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1LT James Winston Smith

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1LT James Winston Smith Veteran

Birth
Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado, USA
Death
7 Dec 1944 (aged 29)
Hubei, China
Burial
Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA Add to Map
Plot
B, 1252
Memorial ID
View Source
First Lieutenant, 792nd Bomb Squadron, 468th Bomb Group, World War II.

Flight Engineer aboard U.S. Army Air Forces B-29-15-BW Superfortress #62-6389, nicknamed "Party Girl."
Returning at night from a bombing mission over the aircraft factories at Mukden (Shenyang), Manchuria, China, the aircrew encountered icing conditions as they began to let down through undercast as they approached their airbase Pengshan (A-7) at Chengdu. The aircraft attempted to climb back up, but at some point went out of sight of the other aircraft. It apparently lost control and crashed into the north face of Mt. Hawo, near the Hubei-Sichuan border region (approx. 32°10'n 108°37'E coordinates). Villagers heard a tremendous explosion, and the next day trekked to the crash site. All eleven airmen aboard had been killed. They buried four of the crewmembers at the site and brought seven back to the village of Wan Yuan and buried those men in the local cemetery. U.S. Army personnel arrived in the area on January 13, 1945, and some days later also made the journey to the crash site. But snows of three to five feet made investigation difficult. Sometime after (perhaps in the springtime), the four remaining crewmembers' bodies were recovered.
Missing Air Crew Report № 10100.

The aircrew killed were:

1st Lt. Calvin L Lyons, Pilot
2nd Lt. Lawrence Sybesma, Co-Pilot
1st Lt. Waldo B Schneider, Navigator
1st Lt. John A Bucher, Bombardier
1st Lt. James W Smith, Flight Engineer
S/Sgt. Sisto A Aldieri, Right Gunner
S/Sgt. Neuman A Bodart, Radar Operator
S/Sgt. Laverne A Fink, Left Gunner
Sgt. William B Jackson, CFC Gunner
S/Sgt. Joseph Micciche, Radio Operator
Sgt. Russell W Peters, Tail Gunner
First Lieutenant, 792nd Bomb Squadron, 468th Bomb Group, World War II.

Flight Engineer aboard U.S. Army Air Forces B-29-15-BW Superfortress #62-6389, nicknamed "Party Girl."
Returning at night from a bombing mission over the aircraft factories at Mukden (Shenyang), Manchuria, China, the aircrew encountered icing conditions as they began to let down through undercast as they approached their airbase Pengshan (A-7) at Chengdu. The aircraft attempted to climb back up, but at some point went out of sight of the other aircraft. It apparently lost control and crashed into the north face of Mt. Hawo, near the Hubei-Sichuan border region (approx. 32°10'n 108°37'E coordinates). Villagers heard a tremendous explosion, and the next day trekked to the crash site. All eleven airmen aboard had been killed. They buried four of the crewmembers at the site and brought seven back to the village of Wan Yuan and buried those men in the local cemetery. U.S. Army personnel arrived in the area on January 13, 1945, and some days later also made the journey to the crash site. But snows of three to five feet made investigation difficult. Sometime after (perhaps in the springtime), the four remaining crewmembers' bodies were recovered.
Missing Air Crew Report № 10100.

The aircrew killed were:

1st Lt. Calvin L Lyons, Pilot
2nd Lt. Lawrence Sybesma, Co-Pilot
1st Lt. Waldo B Schneider, Navigator
1st Lt. John A Bucher, Bombardier
1st Lt. James W Smith, Flight Engineer
S/Sgt. Sisto A Aldieri, Right Gunner
S/Sgt. Neuman A Bodart, Radar Operator
S/Sgt. Laverne A Fink, Left Gunner
Sgt. William B Jackson, CFC Gunner
S/Sgt. Joseph Micciche, Radio Operator
Sgt. Russell W Peters, Tail Gunner

Inscription

COLORADO
1ST LIEUT 792 AAF BOMB SQ
WORLD WAR II


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