Rehm, Harry Marshall
Air Force 1st Lieutenant

Harry Marshall Rehm from Clemons, New York, Washington county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Tuesday, December 30, 1952
Death details: Just before dark on December 30, 1952, a B-29 Superfortress (serial number 44-62011A) departed Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, carrying twelve aviators. The briefed mission was a night bombing operation targeting the Choak’tong Ore Processing Plant near the south bank of the Yalu River in North Korea. As the Superfortress approached the target, it was illuminated by searchlights and attacked by enemy MiG-15s. In the middle of its bomb run, with bomb bay doors open and unable to maneuver, the Superfortress was subjected to several fighter attacks, resulting in significant damage and the loss of two engines. After the bombardier dropped the payload, the pilot turned the aircraft toward friendly territory, but the enemy fighters continued to press their attack. Several of the aircraft’s crew were injured during the attack, at least one mortally. Although several of the aviators bailed out, at least the pilot and the flight engineer remained with the Superfortress in an attempt to bring the aircraft into friendly territory. The Superfortress failed to reach friendly lines, crashing north of Pyongyang, North Korea. Of the twelve crew, five are known to have landed safely and been held as prisoners of war before being repatriated at the end of the war. A sixth crew member is believed to have been killed attempting to evade capture. The fate of the other six aviators is unknown. First Lieutenant Harry Marshall Rehm, who entered the U.S. Air Force from New York, was assigned to the 28th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group (Medium). He was the instructor bombardier aboard this B-29 at the time of its loss. No returning POWs mentioned contact with 1st Lt Rehm, nor was he seen at any known holding point, interrogation center, hospital, or permanent POW camp. He remains unaccounted-for. Today, First Lieutenant Rehm is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency