First Lieutenant John Blakeslee Thomas took part in Operation Tidal Wave on 1 August 1943, piloting the B-24D Liberator Aire Lobo in a surprise low-altitude attack on the Ploesti oilfield refinery complex. Heavy defenses engaged his 98th Bomb Group of the Ninth Air Force in a rare air-ground battle, and his plane was hit while approaching the target, wounding multiple crewmen. Just after the bomb load was released, a flak shell struck the cockpit, killing him, and the aircraft crashed and disintegrated, killing all 10 crewmen. Operation Tidal Wave proved devastating for American military aviation, with two-thirds of the force shot down or damaged and 310 aircrew killed. Thomas was from the North Rose Central Class of 1938. First Lieutenant Donald Melvin Putnam took part in Operation Crossbow, the campaign against Hitler's V-1 buzz bombs, which killed more than 6,000 British civilians and wounded 28,000. Flying with the 78th Fighter Group of the VIII Fighter Corps, he escorted B-17 bombers attacking rocket launch sites in northern France on 5 January 1944. On the return flight, his three P-47C Thunderbolts were attacked by Fw-190s, and though low on fuel he was last seen turning to meet the attack, allowing one of his wingmen to escape the ambush. After a final radio message that he was all right if he could get out of the area, his plane crashed. Putnam, also from the North Rose Central Class of 1938, was lost on his 77th mission over enemy territory; his remains were recovered and repatriated in September 1944 after the Allies liberated northern France.