Official USAAF photo : Original caption : “Three of the many U.S. 8th Air Force fighter pilots who distinguished themselves in the great air battle over Germany on 2 November 1944, when they and their 8th Air Force fighter planes destroyed 130 enemy planes in the air and 25 on the ground. They are shown with Lt. General Carl A. Spaatz, Commanding General of the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe, after he presented Distinguished Service Crosses to them. Left to right: Lt. Col. Robert P. Montgomery, Bethlehem, PA, who led eight North American P-51 Mustangs against 200 German fighters, Gen. Spaatz, Capt. Ray S. Wetmore, of Derman, CA, whose six plane section broke up a formation of thirty German fighters, and Capt. Donald S. Bryan, Paicines, CA, who broke up another large force of approximately 50 German fighters, destroyed five enemy planes in the air, and damaged two others. "