T/Sgt Howard A Pike was a Gunner in the Nichols flight crew. The Nichols crew began their combat duty with the 392nd Bombardment Squadron in Oct 1944 on Saipan. In Feb 1945 the Nichols crew transferred to the 26th Bombardment Squadron (11th Bomb Group). They were based out of Guam and continued to bomb Chichi Jima and Haha Jima. They finished the remainder of their required 40 missions in about Jul 1945.