Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until January 21, 1946.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
James served as a Sergeant and Asst. Radio Operator / Gunner on B-24D (#42-40254), 370th Bomber Squadron, 307th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
He resided in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana prior to the war.
James was declared "Missing In Action" when his B-24 did not return to base after a ship searching mission during the war. It is believed that they were shot down by 251st Kōkūtai J1N1 Irving piloted by Satoru Ono. On June 30, 1943 at 7:05am took off from Carney Field on Guadalcanal piloted by 2nd Lt. Nathaniel B. Guiberson, Jr. on "X-Ray" search mission an armed reconnaissance mission to report the weather and search for enemy shipping to the northwest at low altitude for enemy shipping and water craft in the vicinity of Choiseul Island then onward to southern Bougainville then return via Shortland Island and New Georgia then return. The weather was reported as good.
After take off, this B-24 was not seen or heard from again. This bomber had instructions to radio weather reports every 30 minutes but no reports were ever made. When this bomber failed to return as scheduled at 12:30pm, it was officially declared Missing In Action (MIA).
That morning, a Japanese air raid by fifteen A6M Zeros from 582 Kokutai plus twelve A6M Zeros from 204 Kokutai engaged in air combat over the Rendova and engaged in dog fights with U.S. fighters. The Zero pilot claimed "one bomber shot down" that was likely this bomber. Also, during the morning "Rendova Patrol" a U.S. fighter pilot reported seeing a B-24 land in the sea roughly 3/4 of a mile north of Rendova Island with the tail on fire. When this bomber failed to return it was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA)
He was awarded the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart.
Service # 7008922
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Airmen who perished on B-24D #42-40254:
Adelman, Seymour L ~ S/Sgt, Engineer, NJ
Avery, James O ~ Sgt, Gunner, LA
Bullock, Gordon P ~ Pfc, Gunner, CA
Fanning, John E ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, PA
Foss, Richard M ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot, IL
Furtwangler, Robert N ~ S/Sgt, Gunner, MI
Graff, Leonard R ~ 1st Lt, Bombardier, NY
Guiberson, Nathaniel G, Jr ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, TX
Scamman, George E ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, ME
Ventura, Robert J ~ S/Sgt, Tail Gunner, TX
( Bio, Family Links & Crew Report by: Russ Pickett )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
James served as a Sergeant and Asst. Radio Operator / Gunner on B-24D (#42-40254), 370th Bomber Squadron, 307th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
He resided in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana prior to the war.
James was declared "Missing In Action" when his B-24 did not return to base after a ship searching mission during the war. It is believed that they were shot down by 251st Kōkūtai J1N1 Irving piloted by Satoru Ono. On June 30, 1943 at 7:05am took off from Carney Field on Guadalcanal piloted by 2nd Lt. Nathaniel B. Guiberson, Jr. on "X-Ray" search mission an armed reconnaissance mission to report the weather and search for enemy shipping to the northwest at low altitude for enemy shipping and water craft in the vicinity of Choiseul Island then onward to southern Bougainville then return via Shortland Island and New Georgia then return. The weather was reported as good.
After take off, this B-24 was not seen or heard from again. This bomber had instructions to radio weather reports every 30 minutes but no reports were ever made. When this bomber failed to return as scheduled at 12:30pm, it was officially declared Missing In Action (MIA).
That morning, a Japanese air raid by fifteen A6M Zeros from 582 Kokutai plus twelve A6M Zeros from 204 Kokutai engaged in air combat over the Rendova and engaged in dog fights with U.S. fighters. The Zero pilot claimed "one bomber shot down" that was likely this bomber. Also, during the morning "Rendova Patrol" a U.S. fighter pilot reported seeing a B-24 land in the sea roughly 3/4 of a mile north of Rendova Island with the tail on fire. When this bomber failed to return it was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA)
He was awarded the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart.
Service # 7008922
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Airmen who perished on B-24D #42-40254:
Adelman, Seymour L ~ S/Sgt, Engineer, NJ
Avery, James O ~ Sgt, Gunner, LA
Bullock, Gordon P ~ Pfc, Gunner, CA
Fanning, John E ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, PA
Foss, Richard M ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot, IL
Furtwangler, Robert N ~ S/Sgt, Gunner, MI
Graff, Leonard R ~ 1st Lt, Bombardier, NY
Guiberson, Nathaniel G, Jr ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, TX
Scamman, George E ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, ME
Ventura, Robert J ~ S/Sgt, Tail Gunner, TX
( Bio, Family Links & Crew Report by: Russ Pickett )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until January 21, 1946.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
James served as a Sergeant and Asst. Radio Operator / Gunner on B-24D (#42-40254), 370th Bomber Squadron, 307th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
He resided in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana prior to the war.
James was declared "Missing In Action" when his B-24 did not return to base after a ship searching mission during the war. It is believed that they were shot down by 251st Kōkūtai J1N1 Irving piloted by Satoru Ono. On June 30, 1943 at 7:05am took off from Carney Field on Guadalcanal piloted by 2nd Lt. Nathaniel B. Guiberson, Jr. on "X-Ray" search mission an armed reconnaissance mission to report the weather and search for enemy shipping to the northwest at low altitude for enemy shipping and water craft in the vicinity of Choiseul Island then onward to southern Bougainville then return via Shortland Island and New Georgia then return. The weather was reported as good.
After take off, this B-24 was not seen or heard from again. This bomber had instructions to radio weather reports every 30 minutes but no reports were ever made. When this bomber failed to return as scheduled at 12:30pm, it was officially declared Missing In Action (MIA).
That morning, a Japanese air raid by fifteen A6M Zeros from 582 Kokutai plus twelve A6M Zeros from 204 Kokutai engaged in air combat over the Rendova and engaged in dog fights with U.S. fighters. The Zero pilot claimed "one bomber shot down" that was likely this bomber. Also, during the morning "Rendova Patrol" a U.S. fighter pilot reported seeing a B-24 land in the sea roughly 3/4 of a mile north of Rendova Island with the tail on fire. When this bomber failed to return it was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA)
He was awarded the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart.
Service # 7008922
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Airmen who perished on B-24D #42-40254:
Adelman, Seymour L ~ S/Sgt, Engineer, NJ
Avery, James O ~ Sgt, Gunner, LA
Bullock, Gordon P ~ Pfc, Gunner, CA
Fanning, John E ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, PA
Foss, Richard M ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot, IL
Furtwangler, Robert N ~ S/Sgt, Gunner, MI
Graff, Leonard R ~ 1st Lt, Bombardier, NY
Guiberson, Nathaniel G, Jr ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, TX
Scamman, George E ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, ME
Ventura, Robert J ~ S/Sgt, Tail Gunner, TX
( Bio, Family Links & Crew Report by: Russ Pickett )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
James served as a Sergeant and Asst. Radio Operator / Gunner on B-24D (#42-40254), 370th Bomber Squadron, 307th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
He resided in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana prior to the war.
James was declared "Missing In Action" when his B-24 did not return to base after a ship searching mission during the war. It is believed that they were shot down by 251st Kōkūtai J1N1 Irving piloted by Satoru Ono. On June 30, 1943 at 7:05am took off from Carney Field on Guadalcanal piloted by 2nd Lt. Nathaniel B. Guiberson, Jr. on "X-Ray" search mission an armed reconnaissance mission to report the weather and search for enemy shipping to the northwest at low altitude for enemy shipping and water craft in the vicinity of Choiseul Island then onward to southern Bougainville then return via Shortland Island and New Georgia then return. The weather was reported as good.
After take off, this B-24 was not seen or heard from again. This bomber had instructions to radio weather reports every 30 minutes but no reports were ever made. When this bomber failed to return as scheduled at 12:30pm, it was officially declared Missing In Action (MIA).
That morning, a Japanese air raid by fifteen A6M Zeros from 582 Kokutai plus twelve A6M Zeros from 204 Kokutai engaged in air combat over the Rendova and engaged in dog fights with U.S. fighters. The Zero pilot claimed "one bomber shot down" that was likely this bomber. Also, during the morning "Rendova Patrol" a U.S. fighter pilot reported seeing a B-24 land in the sea roughly 3/4 of a mile north of Rendova Island with the tail on fire. When this bomber failed to return it was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA)
He was awarded the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart.
Service # 7008922
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Airmen who perished on B-24D #42-40254:
Adelman, Seymour L ~ S/Sgt, Engineer, NJ
Avery, James O ~ Sgt, Gunner, LA
Bullock, Gordon P ~ Pfc, Gunner, CA
Fanning, John E ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, PA
Foss, Richard M ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot, IL
Furtwangler, Robert N ~ S/Sgt, Gunner, MI
Graff, Leonard R ~ 1st Lt, Bombardier, NY
Guiberson, Nathaniel G, Jr ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, TX
Scamman, George E ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator, ME
Ventura, Robert J ~ S/Sgt, Tail Gunner, TX
( Bio, Family Links & Crew Report by: Russ Pickett )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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