MSgt. Delbert J. Conrad 1945

At 0700 on 8 Dec 1941, less than 18 hours after the first bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor, the 22nd Bomb Group, the Red Raiders, took off in B-26 medium bombers from Langley field, VA headed for Muroc, CA to fly shore patrol. My father, Delbert J. Conrad, was a crew chief on one of those B-26s in the 33rd squadron.

B-26 Marauder

From Muroc, they boarded the airplanes and flight crews onto ships and sailed to Oahu.  At Hickam Field, they reassembled the planes and island hopped to Australia.  The 22nd BG was one of the first units to take offensive action against the enemy.  From from bases in northern Australia, they flew bomb missions without fighter escort against Japanese bases and shipping around New Guinea and the surrounding waters.  As the war continued, they island hopped toward Japan while also moving from B-26s to B-25s to B-24s bombers.