Name and Rank, Private John W. La Bar Jr.
Unit/Placed in, 36th Bomber Squadron, 28th Bomber Group (Heavy).
John was born approx. on Aug. 27, 1921 in Columbus, Indiana.
Father, John W. La Bar.
Mother, Esta M. La Bar.
Sister, Katherine L. La Bar.
John entered the service from Indiana with service number # 15099278.
John W. La Bar Jr. was a Tail Gunner/Crew (B-17) in the 36th Bomber Squadron .
John’s crewmembers and their positions on the plane a B-17 were:
Capt. Thomas M. Manfield Pilot
2nd Lt. Irving Bergman Co-Pilot
1nd Lt. Francis C. Cornwell Navigator
1st Lt. Lyle A. Slocum Bombardier
Sgt. Paul V. Orval Engineer
Cpl. Edgar L. Rogers Jr. Radio Operator
Pvt. Edwin T. Bottelson Left Waist Gunner
Pvt. Wilfred M. Hellebrand Tail Gunner
Pvt. John W. La Bar Jr. Right Waist Gunner
John W. La Bar Jr. was KIA they were hit by AA from the Japanese Ship Takao, and they crashed near Dutch Harbor, Alaska on June 4, 1942, and he is honored with the Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, Combat Action Badge, Marksman Ship Badge, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WW II Victory Medal.
John is buried at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii.
Courts of the Missing.
He is also Mentioned at Memorial To The Missing, Anchorage, Anchorage Borough, Alaska, USA.
Thanks to https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-17/41-9084.html
Jean Louis Vijgen, WW2-Pacific Website.
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/
The pilot of his plane was Thomas F Mansfield. On June 4, they attacked the Japanese cruiser Takao, which was part of a 7 ship fleet (including aircraft carriers) trying to make an air attack on Dutch Harbor. The B-17 took a direct hit as Mansfield tried to make a very low level attack (almost at deck level) on the cruiser. The B-17 burst into flames and then smashed into the water just short of the Takao and sank immediately. Nobody could get out of the plane before it sank. The attack was witnessed by the crew of a second B-17.
