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39th Bomb Group (VH)
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"City of Allendale"
"Old Eighty One"
B-29 # 44-69981
Crew Photos 2 3 4 5



July 24, 1945
S/Sgt Richard Curry (5th from left) and other members of the 39th
are awarded the Air Medal by Col. Sturdivant
Photo courtesy from"Butler County Veterans of WWII"
The building in the background is the War Room where the crews were briefed before each mission and de-briefed once the mission was completed.


On 6 August, the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima inflicting unprecedented destruction - 78,000 people killed and 48,000 buildings destroyed! This was followed on the 9th by a second nuclear bomb attack on Nagasaki. Carried by the B-29, "Bock's Car, " it demolished the city resulting in 35,000 deaths.

Our final mission to Isesaki was flown 15 August. This was small city some 150 miles northwest of Tokyo. Extensive fires resulted, both at Isesaki and other numerous places along the route in. While on final approach to Guam, we learned that the Japanese had unconditionally surrendered. Prisoner of war supply missions followed. This gave us an opportunity to witness the horrified destruction the B-29s had inflicted on so many of the Japanese cities - both large and small. In many cases, heretofore cities ceased to exist. In their place lay only miles of ruin and rubble."

On 2 September 1945, the official signing of the surrender too place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. In a short ceremony conducted by General Douglas McArthur, World War II finally came to an end.

Crew 19 Main Page
60th Squadron Crew Index
Sources: "History of the 39th Bomb Group" by Robert Laird, (crew 5) and David Smith (crew 31)
Butler County Veterans of World War II by Richard Curry (TG, P-19)