FIGHTIN' SAM
To throw more confusion into the mix, let me tell you about another emblem in the 389th whose use was exclusive to certain personnel in a limited time span. The "Fightin' Sam" image became the de facto insignia of the 566th Squadron after Capt Thomas C. Conroy had it painted on his B-24D. The symbolic image is a determined-looking Uncle Sam rolling up his sleeves in preparation for a fight. He has a black eye, representing the blow America suffered on December 7, 1941, when Japan attack Pearl Harbor. Reportedly, when Conroy saw this political cartoon in some newspaper, he wrote to the publisher and received permission to emblazon the inspiring image on his heavy bomber. This bomber, serial number 42- 40506, was an original 389th ship assigned to the group before it deployed overseas. No one knows for certain where or when the nose art was added, but the crew chief of FIGHTIN' SAM, M/Sgt John G. Petrocelli, felt certain that it was not painted in the U.S. Those 389th veterans that were on detached service in Bengasi in the summer of 1943 agree that the nose art was also not added while they were in the desert. (And by the way, despite anything you may have read elsewhere, this B-24 was not flown on Operation Tidal Wave.) So it would seem the artist's brush was applied sometime after the group returned to England in late August 1943.
The FIGHTIN' SAM nose art was a source of pride among the 566th Squadron personnel who began drawing/painting it on walls, signs, leather jackets, and even metal plaques wired to their bicycle crossbars. It became so popular on the base that many combat crews who never flew this bomber, and didn't even belong to the 566th Squadron, had their crew photos taken in front of this B-24's nose. Although FIGHTIN' SAM was transferred on May 23, 1944, to the 492nd BG "Carpetbaggers," the popularity of the artwork lived on at Hethel.
http://www.389thbombgroup.com/photosother/fightinsam_insignia.jpg
LEFT PHOTO: 566th pilot Tom Conroy had this inspiring nose art painted on his B-24. The symbolic image is a determined-looking Uncle Sam rolling up his sleeves in preparation for a fight. The black eye he has represents the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. CENTER PHOTO: It inspired the men of the 566th to adopt it as an unofficial emblem of their squadron, and they painted it on jackets, walls, and even metal signs wired to the frames of their bicycles, like 566th Operations Clerk Sgt John Rhoads here. RIGHT PHOTO: A color rendering by the author.
Source
389th Bombardment Group