ing and escort is the best they had ever seen. Because of this one mission Colonel Davis received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his leadership. In that same month Lieutenant Gwynne Pierson and Captain Wendall Pruitt received the Distinguished Flying Cross for their never before seen kills. They sank two enemy destroyers with only bullets. Some people did not believe them but when the photos from the wing cameras were developed, they had no reason not to believe the two pilots.About a week later, they made more history by becoming the first fighter group with four squadrons with the 99th joining the 332nd. The 99th was soon struck with illness and could not perform for a while. So during the July of 1944 the three Red Tail squadrons of 332nd flew mostly bomber escorts. The most important mission for that month was when they were flying a bomber escort mission to railroad yards in France and crossed the French coast. The pilots spotted 25 enemy fighter planes moving in to attack, but as the enemy planes came closer they saw the fighter plane escorting the bombers and turned away but left themselves open for attack. Four of their planes were taken down by Captain Joseph Elsberry and Lieutenant Harold Sawyer and by the end of July the 332nd had 39 aerial kills.In August, the 33rd continued its bomber escort missions to enemy oil fields. The Allies were about to begin a new offensive in southern France, and planned to invade the region on August 15. Now that the war had moved north, the Allies needed southern French ports as entry points for troops and supplies. Assisting in the effort to reduce resistance to Allied invaders, the 332nd escorted bombers sent to attack submarine docks, bridges, airfields, and radar stations. Once the invasion force had landed the 332nd escorted bomber missions to attack enemy troops, bridges, and supply and communication centers.By September, the pilots of the 332nd had become known as skilled bomber esco...
