The United States Third Army, commanded by Lt. General George S. Patten Jr., requested bomber attacks against German artillery fire coming from gun emplacements located in the area near Metz. Our crew was awakened with other crews at 03:00 and told to prepare for a combat mission on November 9, 1944. We stopped at the mess hall to have fresh eggs on the way to the briefing room. This was a real treat as only powdered eggs were served unless you were on combat mission call. The briefing was at 04:00, and that was when we learned that the target for the day was Metz. In addition to weather condition details, we were briefed on where we might encounter Messerschrnitt .109 German fighter aircraft, heavy flak, and other things that could disrupt the success of the mission.

Our aircraft carried four 2000 pound bombs. We encountered considerable flak just below our flight altitude of 21,000 feet. The German anti-aircraft guns were very accurate. We had a visual run from the initial point to the target where we dropped our bombs: We were very fortunate that our crew sustained no injuries during this first mission. We logged 6 hours and 45 minutes of combat flight. The Second Air Division flew 401 B-24s to attack the targets in the Metz area, and our group the 467th supplied three squadrons. The First and Third Air Divisions also sent several B-17s. Lt. General George Patten Jr. wrote a personal letter to Lt. General Carl A. Spaatz, Headquarters United States Strategic AF Europe, to express his thanks for the bomber support in the Metz area on November 19, 1944,