On 1 August 1943, 178 B-24 Liberators roared off from dusty airfields near Benghazi, Libya, on a 1,000-mile low-level run to strike the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania—Winston Churchill’s "taproot of German might." Flying at tree-top height to avoid radar, the raiders arrived disorganized after clouds broke the formation and a wrong turn cost them surprise. The defenders met them with a lethal curtain of flak and fighters. Of 1,726 men, 54 bombers failed to return—310 killed and 186 captured. Five Airmen received the Medal of Honor, the most ever awarded for a single mission. Though the damage was severe, the Germans repaired the refineries within weeks. The cost was staggering, but the message was unmistakable: the Axis fuel artery was not safe.