Background
Carol Eugene Domer was born on February 28, 1920 in Centralia, Kansas. He graduated from Centralia High School in 1938. Afterwards, he attended Chillicothe Business College in Chillicothe, Missouri and completed one year of college. Afterwards, he went to work as an assistant auditor at the YMCA in Chicago, IL.
Wartime History
Domer enlisted in the U. S. Army Air Corps at Camp Grant near Rockford, Illinois on October 14, 1941 as an aviation cadet including training at Ypsilanti, Michigan. After training, he was sent overseas and assigned to the 5th Air Force, 90th Bombardment Group as a tail gunner aboard B-24 Liberator bombers.
Mission History
On January 1, 1943 Domer was tail gunner aboard B-24D "Crosair" 41-23752 that took off for 7-Mile Drome near Port Moresby on a bombing mission against Vunakanau Airfield near Rabaul. Returning, this B-24 ditched off Kawa Island and Domer was last seen inside the fuselage and was presumed to have died inside the bomber during the crash or was trapped inside as it sank.
Memorials
Domer was officially declared dead the day of the mission and is is memorialized on the tablets of the missing at Manila American Cemetery. To this day, Domer remains Missing In Action (MIA). Domer also has a memorial marker in Centralia Cemetery in Centralia, Kansas. He also has a memorial marker and a memorial bench and memorial plaque dedicated on May 24, 2009 at the Seneca's Veterans Wall (Nemaha County Veterans Memorial Wall) in Seneca, Kansas dedicated May 24, 2009. In attendance at the dedication was Ken Domer, Rose Domer and U. S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS).
Relatives
Rose Domer (sister in law of Carol E. Domer)
Robin "Bob" Domer (nephew of Carol E. Domer) Nephew Burleson, Texas
Dr. Dennis Domer (nephew of Carol E. Domer) retired Kansas University Professor. Lawrence, Kansas
"I was stationed at Clark Field in the 13th Air Force as an aide to a three star general. I once went to Manila Cemetery and saw his name on the tablets of the missing."
Ken Domer (nephew of Carol E.
Domer) retired from The First National Bank of Spearville, Ks
"Carol E.
Domer was my father's brother, his name was Robin R. Domer. My father died in 1995, before he died he gave a DNA sample. My mother is the last remaining relative to have known him."
Gary Domer (nephew of Carol E. Domer) Insurance Executive, Topeka, Kansas
References
Individual Deceased Personel File (IDPF) Carol E. Domer
Centralia Journal "Carol Eugene Domer Missing In Action" January 29, 1943
Centralia Journal "Flag flies for Carol Domer" Spring 1942
American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - Carol E. Domer
NARA - World War II Army Enlistment Records - Carol E.
Domer
Expedition to Document B-24D "Crosair" 41-23752 by Don Fetterly
JollyRogersWeb.com - Jolly Rogers Who's Who - Carol E.
Domer
FindAGrave - Sgt Carol E Domer (tablets of the missing)
Crosair's Last Flight by
Earnest
Ray Rhodes, 2002
The Spearville News "Crosair's Last Flight" [Part 1] by Jim Suber December 26, 2002
The Spearville News "Crosair's Last Flight" [Part 2] by Jim Suber January 2, 2003
The Spearville News "Crosair's Last Flight" [Part 3] by Jim Suber January 9, 2003
Nemaha County Journal-Leader "Sgt. Domer remembered by family and friends" May 29, 2003
Jolly Rogers Newsletter, February 2013
"Charlie requested that I try and get an update on the recovery of Crosair which went down on the first of January 1943. I contacted the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and they advised that plans to visit the site of the airplane crash to investigate have been postponed. They reported that in the future JPAC must conduct a marine survey and map a safe passage so that a large salvage vessel may safely enter these largely uncharted waters. They advise that at this time they do not have a timeframe for conducting the required marine survey to access the site."
Niugini Blue "Kawa Island Resting Place For Wartime Liberator" by Rod
Pearce photos by Bob Halstead January 2015 Volume 26 pages 44-48
Lawrence Journal-World "Lawhorn’s Lawrence: An empty veteran’s grave and the Memorial Day efforts to fill it" by Chad Lawhorn May 30, 2016
Thanks to Ken Domer and Dennis Domer for additional information
