Bomber crash 3 August 1943

Burke, Sidney
Army Sergeant

Sidney Burke, age 22, from Lake County Indiana.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, August 3, 1943
Death details: On April 18, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Sgt. Sidney Burke, missing from World War II. Burke entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Indiana and served in the 22nd Bombardment Squadron, 341st Bombardment Group. On August 3, 1943, he was the armorer gunner aboard a B-25C Mitchell (serial number 42-53417) which took off from Kurmitola Air Base, India, with a crew of six for a low altitude attack on the Meiktila Damn in Burma. The bomber crashed near the dam during the mission. Two crew members survived the crash; one man returned to allied control, and the other died as a Japanese POW in Rangoon, Burma. The other four members of the crew, including Burke, were killed in the crash and their remains were not recovered after the war. All were declared missing in action. In 1947 the American Grave Registration Service (AGRS) recovered four sets of remains from a common grave near the village of Kyunpobin, Burma. According to local witnesses, the remains came from an “American crash”. The remains could not be identified at the time and were interred as Unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii. In January 2022, after the Department of Defense approved DPAA’s disinterment request, all four sets of remains were exhumed and accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for scientific analysis. Based on the laboratory analysis and the totality of circumstantial evidence, one of sets of remains was identified as belonging to Burke.
Cemetery: Manila American Cemetery

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Carlin, Henry J.
Army 1st lieutenant

Henry J. Carlin, age 26, from Philadelphia County Philadelphia, Pennsylvania .

Parents: Frank J. Carlin

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, August 3, 1943
Death details: On April 16, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of 1st. Lt. Henry J. Carlin, missing from World War II. Carlin entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Pennsylvania and served in the 22nd Bombardment Squadron, 341st Bombardment Group. On August 3, 1943, he was the navigator aboard a B-25C Mitchell (serial number 42-53417) which took off from Kurmitola Air Base, India, with a crew of six for a low altitude attack on the Meiktila Damn in Burma. The bomber crashed near the dam during the mission. Two crew members survived the crash; one man returned to allied control, and the other died as a Japanese POW in Rangoon, Burma. The other four members of the crew, including Carlin, were killed in the crash and their remains were not recovered after the war. All were declared missing in action. In 1947 the American Grave Registration Service (AGRS) recovered four sets of remains from a common grave near the village of Kyunpobin, Burma. According to local witnesses, the remains came from an “American crash”. The remains could not be identified at the time and were interred as Unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii. In January 2022, after the Department of Defense approved DPAA’s disinterment request, all four sets of remains were exhumed and accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for scientific analysis. Based on the laboratory analysis and the totality of circumstantial evidence, one of sets of remains was identified as belonging to Carlin.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Punxsutawney Spirit (1943), Philadelphia Inquirer (1943)

Hightower, Nathaniel L. Jr.
Army 2nd lieutenant

Nathaniel L. Jr. Hightower, age 27, from Fulton County Atlanta, Georgia .

Parents: N. L. Hightower Sr.
Spouse: Married

Service era: World War II
Schools: Boy’s High graduate, Georgia Tech (1938)

Date of death: Tuesday, August 3, 1943
Death details: Died of wounds

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Atlanta Journal (1944)

McCook, Charles W.
1st lieutenant

Charles W. McCook, age 23, from Williamson County Georgetown, Texas .

Parents: Isaac J. McCook

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, August 3, 1943
Death details: On April 17, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of 1st Lt. Charles W. McCook, missing from World War II. McCook entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Texas and served in the 22nd Bombardment Squadron, 341st Bombardment Group. On August 3, 1943, he was the navigator aboard a B-25C Mitchell (serial number 42-53417) which took off from Kurmitola Air Base, India, with a crew of six for a low altitude attack on the Meiktila Damn in Burma. The bomber crashed near the dam during the mission. Two crew members survived the crash; one man returned to allied control, and the other died as a Japanese POW in Rangoon, Burma. The other four members of the crew, including McCook, were killed in the crash and their remains were not recovered after the war. All were declared missing in action. In 1947 the American Grave Registration Service (AGRS) recovered four sets of remains from a common grave near the village of Kyunpobin, Burma. According to local witnesses, the remains came from an “American crash”. The remains could not be identified at the time and were interred as Unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii. In January 2022, after the Department of Defense approved DPAA’s disinterment request, all four sets of remains were exhumed and accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for scientific analysis. Based on the laboratory analysis and the totality of circumstantial evidence, one of sets of remains was identified as belonging to McCook.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Austin American (1943), Waco Tribune Herald (1943)

Helisek, Peter P. Jr.
Army Corporal

Peter P. Jr. Helisek from Fayette County Brownsville, Pennsylvania .

Parents: Peter P. Helisek

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, July 10, 1943
Death details: On April 15, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Cpl. Peter P. Helisek Jr., missing from World War II. Helisek entered the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and served in Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. On July 10, 1943, he was killed on the first day of Operation Husky, which began in the early hours of the morning as ground troops moved onto the beaches of southeastern Sicily, where soft sand and shifting sandbars created congestion, exacerbated by enemy air attacks and artillery barrages. By mid-morning on July 10, between 150 and 200 American landing craft were stranded along the shoreline. Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command, Army Quartermaster Corps, the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater, conducted final search and recovery operations of battlefields in Sicily, but found no information regarding Helisek. He was declared non-recoverable in 1948. In October 2020, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed one set of unknown remains from Sicily-Rome American Cemetery. The remains were transferred and accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for scientific analysis. The laboratory analysis and totality of circumstantial evidence identified the remains as those of Helisek.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Pittsburgh Post Gazette (1943), Daily Courier (1944)

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