Crew of B-24J 44-40783 photographed in front of “Tough Titti“

On the evening of August 31, 1944, ten crew members of the Fourteenth Air Force, 308th Bomb Group, 375th Bomb Squadron, lifted off in a Consolidated B-24J-180-CO Liberator serial number 44-40783 from a base in Liuchow, China, on a mission to bomb Japanese ships anchored in Takao Harbor, Formosa. Intercepted by an A6M3 Model 32 Zero-Sen fighter piloted by Imperial Japanese Navy Chief Petty Officer Takeo Tanimizu (April 14, 1919 – March 12, 2008) of the Tainan Air Group, who shot down B-24J 44-40831 and damaged 40783. On its return flight, it was diverted to an alternate field because Liuchow was under air attack. On its way to the alternate strip, it crashed into Mount Arisan, known as Mount Maoer or Kitten, a peak of 6,000 feet (1,829 meters) and tumbled into a deep ravine.

All aboard were killed. The crew were: Pilot Second Lieutenant George H. Pierpont of Salem, Virginia); Co-Pilot, Second Lieutenant Franklin A. Tomenendale (August 7, 1919 – August 31, 1944) of Shabbona, Illinois; Navigator Second Lieutenant Robert Deming (October 31, 1915 – August 31, 1944) of Seattle, Washington; Bombardier Second Lieutenant George A. Ward (March 27, 1918 – August 31, 1944) of Jersey City, New Jersey; Engineer, Staff Sargeant Anthony W. “Bib” DeLucia (August 30, 1920 – August 31, 1944) of Bradford, Pennsylvania; Radio Operator Sargeant Ellsworth V. Kelley (March 1, 1920 – August 31, 1944) of Newark, Ohio; Radarman Private Fred P. Buckley (July 29, 1923 – August 31, 1944) of Garden City, Kansas; Gunner Staff Sargeant William A. Drager (February 28, 1918 – August 31, 1944) of Washington, New Jersey; Gunner Sargeant Robert L. Kearsey (November 11, 1916 – August 31, 1944) of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania; Gunner Private Vincent J. Netherwood (March 6, 1944 – August 31, 1944) of Kingston, New York, was engaged to be married.

44-40831’s crew came down in the sea. An observer aboard, Captain George K. O’Neil (December 26, 1917 – August 7, 1994), who survived prison camps and the war, later claimed that some of the crew bailed out of the burning B-24 and were fired upon by Japanese fighters. After hitting the water, The Japanese claimed after the war that he resisted capture with pistol fire, so they returned fire before capturing him. He was taken to Japan and survived Omori Headquarters Camp (Ofuna) Tokyo 35-139.

On October 2, 1996 two Chinese farmers discovered the crash site 62 miles (100 kilometers) south of Gualin, Guangxi Province. Jiang Zemin (August 17, 1926 – November 30, 2022), at the time President of the People‘s Republic of China, presented President William J. Clinton (born August 19, 1946) with five identification tags and a video of the crash site during a state visit the next month. The names on the military dog tags included Buckley, Kelley, Netherwood, Tomenendale and Ward. Four times between 1997 and 1999, a joint U.S.-Chinese team excavated the crash site, recovering numerous pieces of wreckage, personal effects and remains. Using DNA, they identified the crew. Six were buried in Arlington and three in their hometowns.