Cambria County Pennsylvania

Irvin G. Playez from Pennsylvania, Cambria county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, February 22, 1944
Death details: On February 22, 1944, a B-25G Mitchell (serial number 42-64779) with a crew of seven took off from Kurmitola, India, for a bombing mission against railroads in Monywa, Burma. While en route to the target, another aircraft crew on the mission witnessed the Mitchell catch fire and crash into a field on the banks of the Chindwin River, near Letpadaung, Burma. Witnesses did not report seeing any signs of survivors, and enemy presence in the area prevented searches of the crash site at the time. Post-war investigations discovered that, following the crash, Japanese soldiers had commanded Burmese locals to search and strip the wreckage of the B-25G and bury the bodies of the crew. Subsequent American search efforts to locate the remains of the crew from the crash site were unsuccessful, and all seven are still missing. Staff Sergeant Irvin G. Playez entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Pennsylvania and served with the 490th Bombardment Squadron, 341st Bombardment Group (Medium). He was the photographer aboard this B-25 when it crashed near Letpadaung, and his remains have not been recovered. Today, Staff Sergeant Playez is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency