The 489th Bombardment Group was a unit of the United States Army Air Forces. Its last assignment was to the IV Bomber Command, stationed at Drew Field, Florida. It was inactivated on 7 November 1945.
During World War II, the group was an Eighth Air Force Consolidated B-24 Liberator unit stationed at RAF Halesworth, England, in May 1944. It returned to the United States in November 1944 and converted to a Boeing B-29 Superfortress group, but the war ended before the group could deploy to the Pacific.
Lieutenant Colonel Leon R. Vance was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery and actions on the day before D-Day, 5 June 1944 over Wimereux, France. It was the only Medal of Honor awarded to a B-24 crewman for an action flown from England.
Enid Air Force Base, Enid, Oklahoma was renamed Vance Air Force Base in memory of Col. Vance on 9 July 1949.
Read more about 489th Bombardment Group: History
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