1943: In this operation, 177 B-24 Liberators from the Ninth Air Force flew staging from Libya flew low-level routes to drop 311 tons of bombs on the Ploesti Oil Refinery in Rumania. This was the first large-scale, minimum-altitude attack against a strongly defended target, and the longest major bombing mission from base to target undertaken to date. Fifty-four planes and 532 air crew were lost during the mission.
MEDALS OF HONOR. During the Ploesti raid, the lead aircraft flown by Lt Col Addison Baker, the 93 BG Commander, received serious damage and caught fire. Baker, who was a mobilized guardsman from Ohio, continued to lead the formation and dropped his bombs before trying to gain enough altitude for the crew to bail out. The attempt failed and the B-24 crashed. For that gallant leadership and intrepidity, Colonel Baker earned the Medal of Honor. In this raid, Col Leon W. Johnson, Col John R. Kane, 2Lt Lloyd H. Hughes, and Maj John L. Jerstad also received the Medal of Honor for their gallantry and bravery in the face of enemy fire.