Name and Rank, Second Lieutenant Clarence Barron O’Beirne Jr.
Unit/placed in, 400th Bomber Squadron, 90th Bomber Group (Heavy).
Clarence was born approx. on 15 Aug. in Dallas, Texas.
Father, Clarence B. O’Beirne Sr.
Mother, Mary B. (Wilkinson) O’Beirne.
Sisters, Elizabeth, Marian, Kathleen, Marjorie and Jane O’Beirne.
Brother, Jack O’Beirne.
Clarence entered the Service from Texas with servicenumber # 0-725520.
Clarence O’Beirne Jr. was a no record (Posistion) in the 400th Bomber Squadron.
Clarence’s crewmembers onboard the B-24 were,
2nd Lt. John M. Rafferty Pilot
2nd Lt. Eric J. Day Co Pilot
2nd Lt. Clarence b. O’Beirne Crew
2nd Lt. Willard F. Wright Crew
S/Sgt. Robert M. Dorey Crew
S/Sgt. Eddie C. Rosberry JR. Crew
S/Sgt. Conrad W. Wahl Crew
S/Sgt. Alexander Zilbert Crew
Sgt. Walter P. Szeliga Crew
Sgt. Henry M. Vigneault Crew
Clarence was KIA when…..
They took off from 5 Mile Drome, near Port Moresby.
on a recon mission.
Nearly there they did let the tower know if the landing lights good by turned on but were never seen or heard from again.
Years later It was known that they crashed into a Mountain before landing, on Dec. 20, 1942 he was awarded with the Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WW II Victory Medal.
Clarence is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA.
The plane/remains were found in 1984, before buried at Arlington there were commemorated at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Metro Manila,
National Capital Region, Philippines.
Thanks to https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-24/41-23766.html
Jean Louis Vijgen, ww2-Pacific.com and ww2-europe.com.
Air Force Info, Rolland Swank.
ABMC Website, https://abmc.gov
Marines Info, https://missingmarines.com/ Geoffrey Roecker
Seabees History Bob Smith https://seabeehf.org/
Navy Info, http://navylog.navymemorial.org
POW Info, http://www.mansell.com Dwight Rider and Wes injerd.
Philippine Info, http://www.philippine-scouts.org/ Robert Capistrano
National Historian
Navy Seal Memorial, http://www.navysealmemorials.com
Family Info, https://www.familysearch.org
Info, https://www.pacificwrecks.com/
Medals Info, https://www.honorstates.org
Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com
Tank Destroyers, http://www.bensavelkoul.nl/
SECOND LIEUTENANT, B-24 LIBERATOR, 400TH SQUADRON ‘BLACK PIRATES’, 90TH BOMB GROUP (JOLLY ROGERS), FIFTH AIR FORCE, IN THE PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS. MEMBER OF JOHN RAFFERTY CREW. HE LEFT PORT MORESBY ON A SINGLE BOMBER RECONNAISSANCE MISSION OVER WEWAK. WHEN THE PLANE WAS RETURNING, THE PILOT ASKED THAT THE FIELD LIGHTS BE LIT AS THEY WERE APPROACHING THE AIRFIELD. THE AIRCRAFT NEVER LANDED AS IT CRASHED INTO A HILL BETWEEN MUMENG VILLAGE AND TSILI TSILI. ALL WERE DECLARED MISSING ON DECEMBER 20, 1942. MISSING AIR CREW REPORT 15388. AWARDED THE PURPLE HEART.
