They also flew the first land-based bombing mission to Mainland Japan (after Doolittle's carrier-based mission to Tokyo). He later posted to Tinian and was preparing for further bombing missions when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were atom-bombed.
Fascinating stuff! Didn't know, for example, that conventional bombing continued even after Hiroshima and Nagasaki - with, e.g., 37 aircraft in a daylight mission dropping 902 500-lb pounds of GPs onto Hikari, Japan on Aug. 14; their last mission. 99.5% of the bombs hit within 1,000 ft of their target; this was described as "probably the best precision bombing record in the annals of WW II."
My respect for the U.S. flyers of WW II has only risen!
Regards,
Submariners did more.