Post by peterd on Nov 25, 2013 15:27:23 GMT -8
Army B-24 Liberator pilot missing from WWII laid to rest at Arlington
Shortly after take-off from the airbase at Nadzab, New Guinea, May 7, 1944, Army Air Corps pilot 1st Lt. John E. Terpning and his co-pilot 2nd Lt. William R. Parkinson began struggling to maneuver and keep “Toughy,” a B-24 Liberator, from falling into the valley of thick, dense jungle below.
After earlier having their own Liberator pulled from its mission due to problems with at least one of the four giant Pratt and Whitney engines, the two young pilots, just 20 and 21 years old, along with their crew of eight, instead took a stand-by aircraft on the mission. The crew raced to catch up with their bombing formation, which was more than 25 minutes ahead of them. But “Toughy” and her crew never did link up with that formation, the aircraft instead crashed into the jungle below.
Within 48 hours, the Airmen were listed as missing in action and an air search was launched. But the formidable jungle and mountainous terrain of the South Pacific island would not betray its secrets. In February 1946, the War Department sent letters to family members listing the crew as “presumed dead.” In a July 18, 1949, follow-up letter, families were additionally notified that the remains of the crew were non-recoverable.
www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/army-b-24-liberator-pilot-missing-from-wwii-laid-to-rest-at-arlington.html
Shortly after take-off from the airbase at Nadzab, New Guinea, May 7, 1944, Army Air Corps pilot 1st Lt. John E. Terpning and his co-pilot 2nd Lt. William R. Parkinson began struggling to maneuver and keep “Toughy,” a B-24 Liberator, from falling into the valley of thick, dense jungle below.
After earlier having their own Liberator pulled from its mission due to problems with at least one of the four giant Pratt and Whitney engines, the two young pilots, just 20 and 21 years old, along with their crew of eight, instead took a stand-by aircraft on the mission. The crew raced to catch up with their bombing formation, which was more than 25 minutes ahead of them. But “Toughy” and her crew never did link up with that formation, the aircraft instead crashed into the jungle below.
Within 48 hours, the Airmen were listed as missing in action and an air search was launched. But the formidable jungle and mountainous terrain of the South Pacific island would not betray its secrets. In February 1946, the War Department sent letters to family members listing the crew as “presumed dead.” In a July 18, 1949, follow-up letter, families were additionally notified that the remains of the crew were non-recoverable.
www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/army-b-24-liberator-pilot-missing-from-wwii-laid-to-rest-at-arlington.html