Information below gleaned from: https://etvma.org/veterans/vernon-w-duncan-10538/

Scott County news, April 27, 1945

Lieut. Vernon W. Duncan, 25, husband of Norma Mayo Duncan, and son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Duncan, of Winfield, Tenn., has been reported missing in action over Nagoya, Japan since March 25th. Lieut. Duncan was a navigator on a B-29. He entered service in June 1940 and left for overseas duty in Dec. 1944. He received his training at a navigation school in Monroe, La., where he met his wife, Norma Gayle Mayo. They were married in June 1944 at the Baca Ritone Air Base Chapel, Florida. Lieut. and Mrs. Duncan have a daughter, Donna Gayle, born March 23, 1945. It is not likely that Lieut. Duncan had received word of the birth of his daughter when he left for his mission on Sunday. Mrs. Duncan is in the St. Francis Hospital Monroe, La. at present.

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U.S Army Service No. (ASN): #O-2057783

Enlistment Date: 07/01/1940 with Service Number 14000513

878th Bomb Squadron, 499th Bomb Group, Very Heavy

Vernon W. Duncan is listed under Finding Of Death in the 1946 Army and Army Air Forces Personnel Casualty List for Scott County, Tennessee.

Florida, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1823-1982 lists a marriage date of 10 Jun 1944 in Broward County, Florida to Norma Gayle Mayo.

U.S., National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962 lists Group Burial, NC-31605 thru 31611. Re-interred on August 30th, 1949.

Aircraft B-29 Superfortress, serial number 42-63493, nicknamed Star Duster, departed from Saipan, Marianas Islands, on a combat mission to attack the Mitsubishi aircraft engine plant at Nagoya. Shot down March 25, 1945 over Nagakute-mura, Honshu, Japan. Missing Air Crew Report 13826.

The crewmembers Killed In Action:

2 LT Charles E Timmons, O-738293, TN, Pilot

2 LT Richard R Riggs, O-772501, WA, Co-Pilot

2 LT Vernon W Duncan, O2057783, TN, Navigator

2 LT Melvin M Personett, O-709965, OK, Bombardier

MSGT Manuel Fernandez Jr, 18056417, TX, Flight Engineer

SSGT Robert H Renollet, 15375762, OH, CFC Gunner

SGT John E Allison, 16195555, IL, Gunner

SGT Donald J Harris, 36453637, MI, Radar Operator

PFC Lewis E Johnson, 37702292, KS, Radio Operator

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MACR 13826, submitted by the 878th Bombardment Squadron, 499th Bombardment Group, reveals that the last contact with this aircraft was at 1818 hours, on 24 March 1945, when it departed its station at Saipan, Marianas Island, on a combat mission to Nagoya, Japan.

Two of the crew members, M/Sgt. Manuel Fernandez Jr. and PFC Lewis E. Johnson, were reported killed in action on the basis of Reports of Burial stating they were killed in a plane crash at Nagakute-mura, Honshu, Japan.

Japanese witness to the crash state that the plane caught fire in the air and exploded upon impact with the ground. One man was seen to parachute from the burning plane, but his parachute failed to open.

Since only one unidentified member of the crew, who failed to survive, is known to have bailed out it is evident that the remaining eight crew members were in the burning aircraft when it struck the ground and exploded. It is possible that following the explosion insufficient remains were collectible to establish the existence of nine bodies or that the remains of the crew which were interred by the Japanese were in such an incomplete state that is was not possible to establish the number of bodies upon subsequent disinternment.

***I would like to thank Astrid Find A Grave ID 48149868 for adding her photo of Vernon to this memorial***

***I would like to thank Tracy Lichtenwalter Find A Grave ID 47112158 for adding her gravesite photo to this memorial***

***I would like to thank Les Byrd Find A Grave ID 48460681 for updating the birth/death location information on this memorial in addition to linking family to it***

***I would like to thank Tim Cook Find A Grave ID 46481904 for updating the death location information on this memorial***