" Operation Tidal Wave" is about 1,700 American airmen who set out to bomb the oil refineries in the city of Ploesti, Romania, on 1 Aug. 1943. Success, they thought, would be a force in ending the war. Success, instead, was extremely limited, and 500 airmen were killed, wounded, or captured. Negligible damage resulted at the refineries, and three months later they were operating at 100 percent capacity. To show the asperity of the raid, five Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded, two posthumously.results