John Wilson Carpenter III (August 11, 1916 – November 8, 1996) was a 1939 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy who served with distinction in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot and commander, including significant combat service.

In May 1941 he participated in the first mass flight of B-17s from Hamilton Field, California, to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

In October 1941 he flew with the 19th Bombardment Group as navigator on a B-17 from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Clark Field, the Philippine Islands, where he was assigned as squadron intelligence officer and combat crew commander.

[5] The Twentieth Air Force was brought into existence on 4 April 1944 specifically to perform strategic bombardment missions against Japan.

[5][6] In addition Twentieth Air Force was chosen (secretly) to be the operational component of the Manhattan Project in 1944, and performed the atomic attacks on Japan in August 1945.

[5][6] Operation Matterhorn was the name for the Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortress offensive against the Empire of Japan from airfields in China.

[5][6] By late 1944, it was becoming apparent that B-29 operations against Japan staged out of bases in China and India were far too expensive in men and materials and would have to be stopped.

In December 1944, the Joint Chiefs of Staff made the decision that Operation Matterhorn would be phased out, and the 58th Bombardment Wing's B-29s would be moved to newly captured bases in the Marianas in the central Pacific.

[5][6] The Marianas chain of islands, consisting primarily of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam, were considered as being ideal bases from which to launch B-29 operations against Japan.