332nd Fighter Group begins bomber escort duty with 15th Air Force

In mid-1944 the 332nd Fighter Group joined the 15th Air Force in Italy to fly P-47 and then P-51 escort missions for B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers. Between June 1944 and April 1945 they flew 312 missions including 179 bomber escorts. Their combat record — losing escorted bombers to enemy aircraft on only 7 of those missions — was outstanding relative to other escort groups and directly challenged the premise of segregation in military aviation.