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I--BATTLE HONORS.-- Under the provision
of Section IV, Circular No. 333, WD, 1943, the following named unit of the
Ninth Air Force is cited for outstanding performance of duty in action against
the enemy. The citation reads as follows:
"The 373d Fighter Group.
For outstanding and heroic performance of duty in action against the enemy in
the European Theater of Operations on 20 March 1945. This organization,
displaying great valor and exemplary devotion to duty, greatly facilitated the
crossing of the Rhine River by the Allied Ground Forces by dealing six
consecutive blows against the enemy's air potential and by crushing his lines
of communication. The group destroyed and damaged one hundred nineteen
enemy aircraft on three vital airfields which presented the greatest threat to
Allied armies massed west of the Rhine, and rendered these airfields
completely inoperative. With unswerving resolution, pilots dived
repeatedly through barrages of antiaircraft fire to batter strategic targets,
then with brilliant airmanship and superior flying skill, returned all
aircraft safely to base. In a further display of outstanding aerial
tactics, the 373d Fighter Group tenaciously and aggressively attacked
rolling stock, motor transportation, and utterly disrupted main highways and
rail lines leading to the Rhine. The ingenuity, efficiency, and
cooperation on the part of all personnel contributed in the fullest measure to
the devastation wreaked by the 373d Fighter Group on this significant
day. The outstanding performance, achieved through the superb esprit de
corps of this unit, is in keeping with the highest traditions of the Army Air
Forces."
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