Aboard B-24D Liberator #42-40984.
On August 31, 1943, at 03:52 hours, the bomber took off from 7-Mile Drone near Port Moresby, New Guinea on a top-secret mission to the north coast to the vicinity of Lae.
Approximately 18 minutes into the flight, the airplane crashed, from unknown reasons, in the pre-dawn morning into the face of a cliff and exploded upon impact, killing all twelve aboard. Because the Liberator was fully laden with bombs and fuel, the impact resulted in full devastation.
On September 3, 1943, an L-4 Cub was dispatched to the region to search for the missing bomber, but the airplane ran out of gas and crashed, killing pilot, 2nd Lt. Frederic G Heyer.
In the middle of September, 1943, the accident crash site was located and visited, but the remains of the crew could not be individually identified. Due to unexploded bombs, the searchers departed after only about an hour at the site. In June, 1945, members of the American Graves Registration Service went to the site and collected more remains of the crew.
During August, 1983, identification technicians from the US Army vistited the crash site.
An unexploded 500-pound bomb was found, and members of the PNG Defense Force exploded the bomb and additional remains were collected.
Killed were:
2LT William B Cox, O-523742, GA, Pilot
2LT Patrick J Byrnes Jr, O-674140, CT, Co-Pilot
FLT O Fred L Evans, T-060667, TX, Co-Pilot
2LT Fred H Verhein Jr, O-738949, WI, Bombardier
2LT Robert F Violet, O-659612, MA, Navigator
TSGT Jacob M Kesler, 35356999, IN, Flight Engineer
SSGT George A Kiferd, 13089529, PA, Gunner
SSGT Harold E. Kuhn, 12016263, NY, Asst. Radio Operator
SSGT Stanley Marczak, 16066245, MI, Asst. Engineer
TSGT Richard D Marsh, 32405881, NY, Radio Operator
PFC James A Franklin, 18064953, TX, Gunner
F/O Gerard M Keogh, RAAF266551, Royal Australian Air Force, Passenger
Aboard B-24D Liberator #42-40984.
On August 31, 1943, at 03:52 hours, the bomber took off from 7-Mile Drone near Port Moresby, New Guinea on a top-secret mission to the north coast to the vicinity of Lae.
Approximately 18 minutes into the flight, the airplane crashed, from unknown reasons, in the pre-dawn morning into the face of a cliff and exploded upon impact, killing all twelve aboard. Because the Liberator was fully laden with bombs and fuel, the impact resulted in full devastation.
On September 3, 1943, an L-4 Cub was dispatched to the region to search for the missing bomber, but the airplane ran out of gas and crashed, killing pilot, 2nd Lt. Frederic G Heyer.
In the middle of September, 1943, the accident crash site was located and visited, but the remains of the crew could not be individually identified. Due to unexploded bombs, the searchers departed after only about an hour at the site. In June, 1945, members of the American Graves Registration Service went to the site and collected more remains of the crew.
During August, 1983, identification technicians from the US Army vistited the crash site.
An unexploded 500-pound bomb was found, and members of the PNG Defense Force exploded the bomb and additional remains were collected.
Killed were:
2LT William B Cox, O-523742, GA, Pilot
2LT Patrick J Byrnes Jr, O-674140, CT, Co-Pilot
FLT O Fred L Evans, T-060667, TX, Co-Pilot
2LT Fred H Verhein Jr, O-738949, WI, Bombardier
2LT Robert F Violet, O-659612, MA, Navigator
TSGT Jacob M Kesler, 35356999, IN, Flight Engineer
SSGT George A Kiferd, 13089529, PA, Gunner
SSGT Harold E. Kuhn, 12016263, NY, Asst. Radio Operator
SSGT Stanley Marczak, 16066245, MI, Asst. Engineer
TSGT Richard D Marsh, 32405881, NY, Radio Operator
PFC James A Franklin, 18064953, TX, Gunner
F/O Gerard M Keogh, RAAF266551, Royal Australian Air Force, Passenger
Inscription
PFC USAAF
WORLD WAR II
BIG BOY REST
IN PEACE
Gravesite Details
Interment 5/26/2018
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