McLoughlin, Robert John
Air Force Airman 1st Class

Robert John McLoughlin from Elmhurst, New York, Queens county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Friday, November 18, 1952
Death details: 

On November 18, 1952, a B-29 Superfortress (tail number 44-86392) with fourteen crew members departed Yokota Air Base, Japan, in a group of six medium bombers accompanied by fighter support aircraft. The briefed mission was a night bombing operation targeting the Sonchon supply depot in North Korea. After dropping its payload, the B-29 was illuminated by flares, cueing ground searchlights. The Superfortress was then lit up by multiple enemy searchlights, which highlighted it for nearby enemy MiG-15 fighters and during the ensuing attack that followed, both of the B-29’s inboard engines were disabled and a fire broke out in the right wing. The aircraft commander immediately turned the aircraft south toward the Bay of Korea’s island of Cho (Cho-do), which was under friendly control at the time. As the B-29 approached Cho-do, the flight engineer reported that the fire was quickly approaching the aircraft’s fuel tanks. Fearing an explosion, the aircraft commander ordered the flight crew to exit the aircraft. After the entire crew bailed out, the Superfortress crashed into the water just north of Cho-do. Of the fourteen on board, two survived. Rescue personnel later located the remains of two others, but ten crew members remain unaccounted-for.

Airman First Class Robert John McLoughlin, who entered the U.S. Air Force from New York, was assigned to the 345th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Wing. He was the tail gunner aboard this B-29 when it was shot down, and he was lost in the incident. No returning POWs mentioned having contact with A1C McLoughlin, nor was he seen at any known holding point, interrogation center, hospital, or permanent POW camp. He remains unaccounted-for. Today, Airman First Class McLoughlin is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency