Myron F. "Smokey" Sestak

2nd Lt., U.S.A.F.      4/25/1920 - 11/19/1952

Kassel M. Keene

Major Kassel Monford Keene....a leader....a man of integrity and honor.  His page contains a tribute, some biographical information about him, and the thoughts of his step-son, Sheldon S. Olson.  Visit his page here:  Kassel M. Keene

William H. Whitman

Bill Whitman was one of the crewmates that was lost on November 19, 1952.  I have recently been in touch with Bill's cousin, Susan.  She was kind enough to send along pictures of Bill, the crew and their plane.  To learn more about Bill, you can view his page here:  William H. Whitman

Horace N. Tiller

"Terry" Tiller was also lost on November 19th, 1952.  On Veteran's Day, November 11, 2000, a memorial service was held to honor MSgt. Horace N. Tiller.   A reprint of the article " Final Honor" from The Fresno (CA) Bee, provided by Horace' daughter Candice, can be seen here:  The Fresno Bee

Walter Stoll was featured in an article in the June 26, 2000 Orange County (CA) Register. The article speaks of his relentless pursuit for the truth in the search for one of the missing crewmen, and his friend, Kassel M. Keene.  The article contains one minor error; it indicates that Smokey was a radio operator, rather than a radar operator (VO).   You can view the article here:  The Orange County Register

Name	Status	Place of Birth
Robert J. Bird, Captain  Navigator	MIA	Rutland, VT
Morton H. Jensen, Technical Sergeant  Electronic Countermeasures Operator	MIA	St. Paul, MN
Kassel M. Keene, Major  Observing Aircraft Commander	MIA	Seal Beach, CA
Robert J. McLoughlin, Airman Second Class  Tail Gunner	MIA	Elmhurst, NY
James L. Nichols, Airman Second Class  Central Fire Control Gunner	MIA	Knoxville, IA
James K. Peck, First Lieutenant  Bombardier	MIA	Arvada, CO
James H. Porter, Airman First Class  Radio Operator	MIA	Shreveport, LA
William F. Sawyer, Major  Aircraft Commander	Rescued
Myron F. Sestak  Observing Radar Operator	KIA	Cleveland, OH
Beverly A. Swingle, First Lieutenant  Co-Pilot	KIA	Chattanooga, TN
Raymond Thompson, Airman First Class  Left Gunner	MIA	Akron, OH
Horace N. Tiller, Master Sergeant  Flight Engineer	MIA	Spur, TX
William H. Whitman, Airman First Class  Right Gunner	MIA	Man, WV
Allan R. Winchester, First Lieutenant  Radar Operator	Rescued

   

As indicated above, Major Sawyer and Lieutenant Winchester were fortunate enough to have survived the mission, and were subsequently rescued. You can view the declassified portion of the 98th Bomb Group monthly operations and intelligence report containing their statements here: Interrogation Report This document was provided by Mr. Herb Harper, the 98th Bomb Group Historian, and was obtained from the Air Force Historical Archives at Maxwell AFB, Alabama.  You can view a map of the area referenced in the report here: Korea Bay

Lieutenant Sestak and Lieutenant Swingle were both killed, their bodies later recovered. The rest of the crew was classified as "Missing In Action" until 20 November 1953, when the Air Force terminated that status based on a "presumptive finding of death". You can read that report here:  Finding of Death Report It is believed that the entire crew safely bailed out of the damaged aircraft, and were alive when they reached the ground. 2 men died, 2 were rescued, and 10 have been Missing in Action for over 47 years. Based on later reports, some, if not all of the crew members are known to have been taken as Prisoners of War...Their fate unknown and uninvestigated by the U.S. government to this day. A special thanks to Bonita Bird Dewiliby for providing a copy of the Finding of Death Report.

The U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs was established in March 1992 by the direction of the Presidents of the United States and of the Russian Federation. The Commission serves as a forum through which both nations seek to determine the fate of their missing servicemen.  The documents found in the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission Database (the so-called “Task Force Russia” documents) consist of the minutes of plenary sessions, reports from the working group sessions, and the translation of Russian-language documents retrieved from various archives in the Russian Federation pertaining to American personnel missing from World War II to the present.  Here are the documents relative to the shoot-down on November 19, 1952.  They are in Adobe PDF format, and will take a minute to download:  TFR506 and TFR 542

----------    Please Note    ----------

The U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory operates a facility in Hawaii that is dedicated to recovering and identifying the remains of missing servicemen.  The USACIL is actively seeking DNA samples from certain blood relatives to aid in the identification of hundreds of set of remains currently in their possession, as well as any that will be recovered in the future.

Not all relatives qualify to donate a DNA sample.  To see if you qualify as a DNA donor, check the chart here:  DNA Chart    If you qualify, or if you know someone who does, please urge them to contact the appropriate number below, and arrange to provide a DNA sample as soon as possible.  It may help to bring a hero home.

 

USAF Missing Persons Branch 1-800-531-5501

USA Casualty and Memorial Affairs Operations Center 1-800-892-2490

USN Missing Person Section (POW-MIAAffairs) 1-800-443-9298

USMC Casualty Branch 1-800-847-1597

Ed Moynagh has been working to establish contact with family members of our MIA's to inform them about the governments Outreach and DNA testing programs.  A site has been established to assist with this effort at http://KoreanWarMIAs.com  If you are a family of a Korean War MIA, or know someone who is, please stop by the site to see if the military requires updated contact information for you.

Please take a moment to reflect and remember those veterans who so valiantly served their country....especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice and paid with their lives. After that, take a few minutes and send a message to your U.S. and State representatives.  Ask what they are doing to support the effort to provide a full accounting of our brothers that are still missing and unaccounted for after all these years.....Search here to find your State's Congressional Representatives  Be respectful, but insistent in your request. It's the very least we can do for the gentle heros that we left behind.....

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Please note:  Due to the recent flurry of obscene messages posted to the Guest Book, I have removed it from this site.   I apologize to all those good people who chose to honor the memory of the brave individuals  listed here, but I was left with no choice.

 

Any comments or questions about this page can be
directed to:  Ray Sestak