enemy targets in 17 days in 1918 to become America's most efficient WWI ace and the first aviator to earn the Medal of Honor.
TaildraggerThe Grumman F6F Hellcat achieved a 19-to-1 kill ratio in WWII and enabled Commander David McCampbell's record nine-kill mission on October 24, 1944.
TaildraggerRadio Hangar explores Operation Tidal Wave, the Low-Level B Twenty-Four Raid on the Ploesti Oil Refineries, August First, Nineteen Forty-Three.
TaildraggerHow Butch O'Hare downed five bombers in six minutes to save the USS Lexington - and why Chicago's airport bears his name.
TaildraggerThe 1943 Ploesti raid sent 178 low-flying B-24 Liberators against Hitler's oil, earning five Medals of Honor at a staggering cost.
TaildraggerOperation Tidal Wave on August 1, 1943 sent 178 B-24 Liberators against Romania's Ploesti oil refineries at treetop level, producing five Medals of Honor in a single mission.
TaildraggerOn August 1, 1943, 177 B-24 Liberators flew at treetop level into the most defended target in Europe, earning five Medals of Honor in a single afternoon.
TaildraggerHow WWI ace Eddie Rickenbacker survived 24 days adrift in the Pacific - and why he believed willpower, not equipment, decided who lived.
TaildraggerThe crew of B-17 'Old 666' earned two Medals of Honor and a DSC for every man - the most decorated flight in U.S. history.
TaildraggerHow Eddie Rickenbacker, America's WWI Ace of Aces, survived 24 days adrift in the Pacific in 1942.
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