Robert Lionel Cherry, age 27, from Wapello County Ottumwa, Iowa .
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Tuesday, July 22, 1952
Death details: On July 22, 1952, a B-26C Invader (tail number 44-35887A, call sign Richman 88) departed departed Pusan East Air Base with four aviators on board. The briefed mission was a night interdiction operation targeting a crossroads near Changyon, Korea. Richman 88 reached the target area without incident. After dropping their payload, the pilot radioed another Invader in the target area, Richmond 82, requesting a bomb-report. After receiving a positive report, Richmond 88 radioed that he was leaving the target area. However, “Richman 88” never returned to Pusan East Air Base. All four crew members remain unaccounted-for. Captain Robert Lionel Cherry entered the U.S. Air Force from Iowa and served in the 34th Bombardment Squadron, 17th Bombardment Wing. He was the pilot of “Richman 88” when it was lost. No returning POWs mentioned contact with Capt Cherry, nor was he seen at any known holding point, interrogation center, hospital, or permanent POW camp. He remains unaccounted-for. Today, Captain Cherry is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
