Karl served as a Staff Sergeant & Gunner on B-29 "The Leading Lady" #42-24766, 882nd Bomber Squadron, 500th Bomber Group U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
He resided in York County, Maine prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on April 8, 1942 in Portland, Maine. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Shipping and receiving clerk and also as Single, without dependents.
B-29 #42-24766, along with 56 other B-29's, took off from Saipan airfield on a bombing mission to bomb port facilities and urban areas in the Nagoya, Japan region and some other alternate targets.
Karl was "Killed In Action" when his B-29, after a successful bombing mission to Nagoya, Japan, was crashed into by a 55th Sentai Ki-61 Tony piloted by 1st Lt. Minoru Shirota and crashed southeast of Nagoya, in Sodame forest near the village of Matsudaira, Japan during the war.
He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
He was originally interred in Yokohama, Japan and was later repatriated here on August 13, 1949.
Service # 11067825
The reason he is named on a group headstone is because when soldiers & sailors were killed in close proximity to each other they were unable, at that time, to identify them separately and interred their remains together in one grave.
There were 5 B-29's lost on this mission.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Airmen who perished on B-29 (#42-24766):
Aitken, Glendon M ~ 1st Lt, Bombardier, PA
Dreyer, Paul E ~ S/Sgt, Radar Operator, MD
Hunt, Karl ~ S/Sgt, Gunner, ME
Hurlbutt, Wilbur E ~ Maj, Pilot, NY
Mullen, Marcus A ~ Lt/Col, Observer, NY
Nighan, Joseph P ~ Sgt, Radio Operator, PA
Omilian, Felix P ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot, NY
Steinberg, Richard P ~ Corp, Gunner, NJ
Stoehr, Edward H ~ 1st Lt, Navigator, IL
Truesdell, Glenn C ~ 1st Lt, Engineer, AL
Yanik, Frank J ~ Sgt, Gunner, PA
One crewman, Sgt. Harold T. Hedges, survived the crash. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese and put in the Japanese Omori Headquarters, Camp Ofuna, Tokyo 35-139. He survived the war.
Bio & Crew Report by:
Russell S. "Russ" Pickett
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The other four B-29's lost on this mission:
For #42-24660 ~ See:
Perriman, Otis L ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot
For #42-24748 ~ See:
Stickney, Richard C, Jr ~ 1st Lt, Pilot
For #42-24626 ~ See:
Lawson, John W ~ 1st Lt, Bombardier
For #42-63418 ~ See:
Barnes, Harold C ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karl served as a Staff Sergeant & Gunner on B-29 "The Leading Lady" #42-24766, 882nd Bomber Squadron, 500th Bomber Group U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
He resided in York County, Maine prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on April 8, 1942 in Portland, Maine. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Shipping and receiving clerk and also as Single, without dependents.
B-29 #42-24766, along with 56 other B-29's, took off from Saipan airfield on a bombing mission to bomb port facilities and urban areas in the Nagoya, Japan region and some other alternate targets.
Karl was "Killed In Action" when his B-29, after a successful bombing mission to Nagoya, Japan, was crashed into by a 55th Sentai Ki-61 Tony piloted by 1st Lt. Minoru Shirota and crashed southeast of Nagoya, in Sodame forest near the village of Matsudaira, Japan during the war.
He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
He was originally interred in Yokohama, Japan and was later repatriated here on August 13, 1949.
Service # 11067825
The reason he is named on a group headstone is because when soldiers & sailors were killed in close proximity to each other they were unable, at that time, to identify them separately and interred their remains together in one grave.
There were 5 B-29's lost on this mission.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Airmen who perished on B-29 (#42-24766):
Aitken, Glendon M ~ 1st Lt, Bombardier, PA
Dreyer, Paul E ~ S/Sgt, Radar Operator, MD
Hunt, Karl ~ S/Sgt, Gunner, ME
Hurlbutt, Wilbur E ~ Maj, Pilot, NY
Mullen, Marcus A ~ Lt/Col, Observer, NY
Nighan, Joseph P ~ Sgt, Radio Operator, PA
Omilian, Felix P ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot, NY
Steinberg, Richard P ~ Corp, Gunner, NJ
Stoehr, Edward H ~ 1st Lt, Navigator, IL
Truesdell, Glenn C ~ 1st Lt, Engineer, AL
Yanik, Frank J ~ Sgt, Gunner, PA
One crewman, Sgt. Harold T. Hedges, survived the crash. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese and put in the Japanese Omori Headquarters, Camp Ofuna, Tokyo 35-139. He survived the war.
Bio & Crew Report by:
Russell S. "Russ" Pickett
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The other four B-29's lost on this mission:
For #42-24660 ~ See:
Perriman, Otis L ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot
For #42-24748 ~ See:
Stickney, Richard C, Jr ~ 1st Lt, Pilot
For #42-24626 ~ See:
Lawson, John W ~ 1st Lt, Bombardier
For #42-63418 ~ See:
Barnes, Harold C ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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WORLD WAR II
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