Aircraft History
Built by Martin as a B-26C, transfered to the US Navy as a JM-1. Assigned to squadron VJ-2.

Mission History
Took off on a target towing mission over the Admiralties. Suffered engine failure and ditched seven miles off Pityilu Airfield on Pityilu Island. One crew member of the crew, Howard, survived the crash.

Memorials
Declared dead the day of the mission. Memorialized on the tablets of the missing at Manila American Cemetery.

Relatives
Edith Lange (nee Sonnenschein, widow of Marsh):
"I am the widow of the late  Ensign Samuel Marsh, Jr. We met in March 1943. I am Jewish and was in Austria when Hitler invaded on March 12, 1938. I was very lucky and left a year later. I managed to escape Europe aboard the Queen Mary at Cherbourg, France. We entered the United States legally, got an affidavit for help. The mayor of Minneapolis had a round table meeting and and gave my letter to the reformed temple in Minneapolis. During the war, my Rabbi told us we should do something, and I volunteered at the USO, and met Samuel Marsh. We got married October 1, 1943. He was supposed to get the next rank after new years. He died  December 29th 1944 in a plane crash, he was stationed in Pityilu as  copilot  to VJ-2. I was never told anything about his loss. I remember at 7pm a young boy delivered the telegram that will all I was ever told. Years later, I attended a reunion of VJ-2 at San Deigo and some of the men told me more about his crash. They said water was in the fuel tank due to the hot tropical climate, and caused it to crash. That was the first I had ever been told. I hope to hear from any survivors of this crash. After the war, I remarried. I  still do volunteering  at Naval medical center  at Balboa in San Diego."

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Last Updated
December 22, 2009

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