Second Lieutenant Sedor served with the 469th Bomb Squadron, 333rd Bomb Group from Topeka Army Air Base. He was killed in a training flight crash aboard B-24D Liberator #41-23961, three miles northeast of White City, Kansas. Ten other crewmembers also perished.
The airmen had taken off from Topeka for a navigational training flight to Pueblo, Colorado. As they began climbing into low clouds about 5,000 feet above ground level, heavy ice began accumulating and then the airplane suffered a catastrophic failure of the tail section. A vertical stabilizer, fin and rudder detatched, and the bomber dove straight into the ground and exploded. Only one crewmember, in the nose position, survived when he parachuted. He landed unhurt and ran to the scene of the crash, but was held back by exploding munitions. Investigators noted that the separated tail parts were found nearly a half mile from the main crash scene.
Killed in service were:
1LT Robert Clyne, O-417940, AZ, Pilot
1LT Norman A Kendall, O-415557, LA, Co-Pilot
2LT Joseph P Hulder Jr, O-730266, NJ, Navigator
2LT Clifford A Smallwood, O-731426, OH, Bombardier
SSGT Vernon O Larson, 16033183, IL, Flight Engineer
TSGT Thomas P Merlino, 19077505, CA, Radio Operator
2LT Aldon A Alleman, O-427107, CA, Pilot-rated passenger
FLT O James G Masters, T-000114, KY, Pilot-rated passenger
2LT John Sedor, O-731423, IN, Navigator-rated passenger
SSGT Leonard F McNabb , 39239541, CA, Engineer-rated passenger
SSGT Gustave Dzingoski, 32264707, NJ, Radio Operator-rated passenger
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Entered the service from Indiana; Lake County; ASN O-731423
The airmen had taken off from Topeka for a navigational training flight to Pueblo, Colorado. As they began climbing into low clouds about 5,000 feet above ground level, heavy ice began accumulating and then the airplane suffered a catastrophic failure of the tail section. A vertical stabilizer, fin and rudder detatched, and the bomber dove straight into the ground and exploded. Only one crewmember, in the nose position, survived when he parachuted. He landed unhurt and ran to the scene of the crash, but was held back by exploding munitions. Investigators noted that the separated tail parts were found nearly a half mile from the main crash scene.
Killed in service were:
1LT Robert Clyne, O-417940, AZ, Pilot
1LT Norman A Kendall, O-415557, LA, Co-Pilot
2LT Joseph P Hulder Jr, O-730266, NJ, Navigator
2LT Clifford A Smallwood, O-731426, OH, Bombardier
SSGT Vernon O Larson, 16033183, IL, Flight Engineer
TSGT Thomas P Merlino, 19077505, CA, Radio Operator
2LT Aldon A Alleman, O-427107, CA, Pilot-rated passenger
FLT O James G Masters, T-000114, KY, Pilot-rated passenger
2LT John Sedor, O-731423, IN, Navigator-rated passenger
SSGT Leonard F McNabb , 39239541, CA, Engineer-rated passenger
SSGT Gustave Dzingoski, 32264707, NJ, Radio Operator-rated passenger
~
Entered the service from Indiana; Lake County; ASN O-731423
Second Lieutenant Sedor served with the 469th Bomb Squadron, 333rd Bomb Group from Topeka Army Air Base. He was killed in a training flight crash aboard B-24D Liberator #41-23961, three miles northeast of White City, Kansas. Ten other crewmembers also perished.
The airmen had taken off from Topeka for a navigational training flight to Pueblo, Colorado. As they began climbing into low clouds about 5,000 feet above ground level, heavy ice began accumulating and then the airplane suffered a catastrophic failure of the tail section. A vertical stabilizer, fin and rudder detatched, and the bomber dove straight into the ground and exploded. Only one crewmember, in the nose position, survived when he parachuted. He landed unhurt and ran to the scene of the crash, but was held back by exploding munitions. Investigators noted that the separated tail parts were found nearly a half mile from the main crash scene.
Killed in service were:
1LT Robert Clyne, O-417940, AZ, Pilot
1LT Norman A Kendall, O-415557, LA, Co-Pilot
2LT Joseph P Hulder Jr, O-730266, NJ, Navigator
2LT Clifford A Smallwood, O-731426, OH, Bombardier
SSGT Vernon O Larson, 16033183, IL, Flight Engineer
TSGT Thomas P Merlino, 19077505, CA, Radio Operator
2LT Aldon A Alleman, O-427107, CA, Pilot-rated passenger
FLT O James G Masters, T-000114, KY, Pilot-rated passenger
2LT John Sedor, O-731423, IN, Navigator-rated passenger
SSGT Leonard F McNabb , 39239541, CA, Engineer-rated passenger
SSGT Gustave Dzingoski, 32264707, NJ, Radio Operator-rated passenger
~
Entered the service from Indiana; Lake County; ASN O-731423
The airmen had taken off from Topeka for a navigational training flight to Pueblo, Colorado. As they began climbing into low clouds about 5,000 feet above ground level, heavy ice began accumulating and then the airplane suffered a catastrophic failure of the tail section. A vertical stabilizer, fin and rudder detatched, and the bomber dove straight into the ground and exploded. Only one crewmember, in the nose position, survived when he parachuted. He landed unhurt and ran to the scene of the crash, but was held back by exploding munitions. Investigators noted that the separated tail parts were found nearly a half mile from the main crash scene.
Killed in service were:
1LT Robert Clyne, O-417940, AZ, Pilot
1LT Norman A Kendall, O-415557, LA, Co-Pilot
2LT Joseph P Hulder Jr, O-730266, NJ, Navigator
2LT Clifford A Smallwood, O-731426, OH, Bombardier
SSGT Vernon O Larson, 16033183, IL, Flight Engineer
TSGT Thomas P Merlino, 19077505, CA, Radio Operator
2LT Aldon A Alleman, O-427107, CA, Pilot-rated passenger
FLT O James G Masters, T-000114, KY, Pilot-rated passenger
2LT John Sedor, O-731423, IN, Navigator-rated passenger
SSGT Leonard F McNabb , 39239541, CA, Engineer-rated passenger
SSGT Gustave Dzingoski, 32264707, NJ, Radio Operator-rated passenger
~
Entered the service from Indiana; Lake County; ASN O-731423
Inscription
2LT, AIR CORPS WORLD WAR II
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