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| USN VR-2 |
Pilot LCdr Jerome H. Sparboe, 0-062441 USNR (MIA / KIA) Webster City, IA Co-Pilot Ensign Charles L. Mixon, 0-114654 USNR (MIA / KIA) Pineville, LA Radio ACRM Charles E. Barber, USNR (MIA / KIA) Passenger Captain Arthur Burton Barrows, O-5306 USMC (MIA / KIA) Columbus, OH MIA August 16, 1942 Aircraft History Built by Douglas as C-47 Skytrain. Construction Number 4553. On July 27, 1942 delivered to the U.S. Navy (USN) as R4D-1 bureau number 01989. Wartime History Assigned to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 2 (VR-2). No known nickname, nose art or markings. Mission History On August 16, 1942 took off from NAS Kodiak piloted by LCdr Jerome H. Sparboe on a transport flight bound for Whitehorse Airfield then onward to NAS Seattle. This plane was the lead transport in a formation of three. Aboard were fourteen crew and passengers from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. During the first leg of the flight the weather was terrible with storm like conditions and the three transports became separated and cut radio communications with ice forming on the wings of each plane. This plane was last seen during a break in the weather over the southern tip of the Yakutat mountains of Alaska. When this plane failed to arrive it was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA). The other two transports landed at Whitehorse Airfield and Watson Lake safely. Search Afterwards, several days of search and rescue missions were flown over the Northern Pacific on the flight route with no trace of the plane or fourteen aboard ever found. Memorials The crew and passengers were officially declared dead August 17, 1943. Sparboe is memorialized at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) on the courts of the missing, court 2. He also has a memorial marker at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, MN near the graves of his parents. Mixon is memorialized at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) on the courts of the missing, court 1. Barrows was promoted to the rank of Major, posthumously. He is memorialized at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) on the courts of the missing. References Note, many sources list the date of the loss as February 16, 1944 incorrectly also list the flight as from Seattle to Kodiak but was in fact the opposite route. Aircraft Accident Report - R4D BuNo 01989 Navy Serial Number Search Results - R4D-1 01989 NARA NARA VR-2 War Diary April 1, 1942 to November 30, 1943 page 19 (Page 19) "16 August 1942 - Lieutenant Commander Jerome H. Sparboe A-V(G), U.S.N.R. crew and nine passengers unreported en route from Kodiak, Alaska to Seattle, Washington. 17 August 1942 - All aircraft notified to be on alert for Lieutenant Commander Sparboe, crew and passengers overdue enroute from Kodiak to Seattle." American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - Jerome H. Sparboe FindAGrave - LtCdr Jerome Hartvig Sparboe (photo, courts of the missing photo) FindAGrave - LCDR Jerome Hartvig Sparboe (obituary, memorial marker photo) American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - Charles L. Mixon FindAGrave - Ens Charles Lynwood Mixon (photo, courts of the missing photo) American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - Charles E. Barber FindAGrave - ACRM Charles Edmund Barber (courts of the missing photo) American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - Missing Marine - Arthur Burton Barrows FindAGrave - Maj Arthur Burton Barrows (courts of the missing photo) Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated December 28, 2024 |
 R4D  MIA 14 Missing |
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