Pilot 1st Lt. William J. Love (KIA)
Co-Pilot 1st Lt. Thomas W. Stone (KIA)
Navigator SSgt John R. Schwaller (KIA)
Radio/Gunner Sgt Leland E. Baumbach (KIA)
Radio/Gunner Sgt John A. Becker (KIA)
Observer/Photographer Sgt David Snider (KIA/MIA)
Crashed February 6, 1945

Aircraft History
US Army Air Force Serial Number 43-4698. Assigned to VMB-613, which had a total of fifteen aircraft. Each aircraft had two complete aircrews. The crew #1 was that of 1st Lt Robert Love. The crew #2 was that of William Love, was killed in the crash. Love and Love were brothers.

Crew History: The Love Brothers
Robert Yanacek, VMB-613 veteran adds:
"Here is an interesting story, told to me by one of Bob Love's radio-gunners, Lloyd McDaniel. Bill Love and his crew were not scheduled for the fateful raid. Bob Love and his crew were supposed to have been on the raid. Lloyd told me that at about dusk on February 5th, a Japanese sub was sighted. VMB-613 dispatched one aircraft to investigate. That aircraft was the "Love Bug" flown by Bob Love and his crew. The patrolled the area for a number of hours but couldn't locate anything. The headed back to Eniwetok and did not land until after midnight. Because the arrived back so late, it was decided that they would not fly the strike on Ponape. Bill Love and his crew were then assigned to the mission. Bill Love and his crew left Eniwetok at 9AM in the "Love Bug" never to return. As Bob Love and his crew awoke on Eniwetok about noon, word came over the radio that there had been some problems. Here are the two crews:

Crew #1: Pilot 1st Lt. Robert E. Love Co-Pilot 1st Lt. Tom H. Houston Navigator Pfc Joseph A. Danz Jr. Radio-Gun Sgt  Lloyd L. McDaniel Radio-Gunner Clp Alvin J. Klinke Mechanic/Gun Clp Joseph E. Brais Arm/Gunner Sgt Harry L. Jordan

Crew #2 Pilot 1st Lt. William J. Love (KIA) Co-Pilot 1st Lt. Thomas W. Stone (KIA) Nav SSgt John R. Schwaller (KIA) Radio Sgt Leland E. Baumbach (KIA) Radio/Gun Sgt John A. Becker (KIA) Obs/Photo Sgt David Snider (KIA)

Note: Sergeant Dave Snider was not really a member of Love's aircrew. Dave was an aerial photographer who was sitting in the tail of the "Love Bug" to photograph the results of the strike. Normal Crew #2 members, Pfc Frank Haddix and Cpl Theodore H. Pyrch survived as they did not fly that mission.

Wartime History
Took off from Eniwetok on a strike aganst Palikir / Airfield Number 2 on Ponape Island. The last two planes in the strike, including this aircraft were hit by anti-aircraft fire from "a small gun atop Dolen Pahniepw" (Dolen Palikir).  That the plane "went straight in" and began to burn upon impact.  Shortly thereafter, one of the aircraft's bombs exploded.  Popope Islander Mr. Aldis ran down the hill to the site of the crash, only to be chased away by Japanese soldiers who had arrived on the scene.  According to Mr. Aldis, the Japanese recovered the bodies of five crewmembers, and buried them in a common grave at the crash-site, however the remains of the sixth crewmember could apparently not be located. 

Dick Williams adds:
"When I visited Ponape, some one told me, following the war, the brother of the missing crewman ( Dave Snider) had traveled to Ponape to search for him but was unable to locate his remains." One additional Marine was killed on that strike, Pvt William M. Farley. His aircraft attacked the airfield right before Bill Love's fateful run. A fragment from a 500lb bomb hit him, killing him instantly.

Post War Remains Recovery
American service personnel traveled to Ponape as part of a War Crimes Tribunal, and that one of the members of that tribunal had been First Lieutenant Donald C. McCune, the Assistant Intelligence Officer of Marine Bombing Squadron Six-Thirteen. During their inquiry, the tribunal learned that following hostilities, the Japanese had erected a monument "to the brave American flyers" over the gravesite of MB-5's crewmen.  He also learned that sometime thereafter, the bodies of the crewmembers were removed from the grave at the crash-site and temporarily re-interred in Kolonia, the primary port village on Ponape, before being repatriated to the United States and buried at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Saint Louis.  Later, Sergeant Snider had been recovered and identified in 1948, and that he had subsequently been buried at Riverside Cemetery in Rochelle Park, New Jersey in 1949.  Verification of Sergeant Snider's burial at Riverside Cemetery was obtained from the cemetery staff shortly thereafter.

Wreck Site
Stan Gajda and Dick Willams searched the crash site, and revealed that only a few large pieces of the aircraft remained -- the port engine and propeller, the port landing gear and wheel, three defused General Purpose bombs, and a section of the port vertical and horizontal stabilizer.  The location of the vertical stabilizer proved an important find since it was the only piece of aircraft with recognizable markings, a large white "5" on a blue background.  Excavation at the site revealed a "burnt area" of ground and further pieces of the aircraft including a bomb rail, and the shattered remains of a radar receiver.  Smaller fragments included a buckle, a lens, pieces of switches, metal forgings, cloth fabric, and great deal of .50 caliber ammunition, shell casings, and projectiles.  Dick and Stan also searched the area of the Japanese gun location atop Dolen Pahniepw and recovered a number of 12.7mm shell casings that had been fired, some of which that may have held the fatal rounds.

References
Thanks to Stan Gajda, Dick Williams and VBM-613's Robert Yanacek for information on this wreck.

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