It was June 5, 1944 — one day before Allied landings on the coast of German-occupied Normandy — and the American Eighth Air Force was setting out to bomb enemy coastal defenses from the Cherbourg Peninsula to the Pas de Calais.

Among the participating bombers were Consolidated B-24s of the 489th Bombardment Group (Heavy), led by the group’s deputy commander, Lt. Col. Leon R. Vance .

Thanks to the past few months’ onslaught by VIII Fighter Command there was little to no aerial opposition from the Luftwaffe. However, German anti-aircraft guns remained plentiful and continued to take their toll of the American bombers.

On this occasion it was Vance who found himself on the receiving end of that flak — with his B-24 and crew facing heavy odds against making their way home.

Despite gr

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