497th Bombardment Group
The 497th Bombardment Group was a group of the United States Army Air Forces. The unit was inactivated on 31 March 1946. The unit was part of the United States Army Air Forces and Twentieth Air Force during World War II. The 497th BG engaged in very heavy (B-29 Superfortress) bombardment operations against Japan. Its aircraft were identified by a "A" and a square painted on the tail. Its history and lineage are carried on by the present 497th Air Expeditionary Group. History World War II The unit was established in late 1943 at Biggs Army Airfield, El Paso Municipal Airport, Texas, being formed as a B-29 Superfortress Very Heavy bombardment Group. The unit was formed with four bomb squadrons (869th, 870th, 871st and 872d), all being newly constituted. It moved to Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas in December 1943 to begin training. Due to a shortage of B-29s, the group was equipped with former II Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortresses already at Pratt which were previously used f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established by transfer of personnel from the Army Air Forces with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest branch of the United States Armed Forces and the fourth in United States order of precedence, order of precedence. The United States Air Force articulates its core missions as air supremacy, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, airlift, rapid global mobility, Strategic bombing, global strike, and command and control. The United States Department of the Air Force, Department of the Air Force, which serves as the USAF's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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XXI Bomber Command
The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands for strategic bombing during World War II. The command was established at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas on 1 March 1944. After a period of organization and its assigned groups receiving their B-29 Superfortress aircraft, the command transferred first to Peterson Field, Colorado, then deployed to the central Pacific, being headquartered at Harmon Field, Guam, in the Mariana Islands. Its assigned units engaged in very long-range bombardment operations, primarily against Japan until mid-July 1945. History The Marianas chain of islands, consisting primarily of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam, were considered as being ideal bases from which to launch B-29 Superfortress operations against Japan. The islands were about from Tokyo, a range which the B-29s could just about manage. Most important of all, they could be put on a direct supply line from the United States by ship. In August 1944, Major genera ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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513th Bombardment Squadron
513th may refer to: * 513th Air Control Group, United States Air Force Reserve unit assigned to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma * 513th Electronic Warfare Squadron, United States Air Force unit assigned to the 53d Electronic Warfare Group at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida * 513th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment (United States) (513th PIR), regiment of the 17th Airborne Division of the United States Army * 513th Troop Carrier Group, wing of the United States Air Force assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio See also * 513 (number) * 513, the year 513 (DXIII) of the Julian calendar * 513 BC {{mil-unit-dis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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March Field
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 21 marks the astronomical beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, where September is the seasonal equivalent of the Northern Hemisphere's March. History The name of March comes from '' Martius'', the first month of the earliest Roman calendar. It was named after Mars, the Roman god of war, and an ancestor of the Roman people through his sons Romulus and Remus. His month ''Martius'' was the beginning of the season for warfare, and the festivals held in his honor during the month were mirrored by others in October, when the season for these activities came to a close. ''Martius'' remained the first month of the Roman calendar year perhaps as late as 153 BC, and several religious ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fourth Air Force
The Fourth Air Force (4 AF) is a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California. 4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Reservists. If called to active duty, 4 AF's ready reserve units would be assigned to Air Mobility Command, Air Education and Training Command, and Pacific Air Forces. List of airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Fourth Air Force, Several airfields are associated with the Fourth Air Force. One of the four original pre–World War II numbered air forces, 4 AF was activated on 18 December 1940, at March Field, California with a mission of air defense of the Southwestern United States and Lower Midwest regions. During the war, its primary mission became the organization and training of combat units prior to their deployment to the overseas combat air forces. 4 AF is commanded by Major General Derin S. Durham. Units Fourth Air Force fly ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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V-J Day
Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made – August 15 1945, in Japan, and because of time zone differences, 14 August 1945 (when it was announced in the United States and the rest of the Americas and Eastern Pacific Islands) – as well as to September 2 1945, when the surrender document was signed, officially ending World War II. August 15 is the official V-J Day for the United Kingdom, while the official US commemoration is September 2. The name, V-J Day, had been selected by the Allies after they named V-E Day for the victory in Europe. On September 2 1945, formal surrender occurred aboard the battleship USS ''Missouri'' in Tokyo Bay. In Japan, August 15 usually is known as the ; the official name for the day, ho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Okinawa
The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Imperial Japanese Army. The initial invasion of Okinawa on 1 April 1945 was the largest Amphibious warfare, amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Kerama Islands surrounding Okinawa were preemptively captured on 26 March 1945 by the United States Army, U.S. Army 77th Sustainment Brigade, 77th Infantry Division. The 82-day battle on Okinawa lasted from 1 April 1945 until 22 June 1945. After a long campaign of Leapfrogging (strategy), island hopping, the Allies of World War II, Allies were planning to use Kadena Air Base on the island as a staging point for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese archipelago, Japanese home islands, away. The United States created the Tenth United States Army, Tenth Army ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hamamatsu
is a Cities of Japan, city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In September 2023, the city had an estimated population of 780,128 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, with a population density of over the total urban area of . Overview Hamamatsu is a member of the World Health Organization's Alliance for Healthy Cities (AFHC). History Prehistoric ages The area now comprising Hamamatsu has been settled since prehistoric times, with numerous remains from the Jōmon period and Kofun period having been discovered within the present city limits, including the Shijimizuka site shell mound and the Akamonue Kofun ancient tomb. File:Shijimizuka Site, tatemono.jpg, Shijimizuka site File:Komyosan Kofun, kouenbu-1.jpg, Kōmyōsan Kofun Ancient ages In the Nara period, it became the capital of Tōtōmi Province. Feudal period During the Sengoku period, Hamamatsu Castle was the home of future ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Ieyasu. File:高根城(浜� ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Distinguished Unit Citation
The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy on or after 7 December 1941 (the date of the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the start of American involvement in World War II). The unit must display such gallantry, determination, and ''esprit de corps'' in accomplishing its mission under extremely difficult and hazardous conditions so as to set it apart from and above other units participating in the same campaign. Since its inception by President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the signing of Executive Order 9075 on 26 February 1942, retroactive to 7 December 1941, to 2008, the Presidential Unit Citation has been awarded in conflicts such as World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan. The collective degree of valor (combat heroism) against an arme ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marianas
The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly Volcano#Dormant and reactivated, dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th parallel north, 12th and 21st parallel north, 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east. They lie south-southeast of Japan, west-southwest of Hawaii, north of New Guinea, and east of the Philippines, demarcating the Philippine Sea's eastern limit. They are found in the northern part of the western Oceania, Oceanic sub-region of Micronesia, and are politically divided into two jurisdictions of the United States: the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and, at the southern end of the chain, the territory of Guam. The islands were named after the influential Spanish queen Mariana of Austria following their colonization in the 17th century. The indigenous inhabitants are the Chamorro people. Archaeologi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chuuk State
Chuuk State (; also known as Truk) is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). It consists of several island groups: Nomoneas, Faichuk, Faichuuk, the Hall Islands, Namonuito Atoll (Magur Islands), Pattiw (Western Islands), and the Nomoi Islands, Mortlock Islands. Chuuk is by far the FSM's most populous state, with 50,000 inhabitants on . Chuuk Lagoon is where most people live. Weno island, in the lagoon, is Chuuk's state capital and the country's biggest city. It may Proposed Chuukese independence referendum, hold a referendum on independence in the near future, although this referendum has been repeatedly postponed. History Indigenous settlement Chuuk was first settled by Austronesian peoples, Austronesians, believed to be from the Lapita culture of Island Melanesia. Archaeological evidence indicates that islands of Fefan, Feefen and Wééné Islands had human settlements in the second and first century BCE. Later evidence indicates that widespread ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Iwo Jima
is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although south of Tokyo on Honshu, Iwo Jima is administered as part of the Ogasawara Subprefecture of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Only in size, the island is still volcanic island, volcanic and emits sulfurous gases. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. Although likely passed by Micronesians who made their way to the Bonins to the north, Iwo Jima was largely ignored by the Spanish Empire, Spanish, Dutch Empire, Dutch, British Empire, British, and Empire of Japan, Japanese until a relatively late date after its 1543 rediscovery. The Japanese eventually colonized the island, administering it as the Iojima, Tokyo, Ioto or Iojima Village under Tokyo's jurisdiction until all civilians were forcibly evacuated to Honshu in July 1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |