Modesto California

John Vernon Chitwood, age 31, from Modesto, California, Stanislaus county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Saturday, May 5, 1951
Death details: Just after midnight on May 5, 1951, a B-26C Invader (tail number 44-34405A, nicknamed “The 5th Chadwick”) using callsign Skillful 17, departed Taegu (K-2) Air Base, South Korea with a crew of four aviators. The briefed mission was a night armed reconnaissance operation targeting the enemy main supply route 3 in North Korea. While on patrol, an air control station directed Skillful 17 to target a barracks near Wonsan, North Korea. After multiple bombing and strafing runs, the pilot spotted a row of lights, which appeared to be truck moving along a road. When his tracer rounds illuminated the area, the pilot realized it was a trap. A string of blinking lights had been placed on a steep hill to look like a convoy moving down a level road, causing an aircraft, attempting to strafe the mock convoy, to fly into the ground. The pilot immediately pulled up; however, the aircraft still grazed the ground, damaging its left engine. The damaged Invader recovered and headed toward the sea, slowly losing altitude. Once over Yonghung Bay, the pilot was able to make a successful “Mayday” call before crashing a few miles off the coast of the Hodo Peninsula. The following morning, search personnel rescued Skillful 17’s observer pilot. He reported that the pilot and navigator replied to his calls after escaping from the plane, but because of the darkness and his weakened condition, the observer pilot was unable to assist them. After a brief period, he did not hear them again. All efforts to locate the remaining aviators were unsuccessful. Sergeant John Vernon Chitwood entered the U.S. Air Force from California, was assigned to the 13th Bombardment Squadron, 3rd Bombardment Wing. He was the center fire control gunner aboard this bomber when it crashed. The sole survivor had no information on SGT Chitwood’s disposition following the crash. Additionally, no returning POWs mentioned contact with Sgt Chitwood, nor was he seen at any known holding point, interrogation center, hospital, or permanent POW camp. He remains unaccounted-for. Today, Sergeant Chitwood is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency