James served as a Private & Gunner on B-17 #41-24424, 64th Bomber Squadron, 43rd Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
He resided in Greenville County, South Carolina prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on May 16, 1941, prior to the war, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a welder and also as Single, without dependents.
B-17 #41-24424 took off, with a crew of 9, from Jackson Airport, Papua New Guinea on a shipping bombing mission near Wewak, Papua New Guinea. They eventually had to ditch at see off Buna, Papua New Guinea due to being low on fuel while facing bad weather. Seven of the crew were lost on this mission with the other two being able to get to shore.
James was declared "Missing In Action" on this mission during the war.
He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Service # 14049316
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Airmen who perished on B-17 #41-24424:
Bender, Hermann ~ Pfc, Gunner, NY
Freeman, Robert L ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, AR
Glanville, Milburn J ~ Corp, Gunner, CA
Grahl, James M ~ Pvt, Gunner, SC
McMullan, Arthur L ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, OH
Sargent, Mac Jilton ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, OH
Sprecher, Wayne G ~ Sgt, Gunner, PA
Three members of this crew survived the crash and together tried to swim to shore.
They were having problems with the tide and S/Sgt. Freeman decided to not fight the tide and hoped that it would pull him back into shore. It didn't do so and he was not seen again.
The other two that survived were able to swim to shore. 2nd Lt. Howard G. Eberly (Co-Pilot) who later was "Killed In Action" on another mission and 2nd Lt. John M. Dawson who survived the war.
( Bio & Crew Report by: Russ Pickett )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He resided in Greenville County, South Carolina prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on May 16, 1941, prior to the war, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a welder and also as Single, without dependents.
B-17 #41-24424 took off, with a crew of 9, from Jackson Airport, Papua New Guinea on a shipping bombing mission near Wewak, Papua New Guinea. They eventually had to ditch at see off Buna, Papua New Guinea due to being low on fuel while facing bad weather. Seven of the crew were lost on this mission with the other two being able to get to shore.
James was declared "Missing In Action" on this mission during the war.
He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Service # 14049316
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Airmen who perished on B-17 #41-24424:
Bender, Hermann ~ Pfc, Gunner, NY
Freeman, Robert L ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, AR
Glanville, Milburn J ~ Corp, Gunner, CA
Grahl, James M ~ Pvt, Gunner, SC
McMullan, Arthur L ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, OH
Sargent, Mac Jilton ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, OH
Sprecher, Wayne G ~ Sgt, Gunner, PA
Three members of this crew survived the crash and together tried to swim to shore.
They were having problems with the tide and S/Sgt. Freeman decided to not fight the tide and hoped that it would pull him back into shore. It didn't do so and he was not seen again.
The other two that survived were able to swim to shore. 2nd Lt. Howard G. Eberly (Co-Pilot) who later was "Killed In Action" on another mission and 2nd Lt. John M. Dawson who survived the war.
( Bio & Crew Report by: Russ Pickett )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James served as a Private & Gunner on B-17 #41-24424, 64th Bomber Squadron, 43rd Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
He resided in Greenville County, South Carolina prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on May 16, 1941, prior to the war, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a welder and also as Single, without dependents.
B-17 #41-24424 took off, with a crew of 9, from Jackson Airport, Papua New Guinea on a shipping bombing mission near Wewak, Papua New Guinea. They eventually had to ditch at see off Buna, Papua New Guinea due to being low on fuel while facing bad weather. Seven of the crew were lost on this mission with the other two being able to get to shore.
James was declared "Missing In Action" on this mission during the war.
He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Service # 14049316
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Airmen who perished on B-17 #41-24424:
Bender, Hermann ~ Pfc, Gunner, NY
Freeman, Robert L ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, AR
Glanville, Milburn J ~ Corp, Gunner, CA
Grahl, James M ~ Pvt, Gunner, SC
McMullan, Arthur L ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, OH
Sargent, Mac Jilton ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, OH
Sprecher, Wayne G ~ Sgt, Gunner, PA
Three members of this crew survived the crash and together tried to swim to shore.
They were having problems with the tide and S/Sgt. Freeman decided to not fight the tide and hoped that it would pull him back into shore. It didn't do so and he was not seen again.
The other two that survived were able to swim to shore. 2nd Lt. Howard G. Eberly (Co-Pilot) who later was "Killed In Action" on another mission and 2nd Lt. John M. Dawson who survived the war.
( Bio & Crew Report by: Russ Pickett )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He resided in Greenville County, South Carolina prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on May 16, 1941, prior to the war, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a welder and also as Single, without dependents.
B-17 #41-24424 took off, with a crew of 9, from Jackson Airport, Papua New Guinea on a shipping bombing mission near Wewak, Papua New Guinea. They eventually had to ditch at see off Buna, Papua New Guinea due to being low on fuel while facing bad weather. Seven of the crew were lost on this mission with the other two being able to get to shore.
James was declared "Missing In Action" on this mission during the war.
He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Service # 14049316
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Airmen who perished on B-17 #41-24424:
Bender, Hermann ~ Pfc, Gunner, NY
Freeman, Robert L ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, AR
Glanville, Milburn J ~ Corp, Gunner, CA
Grahl, James M ~ Pvt, Gunner, SC
McMullan, Arthur L ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, OH
Sargent, Mac Jilton ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, OH
Sprecher, Wayne G ~ Sgt, Gunner, PA
Three members of this crew survived the crash and together tried to swim to shore.
They were having problems with the tide and S/Sgt. Freeman decided to not fight the tide and hoped that it would pull him back into shore. It didn't do so and he was not seen again.
The other two that survived were able to swim to shore. 2nd Lt. Howard G. Eberly (Co-Pilot) who later was "Killed In Action" on another mission and 2nd Lt. John M. Dawson who survived the war.
( Bio & Crew Report by: Russ Pickett )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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