Soon after V-J Day, men who had served with the 3rd Bomb Squadron were finally on their way back home, but members of a six-man aircrew were still listed as missing in action. Cpl. James J. Ryan Jr. had been radio-gunner in the top turret of a rocket-equipped B-25J-2, A/C #722, that went missing on May 16, 1945. It had failed to return from a bombing and strafing raid against the Japanese-held airfield at Ichang. Details of the mission and the fate of its crew were not confirmed until long after the end of hostilities.

In early October of 1943, newspapers across the US announced that the 14^th Air Force had officially adopted a new Flying Tigers emblem, with Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault's approval and endorsement. Former commander of the renowned American Volunteer Group that gained fame as the original “Flying Tigers,” as well as of the China Air Task Force that succeeded it, Chennault now served in command of the 14^th Air Force. Its effectiveness soon earned it the moniker, "the Fighting Fourteenth.” Carrying on the Flying Tigers legacy under Chennault’s leadership, the 14^th went on to win air superiority in China. In his memoirs, Chennault later praised the accomplishments of his air force and wrote, “It was a record of which every man who wore the Flying Tiger shoulder patch can be proud.”

B-25s assigned to the 3^rd Bomb Squadron crossed “the Hump” and then made their way to Kweilin. The planes arrived at their new base on September 8, 1944—the same day the Japanese 11^th Army overran Lingling, both the town and the airfield, as part of their massive Operation ICHIGO offensive. Then began their advance toward Kweilin, about 125 miles farther to the southwest. The 3^rd Squadron's bombers flew only four missions before Kweilin was evacuated, all against towns in the path of the enemy drive. Final evacuation and demolition procedures began on September 14, as 3^rd Squadron personnel began their move to Peishiyi by air transport, railroad, truck convoy, and the squadron’s B-25s.

Carrying frag clusters fused instantaneous, the 4^th Bomb Squadron’s Capt. Moncure N. (“Monte”) Lyon, in command of Task Force 34 that flew out of Chihkiang (Zhijiang), took off in the 3^rd Bomb Squadron’s A/C #722 at 1805 on November 22, 1944. With him were the 68^th Composite Wing’s Maj. A. T. House as observer and copilot and a crew that included the 3^rd Squadron’s Sgt. Eril W. Peters and Cpl. Andrew R. Allegretto as waist and tail gunners, as well as the 4^th Squadron’s Capt. Wei H. S. as navigator and SSgt. Oswald Weinert as top turret gunner. They had volunteered for this hazardous mission without knowing what it entailed until the briefing just before takeoff. It was a joint mission with the 68^th Composite Wing that included twenty-two B-24s of the 308^th Bomb Group (H) and two P-51s of the 75^th Fighter Squadron, 23^rd Fighter Group. The “heavies” approached the target and made their runs singly or in small groups, dropping their 500-pounders. Each time the searchlights were illuminated in an attempt to pick them up, Lyon attacked the lights again. This mission against Wuhan was the first of many completed successfully by Task Force 34, as well as by its two bomb squadrons later operating independently.