THE 501ST HITS SAIGON

The lack of good intelligence reports can lead to extremely dangerous missions. On 28 April 1945, Fifth USAAF pilot Lieutenant Ralph “Peppy” Blount, 501st Bomb Squadron, 345th Bomb Group, attacked a beached cargo ship on the Saigon River in French Indo-China, which had been ceded to the Japanese in 1941. The vessel turned out to be a derelict and when a total of three B-25Js and 10 aircrew were lost, looked suspiciously like a “flak trap.” For its valor during this difficult and costly mission, the 501st was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation.