USAAF
5th AF
380th BG
531st BS
1943 via T. Young
Pilot 1st Lt John Thomas O'Brien (Palatine, IL)
Co-Pilot 2nd Lt. Earl G. Sherman, O-674526
Crew 1st Lt. Lawewence E. Kuhlman
Crew 2nd Lt. Edward A. Fay, Jr.
Crew T/Sgt Emmett Jones
Crew T/Sgt Robert J. Beil
Crew S/Sgt Jamese H. Moore, Jr.
Crew S/Sgt Richard E. Smith
Crew S/Sgt Jesse A. Tidwell
Crew S/Sgt Warren G. Card
Observer Sgt Joseph Hologan (RAAF)
MIA November 6 1943
MACR 1485
Mission History
Departed Dobodura for Rabaul on a weather
reconnaissance mission. The RAAF observer was a radar countermeasure
specialist. Their instructions were to radio in every 30 minutes during
the mission. They radioed 20 minutes into flight, then were never heard
from again. The USN and RAAF both conducted searches, but found nothing.
Contact Information
Tracy
R. Young III (Sherman's nephew)
"Earl G. Sherman was born. December 27, 1922 and declared MIA November 6th,
1943 as a member of the "Jolly Rogers". He received a
silver star, air medal, and purple heart."
Lori Goff-O’Brien (daughter in law of John O'Brien)
"O’Brien was born and raised in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. He was an excellent student in school and a top athlete in the rural town of Palatine. In 1942 he joined the Army and immediately transferred into the Army Air Corp, which now is known as the Air force. After flight training he moved into a bomber group and was trained to fly B-24 bombers. He was then sent to his first and only duty station in Port Moresby. New Guinea was a very dangerous place at that time because the Japanese were still in control of that part of the Pacific plus the island of New Guinea has extremely bad weather patterns that made it very difficult for all the pilots who did not have the modern equipment for bad weather landings that we have today. Everything they did was strictly visual. On Lieutenant O’Brien’s 24th mission, he would have finished his tour of duty after 25, he was sent out at 3:30 am to do a recon mission to take pictures of the prior days raids. He was to run on radio silence and report in every 20 minutes. He reported in once and then was never heard from again. Rescue teams were sent out, but nothing was ever found and no one knows exactly what happened. His son John Jr., who he never saw, was 8 weeks old. He was officially reported missing in action on November 3rd 1943. Medals awarded are: Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Pacific Campaign (Asiatic), Purple Heart, Freedom Medal."
References
Legacy of the 90th Bombardment Group page 43
B-24
MIA
