I said that my next skin was going to be a B-26 but I found this while poking around Google earlier and decided I would do it since I already had the template finished.
Oh Johnnie was flown by First Lieutenant Raymond Larry Knight (awesome name) who volunteered for several dangerous missions involving attacking grounded planes at enemy airfields over the course of two days, destroying 14 and damaging 10 others. On each mission he continued to strafe enemy planes even after his plane had taken hits from enemy flak.
On April 25, 1945 his aircraft was damaged during one of these strafing missions, but Lt. Knight refused to bail out of his damaged aircraft. While flying through turbulence over the Apennine Mountains, he lost control of his aircraft which crashed, killing him instantly.
Because of the nature of the missions and Lt. Knights brave actions in how he lead the missions (risking his own life to locate the heavily camouflaged grounded aircraft), he was awarded the Medal of Honor. His Metal of Honor reads: "...The gallant action of Lieutenant Knight eliminated the German aircraft which were poised to wreak havoc on Allied forces pressing to establish the first firm bridgehead across the Po River. His fearless daring and voluntary self-sacrifice averted possible heavy casualties among ground forces and the resultant slowing of the drive which culminated in the collapse of German resistance in Italy."
