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| USAAF 13th AF 347th FG 339th FS Former Assignments 5th AF 433rd TCG 69th TCS  CILHI 1999 |
Pilot 2nd Lt. Richard J. Lawson, O-709594 339th FS (MIA / KIA, BR) Santa Clara County, CA Co-Pilot 1st Lt. Jerome A. Mykkeltvedt, O-692184 68th FS (MIA / KIA, BNR) Lyon County, MN Navigator 2nd Lt. Roy R. Johnson, O-2081990, XIII Fighter Command, HQ (MIA / KIA, BR) CO Engineer TSgt Donald A. Shaul, 17012073 339th FS (MIA / KIA, BR) Valentine, NB Radio Cpl Frank R. Harris, 38107431 339th FS (MIA / KIA, BR) Waco, TX Asst Radio Cpl Charles E. Leaman, Jr., 11111325 339th FS (MIA / KIA, BR) Providence, RI Passenger Lt. Col Shelby England, O-372200 347th FG operations officer (MIA / KIA, BR) Little Rock, AR Passenger Major Lionel P. Adams, O-900998 347th FG group adjutant (MIA / KIA, BR) Andrews, NC Passenger Major Joseph C. Willis, O-421152 339th FS (MIA / KIA, BR) TX Passenger Captain Alvin C. Windes, O-436683 339th FS (MIA / KIA, BR) Shannon County, MO Passenger 2nd Lt. Thomas J. Cunningham, O-2037404 XIII Fighter Command, HQ (MIA / KIA, BR) ME Passenger Captain Henry J. Sabotka, O-421328 C.O. 100th BS (MIA / KIA, BR) MA Crashed June 16, 1945 MACR 14959 Aircraft History Built by Douglas Aircraft Company. Constructors number 13897. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as C-47A-60-DL Skytrain serial number 43-30746. Wartime History Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 433rd Troop Carrier Group (433rd TCG), 69th Troop Carrier Squadron (69th TCS). No known nose art or nickname. Between October 7, 1943 until November 27, 1943 based at Brisbane. By 1945, assigned to the 13th Air Force (13th AF), 347th Fighter Group (347th FG), 339th Fighter Squadron (339th FS). No known nickname or nose art. When lost, engines R-1830-92 serial numbers CP-362891 and CP-362941. During the middle of June 1945, took off from Puerto Princesa Airfield on Palawan in the Philippines, likely with the same crew and passengers on an administrative flight via Biak bound for Australia. Mission History On June 16, 1945 took off from Borokoe Airfield on Biak piloted by 2nd Lt. Richard J. Lawson on an administrative flight bound for Nadzab Airfield. Aboard were six officers as passengers. The weather was 3-4/10 clouds with visibility of 15 miles from Biak to Hollandia. The weather over the Nadzab area was 7/10 clouds with thick overcast at 10,000' and improving to 4/10 cloud cover with visibility of 10 miles. There was no contact with the C-47 after take off and when it failed to arrive was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA). On June 22, 1945 officially condemned due to "combat damage" in error. Search When this C-47 failed to arrive, no search aircraft were available from Biak and instead a search was flown from Nadzab Airfield and was instructed to search the north coast of New Guinea but had nil results. Wreckage In fact, this C-47 crashed near Maikisung on the Huon Peninsula roughly 15 miles southwest of Finschafen and east of Hopoi. By the end of June 1945 the crash site was found and remains of the crew and passengers were recovered. Two of the bodies were not identified but was assumed they were the remains of Lt. Richard J. Lawson, 339th transport pilot, and Capt. Jerome A. Mykkeltvedt, the only two unaccounted for. Recovery of Remains After the crash, the remains of the crew were recovered. Postwar, transported to the United States for permanent burial. During 1999, the crash site was investigated by a team from Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI) and assigned code PNG 24, likely mistaking the site for an unresolved Missing In Action (MIA) crash site. Memorials Everyone aboard was officially declared dead the day of the mission. As the flight was non-combat, none of the crew or passengers earned the Purple Heart, posthumously. Lawson is buried at Oak Hill Memorial Park in San Jose, CA. Mykkeltvedt remains listed as Missing In Action (MIA). He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), Air Medal with seven Oak Leaf Clusters. He is memorialized at Manila American Cemetery on the tablets of the missing. Johnson was buried in 1949 at Crown Hill Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, CO in block 54. Shaul is buried at Manila American Cemetery at plot A row 8 grave 27. He also has a memorial marker in Mount Hope Cemetery in Valentine, Nebraska. Harris is buried at Rosemound Cemetery in Waco, Texas at section P site 21. Leaman is buried at Pocasset Cemetery in Cranston, Rhode Island at 89-M-7. England earned the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters. He is buried at Roselawn Memorial Park in Little Rock, AR Adams is buried at Valleytown Cemetery in Andrews, North Carolina. Willis is buried at Parkdale Cemetery in Arlington, TX. Windes is buried at Manila American Cemetery at plot D row 5 grave 39. Cunningham has an unknown burial in the United States, likely in his hometown in Cumberland County, Maine. Sabotka is buried at Saint Josephs Cemetery in Westfield, Massachusetts. References NARA World War II Army Enlistment Records - Richard J. Lawson NARA World War II Army Enlistment Records - Donald A. Shaul Individual Aircraft Record Card (IARC) - C-47A Dakota Serial Number 43-30746 USAF Serial Number Search Results - C-47A Dakota 43-30746 "30746 (MSN 13897) condemned Jun 22, 1945 combat damage [sic]" Missing Air Crew Report 14959 (MACR 14959) created June 20, 1945 339th Fighter Squadron (TE) Monthly Report June 1945, page 5 "June 30, 1945: Tragedy struck the 339th one of the heaviest blows this month when a C-47 carrying 12 officers and men crashed in the New Guinea jungles 15 miles due west of Finschhafen [Finschafen] near the native village of Maikisung. Pending official investigation it is assumed that the plane, which had been on a routine flight from Palowan [sic Palawan] to Australia, was lost in weather and crashed into a mountain on 16 June. The dead of this squadron are Major Joseph C. Willis, Jr., commanding officer since 24 December 1944, who had been promoted from Captain on the second of the month; Capt. Alvin C. Windes, veteran fighter pilot, who had flown in combat since 20 April, 1944; T/Sgt. Donald Shawl [sic Shaul], Cpl. Frank R Harris and Cpl. Charles Leaman, enlisted crew members. Shawl [sic Shaul] and Harris had been overseas more than 30 months, Leaman more than 18. Two of the bodies have not yet been identified, but it assumed, since all others are counted for, that these are the remains of Lt. Richard J. Lawson, 339th transport pilot, and Capt. Jerome A. Mykkeltvedt, 68th fighter pilot. Also killed were Lt. Col. Shelby England, 347th Fighter Group Operations Officer; Major Lionel P. Adams, Group Adjutent; Lt. Roy R. Johnson and Lt. Thomas J. Cunningham, XIII Fighter Command; and Capt. Henry J. Sabotke, commander of the 100th Bomb Squadron, 42nd Bomb Group." FindAGrave - 2LT Richard J. Lawson (grave photo) American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - Jerome A. Mykkeltvedt FindAGrave - Capt Jerome Augustus Mykkeltvedt (photo, news, tablets of the missing photos) The Minneapolis Star "Vet of 200 Flights Dies on Transport" July 31, 1945 FindAGrave - 2LT Roy R Johnson (grave photo, application for headstone) American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - Donald A. Shaul FindAGrave - TSgt Donald A Shaul (grave photo, obituary) FindAGrave - Donald A Shaul (memorial marker photo) FindAGrave - CPL Frank Ray Harris (grave photo) FindAGrave - CPL Charles E. Leaman Jr (grave photo) FindAGrave - LTC Shelby England Jr. (grave) FindAGrave - LTC Shelby England FindAGrave - Maj Lionel Price Adams (photo, grave photo) FindAGrave - Maj Joseph C. Willis Jr. (photo, grave photo) American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - Alvin C. Windes FindAGrave - Capt Alvin Clay Windes (news) FindAGrave - 2Lt. Thomas J. Cunningham FindAGrave - Capt Henry J Sabotka (photo, grave photo) Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated March 7, 2024
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 C-47  Map June 16, 1945  MIA 1 Missing |
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