Honoring the heritage of the Fighting Sixth

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the unit presently designated the 6th Air Mobility Wing. In 1944, the 6th Bombardment Group reactivated to support the air offensive against Japan. As part of the 20th Air Force, the Group’s B-29 Superfortress aircraft relocated to North Field on the small island of Tinian to strike major targets in Japan. The group received two Distinguished Unit Citations for their service in the bombing campaign, mining harbors, and conducting humanitarian aid airdrops to American prisoner-of-war camps. That campaign ultimately brought an end to WWII when B-29s carrying the 6th “Circle R” tail flash as military deception conducted a nuclear strike of Japanese military facilities at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Pictured is a crew of the B-29 Stratofortress Connecticut Yankee II assigned to the 6th Bombardment Group during WWII.