| 2 graves in the United States cemetery at Bougainville. United States Army Technician 4th Class William F. Dennis (October 8, 1921 – February 13, 1944) was 1 of 6 Americal Division Headquarters Company personnel killed in World War II. Headquarters personnel could be endangered by nightly raids, as when Imperial Japanese Navy G4M “Betty” medium bombers dropped “daisy cutter” antipersonnel bombs on the Americal Division’s 245th Artillery Regiment’s Headquarters on January 30, killing 1 man and wounding another. These “nuisance” raids were deadly and sapped morale. Headquarters personnel were also targeted by Japanese snipers, who infiltrated behind the lines, and artillery strikes. United States Marine Corps Sergeant Greydon M. “Jack” Tabor (June 7, 1925 – February 13, 1944) served as a radioman and gunner on a Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless attack bomber with Marine Scout Bombing Squadron VMSB-244 the “Bombing Banshees.” On February 13, 1944, accompanied by American Vought F4U Corsairs and New Zealand P-40s, 30 VMSB-244 struck Vunakanau Aerodrome as part of a large raid. 59 SBD Dauntlesses were armed with 1,000-pound (450-kilogram) bombs, and 24 General Motors TBM Avengers with 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs at 1100 Hours. 45 hit the airfield, 1 failed to deploy, and the rest missed. The raid was intercepted by a dozen Imperial Japanese Navy A6M 0 fighters. While no planes were lost, Lieutenant Harold R. Walker’s (January 31, 1921 – ????) aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire during the attack. It was later determined that a 20 millimeter (.78 caliber) shell exploded in the greenhouse, wounding Walker and killing Tabor. Despite his wounds, Walker was able to return to base at Piva. United States Navy Lieutenant Commander Charles Fenno Jacobs (December 14, 1904 – June 27, 1974) was recruited by United States Navy Commander Edward Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) to join his Naval Aviation Photographic Unit, 1 of the original 6 photographers to join him. Fenno Jacobs, renowned for his offbeat sense of humor, excelled at portraying soldiers’ bodies as comparable to the steel weapons they served. When the war ended, the Steichen 6 marched into Fortune Magazine in uniform and suggested they be hired and given an area of the world to photograph. Jacobs received Europe as his photographic domain. He went onto 3 exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art postwar. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2274.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.09 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 2356 x 2456 |
| Photographer | Charles Fenno Jacobs |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | February 28, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | Bougainville |
| Country | Solomons |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-80-G-476284 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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