870th Bombardment Squadron The 870th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was with 497th Bombardment Group at MacDill Field , Florida where it was inactivated on 31 March 1946 . The squadron served in combat with Twentieth Air Force flying Boeing B - 29 Superfortress aircraft in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II , where it earned two Distinguished Unit Citation s . History . The squadron was established in late 1943 as the 870th Bombardment Squadron at El Paso Army Air Base , Texas , a Boeing B - 29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment squadron that was one of the original operational squadrons of the 497th Bombardment Group . The squadron ' s initial cadre was drawn from the 491st Bombardment Group . In December the squadron moved on paper to Clovis Army Air Field , New Mexico . At Clovis , the squadron began to man its air echelon by January 1944 . The 870th drew heavily on aircrew s of the 480th Antisubmarine Group who were returning to the United States from duty in England and Africa to fill out its crews . Aircrew training at Clovis was limited to ground training , although some flying in Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B - 24 Liberator aircraft assigned to the 73d Bombardment Wing was accomplished . Key personnel trained with the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics at Orlando Army Air Base , Florida . In April 1944 , the air and ground echelons united at Pratt AAF . Here the 870th finally received newly - manufactured Boeing B - 29 Superfortress es the following month , although it continued to fly B - 17s as well due to continuing engine problems with the B - 29s . In May the United States Army Air Forces reorganized its very heavy bombardment units . The 872d Bombardment Squadron and support units of the 497th group were inactivated and their personnel absorbed into the 870th and the remaining squadrons of the group . The 870th deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations , with the ground echelon sailing 30 July on the SS " Fairisle " , passing throuth Honolulu and Eniwetok before arriving at Saipan on 20 September . Upon arrival the squadron ' s personnel were engaged in construction . By mid - October most personnel were able to move into Quonset hut s from the tents which they were assigned on arrival . The aircrews began departing Kansas on 6 October , ferrying their aircraft to Saipan via a 6500 nautical mile route , with the last B - 29 arriving on 30 October . At Saipan the unit became part of the XXI Bomber Command at Isley Field . The squadron began operations on 28 October 1944 with a night attack against the submarine pen s at Truk Islands and attacks against Iwo Jima in early November . The squadron took part in the first attack on Japan by AAF planes based in the Marianas . On 24 November 1944 110 aircraft of the 73rd Bombardment Wing bombed Tokyo on this mission . The squadron suffered its first combat loss on this mission , when a B - 29 was shot down over the target area . The 870th flew missions against strategic objectives in Japan , originally in daylight and from high altitude . It was also tasked with " Weather Strike " missions which were single ship flights flown nightly to obtain weather information for target areas in Japan while also making incendiary attacks on various targets . The squadron received a Distinguished Unit Citation ( DUC ) for a mission on 27 January 1945 . Although weather conditions prevented the group from bombing its primary objective , the unescorted B - 29 ’ s withstood severe enemy attacks to strike an alternate target , the industrial area of Hamamatsu . It was awarded a second DUC for attacking strategic centers in Japan during July and August 1945 . The squadron assisted the assault on Okinawa in April 1945 by bombing enemy airfields to cut down air attacks against the invasion force . Beginning on 19 March and continuing until the end of the war the squadron made incendiary raids against Japan , flying at night and at low altitude to bomb area targets . The unit released propaganda leaflets over the Japanese home islands , continuing strategic bombing raids and incendiary attacks until the Japanese surrender in August 1945 . After V - J Day , the 870th dropped supplies to Allied prisoners . In November 1945 the unit returned to the United States where it was initially assigned to Continental Air Forces ' s ( CAF ) Fourth Air Force at March Field , California . In January 1945 , the 870th became part of Third Air Force at MacDill Field , Florida . In March 1946 CAF became Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) , and the squadron was one of SAC ' s first bombardment squadrons . Demobilization , however , was in full swing and the squadron turned in its aircraft and was inactivated on 31 March . Lineage . Awards and Campaigns . Manual campaign table