MAP OF AREA WHERE LAST REPORT OF AIRCRAFT SEEN.

THEY WERE KNOWN AS "THE LONE RANGERS". AND THIS IS THEIR SONG;

We'll Say Goodbye is the name of a song. In the true tradition of an American folk song, nobody knows who began it, or where - its music is borrowed - its lyrics are doggerel contributed by names, some now long forgotten, but its theme is dear to the hearts of its singers. For that reason it lives, a memoriam to those we have lost, a memory of those who have gone home, and a heritage to those who carry on.

Its verses, singing of Guadalcanal, Munda, Truk, Bougainville, record the history of more than two long years of Pacific warfare, years which found this, the "Long Ranger," Group constantly in the forward areas of the Allied effort. So when it came time to put on paper the glorious history of those years, no more fitting theme could be found for our story than the words of our song.

More verses will be written as the battle tide rolls on and new names are added to the rolls - new names to be rhymed with the same old longing. And so the song's Topsy-like existence will continue as we move forward until the battle noises die out before a swelling chorus as we say goodbye to our job in the mud, heat, and jungles of the Pacific and turn our faces homeward.

STATESIDE

We'll say goodbye to concrete runways
And to hangar space for planes;
We'll say goodbye to old Ephrata
And the other cities' Janes;
We'll say goodbye to Whiskey Sours
And to Iowa's corn-fed beauts;
And we'll trim our tabs and sail from San Francisco
To make our war debut.

OAHU, T.H.

We'll say goodbye to Mona Loa
And the beach at Waikiki;
We'll say goodbye to Haleheira
And the hula by the sea;
We'll say goodbye to old Natkuli
And a three-day pass.
And we'll trade the territory of Hawaii for a woman
And the Kola Kola Pass;

ESPIRITU SANTO

And to take-offs way before dawn;
We'll say goodbye to stormy weather
And to flying on and on;
We'll say goodbye to all those searchlights
And to ACK! ACK! bursting near;
And we'll leave the shores of Espiritu Santo
For our home and friends so dear.

GUADALCANAL

We'll say goodbye to Malaita
And the fields of Guadalcanal;
We'll say goodbye to Shortland Harbor
And the whole of Bougainville;
We'll say goodbye to aerial combat
And to Zeros by the score;
And we'll' take our leave of Hirohito's Air Force
For that far and distant shore.

NEW GEORGIA

We'll say goodbye to Buka Passage
And to far-away Nauru;
We'll say goodbye to Simpson Harbor
And the stronghold of Rabaul;
We'll say goodbye to ComAirSoPac
And the boys of Bomber Command;
And we'll sail right through that Golden Gate at Frisco
For the world's best one-night stand.

LOS NEGROS

We'll say goodbye to Sorol Island,
Our rendezvous for Yap;
We'll say goodbye to dear old Biak,
Where we killed a lot of Japs;
We'll say goodbye to Los Negros,
Where we had a lot of drunks;

WAKDE

And we'll gladly say goodbye to dear old Wakde,
Where we had no trees-just trunks.

NOEMFOOR

And to Lolobata strip;
We'll say goodbye to Palau Island,
Where we made a lot of trips;
We'll say goodbye to Balikpapan,
The Pacific's roughest deal;
And we'll say goodbye to Yamamoto's Task Force
For a decent home-cooked meal.

MOROTAI

We'll say goodbye to Morotai
When the final victory's won.

Missing aircraft report.
13th Air Force, 307th Bombardment Group (Heavy)—History

307th Bombardment Group B-24's
307th Bombardment Group (Heavy) B-24's striking Japanese targets in the Philippines, 1945.

Constituted as 307th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942. Activated on 15 Apr 1942

The 307th Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated in 1942 by the Army Air Corps Combat Command after an attack on Pearl Harbor thrust the United States in war with Japan. In succeeding years, the 307th's participation in World War II, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam Conflict proved it to be one of the most renowned bombing units in military annals.

On April 15, 1942, the 307th began operations as a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber unit at Geiger Field, Washington. Its first mission to guard the northwestern United States and Alaskan coasts against armed invasion prepared the group for its later role in the Pacific Theater of World War II. After patrolling the coastline of America for five months, the 307th's B-17s were replaced with the famous B-24 "Liberators". Subsequently, the entire unit was transferred to Sioux City, Iowa, for a brief training period. After completing a three-week familiarization program, the 307th relocated its entire cadre and 35 bombers to Hamilton Field, California.

Three days later, the B-24s were deployed to Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands. An old Norwegian freighter slowly transported the remainder of the group to its "Pacific Paradise". Upon arrival at Oahu, each of the group's four squadrons was assigned to different Hawaiian locations; the 370th to Kipapa, the 371st to Wheeler Field, the 372nd to Kabuka and the 424th to Mokaleia. Headquarters for the 307th was centered at Hickam Field. Finally settled at Oahu, 307th bombers began search and patrol missions over the surrounding Pacific area. Mantaining a 24-hour vigil, the bombers were to avert any naval attack against the Hawaiian Islands. Stations were eventually set up on Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides on Jan 13, 1943; Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands on Aug 20, 1943; Los Negros, Admiralty Islands on Jun 1, 1944; Wake Island on Sep 3 ,1944; Morotai, New Guinea on Oct 17, 1944 and Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines on Aug 27, 1945.

307th Bombardment Group B-24 Burning
A 307th Bombardment Group B-24 burns on the runway after returning from a mission damaged.
Group bombers received their first taste of combat December 27, 1942. Twenty-seven of the group's aircraft were deployed from Oahu to Midway Island. From here, the B-24s staged their first attack against an enemy fortress on Wake Island. The enemy was taken by surprise during the predawn raid. Before Japanese units responded with a barrage of anti-aircraft fire, 307th bombers had blasted 90 percent of the Wake stronghold. All aircraft returned safely from what was considered the longest mass raid of that time. (It was from this that the 307th Bomb Group became known as "the Long Rangers").

The 307th moved to Guadalcanal in February 1943. From their new location on the largest of the Solomon Islands, Group bombers attacked fortified Japanese airfields and shipping installations within the Southwest Pacific. At Guadalcanal, round support troops were subjected to massive air attacks by enemy bomber and fighter aircraft. On a warm day in March 1943, three waves of Japanese planes blasted the airfield, causing the greatest number of 307th casualties during the war.

November 11, 1945, the 307th participated in the largest aerial strike of the South Pacific War. In conjunction with United States naval elements, group bombers pounded enemy war and merchant ships at Rabaul, New Guinea. Amdist swarms of Japanese "Zeros" and heavy anti-aircraft fired, 307th aircraft released their bombs, leaving the port of Rabaul in complete ruin.

Throughout the remainder of the war, 307th aircraft continued to cripple the debilitated enemy. Group elements neutralized Japanese forces at Yap, Truk, and Palau islands. Bombing strikes against Japanese shipping centers in the Philippines inhibited the enemy from gaining a further strong hold in the area. An unescorted attack by group aircraft against oil refineries at Balikapan, Borneo, October 3, 1944 helped assure an allied victory in the South Pacific.

Following V-J Day, 1945, 307th aircraft ferried former American war prisoners from Okinawa to Manila. No longer needed, the group returned to the states in December 1945 and was subsequently deactivated. With barely time to form cobwebs, the 307th Bombardment Group was reactivated August 4, 1946, and is still active today.

While in the Pacific, the 307th was awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations, one for an air strike against Truk on March 29, 1944 and another for a strike against the refineries at Borneo on October 3, 1944. The group was also awarded the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for its active role in the Philippines campaign.

photographed by SHB