damaged so severely she was never repaired. She was decommissioned on 8 November 1944, and finally scuttled on 5 February 1945. 40 boats and barges destroyed Awards and decorations included: Three Distinguished Unit Citations 99th Pursuit Squadron: 30 May – 11 June 1943, for actions over Sicily 99th Fighter Squadron: 12–14 May 1944: for successful airstrikes against Monte Cassino, Italy. The first two Distinguished Unit Citations received by the 99th Fighter Squadron were awarded to the groups to which the squadron was attached. At the time, when a group received the honor, it was shared with the squadrons the were assigned or attached to the group. 332nd Fighter Group (and its 99th, 100th, and 301st Fighter Squadrons): 24 March 1945: for a bomber escort mission to Berlin, during which pilots of the 100th FS shot down three enemy Me 262 jets. The 302nd Fighter Squadron did not receive this award as it had been disbanded on 6 March 1945. At least one Silver Star 96 Distinguished Flying Crosses to 95 Airmen; Captain William A. Campbell was awarded two. 14 Bronze Stars 744 Air Medals At least 60 Purple Hearts Controversy over escort record For decades, the Tuskegee Airmen were popularly believed to have never lost a bomber under escort. This belief derived most directly to an article, "332nd Flies Its 200th Mission Without Loss", published by the Chicago Defender on 24 March 1945. Citing information supplied by the 15th Air Force, the article said that no bomber escorted by the Tuskegee Airmen had ever been lost to enemy fire. This statement was repeated for many years, and not publicly challenged, partly because the mission reports were classified for a number of years after the war. In 2004, William Holton, who was serving as the historian of the Tuskegee Airmen Incorporated, conducted research into wartime action reports. Alan Gropman, a professor at the National Defense University, disputed the initial refutations of the no-loss myth and said he researched more than 200 Tuskegee Airmen mission reports and found no bombers were lost to enemy fighters. Daniel Haulman of the Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA) reassessed the history of the unit in 2006 and early 2007. He documented 25 bombers shot down by enemy fighter aircraft while being escorted by the Tuskegee Airmen, citing after-mission reports filed by the bomber units and Tuskegee fighter groups, records of missing air crew, and witness